Despite the fact that customer engagement is rated the top mobile priority, 43% of respondents question IT’s ability to keep pace with B2C mobile efforts, according to a new study conducted by Forrester Consulting commissioned by OpenMarket.
Jay Emmet, General Manager of OpenMarket, said in a press release that mobile represents a critical communication channel for enterprises to engage with their customers.
“Companies are already beginning to tackle siloed mobile projects, but there is a need for a more comprehensive, cross-channel approach that lowers operational costs and increases loyalty by engaging customers throughout their entire lifecycle,” Emmet said.
The study report titled, “The Rise of Holistic Enterprise Mobile Engagement," examined how enterprise organizations are adapting to the mobile shift. The research revealed that while 74% of enterprises view mobile as a major business priority, there are numerous challenges which stem from one common source: IT shops are struggling to build and maintain a mobile solution in-house with existing skills and technologies.
What’s more, the survey highlighted enterprise struggles to keep the challenges of building advanced mobile engagement solutions at bay, such as integration, which presented a challenge to 55% of survey respondents. New architectures, code and client platforms, data privacy, and security are cited as the top enterprise concerns. The third most challenging aspect of mobile strategy is the number of platforms and the complexity of integrating applications and services which each the use of a different language and framework, the study found.
According to Forrester, in-house mobile solutions can work for early pilots and to support a limited number of applications and services, but the approach is not sustainable as mobile engagement becomes increasingly important. According to the report, Forrester expects companies to increasingly look to ISVs and SaaS providers for platforms that provide speed, new functionality, flexibility, and customization with a complete focus on the mobile channel, so that IT shops can focus on core business needs instead of engagement infrastructure.
In May 2013, Forrester conducted in-depth surveys with mobile decision makers representing 167 enterprise businesses. Other key findings include:
The mobile channel is a top business priority. 74% of business leaders consider mobile phones a priority. The importance of reaching customers via the mobile channel has grown to the point where it's virtually tied with PCs for top priority. It's more important than ever for businesses to get their mobile engagement strategy in place as soon as possible.
Customer engagement is a clear priority for mobile strategy. The Forrester study revealed that 63% of enterprises consider customer engagement the top priority of their mobile communication strategy, and that engaging with customers trumps supporting employees or partners or driving revenue through the mobile platform. This engagement goes beyond awareness and consideration of products and services, and includes using the mobile channel to improve customer satisfaction, provide support, and build long term loyalty.
Mobile engagement is about more than mobile apps. Most businesses incorporate SMS, MMS and bar codes or QR codes into their mobile strategy today. According to the research, 70% of the enterprises surveyed use SMS notifications now and an additional 16% plan to use SMS in the next 12 months. Many are also looking to add more advanced features like call queuing, 2-way SMS, voice recognition, push notifications, and click-to-chat to their engagement strategy over the next year.
Organizations struggle to master the challenges of the mobile shift. 63% of enterprises are spending less than $5 million each year on mobile. While organizations surveyed are spending at various levels, it remains questionable if they are spending enough to sustain more than a few ongoing mobile projects. Many are rethinking internal IT resources, but these teams are dealing with a multitude of integration, security and process challenges.