Is there anything left that mobility is yet to impact? Let’s consider a not-so-obvious outcome of mobility. It has become one of the key drivers of cloud adoption, driving innovation in the way IT infrastructure is provisioned, consumed and billed. Find it difficult to connect the dots between mobility and cloud? A recent 8-country study called CSC Cloud Usage Index ( www.csc.com ) sketched out an amazing picture.

A staggering one-third of the respondents in the study said that their need to better connect employees who used a variety of mobile computing devices was the most important reason to adopt the cloud. Only 17 per cent said that accelerating business was driving cloud adoption and a mere 10 per cent said it was cutting costs. Cloud platforms such as Box have admitted that it is mobility that is responsible for their extraordinary growth. Box saw the total number of mobile users jump by 171 per cent each month in 2011.

BYOD effect

Mobility is creating ripples in practically every sphere - reorganising infrastructure, the workplace and the workforce, tweaking lifestyles and enhancing the way we consume information and generate insights. All of this is reflected in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend where consumers are leading the demand for technology, the rising tide of mobile social media, the feeding frenzy around apps and the increasing use of futuristic technologies like Augmented Reality. There is an astounding convergence between personal and work life.

The convergence is a pain as well as a boon, depending on how the CIO views it. However, regardless of how you view it, mobility is stoking innovation and ensuring improved levels of efficiency and .

The BYOD trend is reshaping corporate infrastructure, processes and cultures. In October 2011, CTIA - The Wireless Association reported that for the first time in history the number of wireless subscriber connections (322.9 million) had surpassed the population (315.5 million) in the United States. In India, TRAI said that there were 683 million active wireless connections in March 2012 -- surpassing half the country’s population. Not surprisingly, a Citrix study has forecasted that by mid 2013, 94 per cent of companies worldwide will have a BYOD policy.

Accepting change

CIOs are being forced to accept the BYOD trend, despite their fears around enterprise data security and the rising pressure on support services for these devices.

Suddenly, CIOs are faced with the prospect of having to overlook standardisation of infrastructure and give way to the plethora of mobile devices running on dozens of different platforms.

The upside of the trend that few appear to appreciate is the fact that IT will have to place greater trust in employees -- something that has traditionally been lacking. But, to leverage the competitive advantage that mobility brings, IT will have to change its DNA of distrust. That phenomenon will undoubtedly bring about major transformation in the enterprise.

The consumerisation of technology is responsible for another dramatic phenomenon. Users are extremely comfortable with applications or apps (as more commonly referred) on their mobile devices -- a fact largely driven by social media usage. Installing, using, upgrading and deleting apps has become a simple task. Users are rarely daunted by the underlying technology and neither do they need to worry about licenses. App creators have automated the entire life cycle of their products.

App growth

A 2012 ABI Research report says that smart phone users worldwide were expected to download about 36 billion apps in 2012 or 37 apps per smart phone. This is a 6 per cent rise from the 35 native apps downloaded per user in 2011. BlackBerry's App World alone sees monthly downloads numbering 174 million. According to Gartner, the Indian mobile applications market is worth nearly Rs 750 crore ($150 million) and growth is not about to plateau in the near future.

This spells a growing opportunity for app developers. The good news on the mobile front is that unlike the Internet, where “free” is a given, mobile users are mentally prepared to pay for apps they use.

Even more striking is the trend to change and upgrade apps regularly. The velocity of consumption is creating an environment where CIOs must consider app-tising their environments as well, complete with regular upgrades, automatic downloads of new versions and apps that can work across platforms such as RIM, QNX, Android, Windows, iOS, Bada, etc.

In public sector

India presents a particularly vibrant landscape for app developers. As part of their M-Governance initiatives, the Govt. of India could leverage G2C (Government to Citizen) applications on the mobile platform to drive improved citizen services and stay connected with the needs of the common man.

One can already imagine a Government owned or supported ‘GOI App Store’ that helps manage government tenders or strengthens a poor public health system. For example, under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), an ASHA or Accredited Social Health Activists is supposed to escort pregnant women for delivery to a public hospital.

But few people seem to know this. Can an app be developed that allows citizens to take advantage of such schemes? Can apps let BPLs know where government jobs are available or how to access affordable government education for themselves and their children?

Innovation around the mobile platform has barely begun. The future of mobility is not about the “wow” factor. It is exciting because it promises a future that is uplifting and productive.

(The writer is Managing Director, BlackBerry India)

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