Justifying the Business Case for Mobility

Mobility is not necessarily an easily approved initiative in most organizations. Even though the business and IT departments concur on the ‘potential’ benefits of mobility, it is not easy to create a definitive business case for going mobile. There are two reasons for this dilemma - firstly, the benefits of mobility cannot be predicted till such a time that the project is completed; secondly, most of the times, the benefits can not easily be converted to numbers. The linkage of business metrics to the mobility outcomes is very important to justify its ROI. In this feature, we shall take the example of some metrics, which can be used for shoring the case for mobility.

Categories - The value and impact of going mobile can be measured and communicated through 2 types of metrics -

Tangible measures

1. Efficiency & Productivity - One of the biggest impacts of M - enabling your workforce is that they become more productive, thereby making your processes more efficient. There are 2 reasons for increased worker productivity.

First, since the employees are no longer tied to their desks, and have the ability to contribute to the furtherance of your enterprise’s agenda from anywhere, there is no time limit to when they can do so. This effectively increases the workday from the traditional 9 hours to virtually any time that an individual feels motivated to respond.

Secondly, the wastage of time in getting to the office and back home is avoided, because now your colleagues have access to corporate data and applications right at their fingertips, thereby eliminating the need of going to the office.

A good metric for measuring employee productivity is the effective output per employee in a function before and after mobility.

2. Cost savings – There are many costs that can be reduced and / or eliminated completely by adopting the M - way of life. BYOD can transfer the cost of the device to the employee. Having access to enterprise applications through their smart devices allows people to work remotely, or from home, which is a big saver of office infrastructure (Physical space, rent, mortgage) and operating costs (electricity, supplies, space). Telecommuting and mobile web conference solutions save travel, lodging and boarding dollars, which can add up very quickly. For certain companies like fleet management and filed services, effective use of safety and control applications for the field staff can reduce insurance rates.These are but a few examples. There are many more.

Measuring the impact on operational costs (OPEX) is a good metric to measure.

3. Revenue impact – In a lot of situations, the use case for going mobile is outward facing i.e. towards customer acquisition. Using the most popular method of information and access allows you to extend your reach much farther and wider that you ever could. This allows you to convince and coax more and more people to buy what you are selling. This will improve your revenue. Also, through concentrated effort on servicing the customers better through smartphone apps and other mobile interfaces, you can expand your scope with your existing patrons.

You need to measure for the overall revenue gains, and the revenue per customer before and after mobilization.

Intangible gains

1. CSAT - The convenience, efficacy and efficiency brought about by mobilization does not go unnoticed by the customers. Also, if you have customer centric initiatives, the engagement level of the customers is much higher.

CSAT can be measured through surveys, and its impact can be measured through the revenue per customer, and the number of referrals.

2. ESAT – Often underestimated, the employee satisfaction is as important, if not more, as the CSAT. Mobility gives employees the freedom and choice of technologies that they covet. A satisfied employee is more productive, and dedicated.

Attrition (or the lack of it) and employee productivity index are a good measure of ESAT