¶ Enterprise Mobile Strategy and Planning
Subject: SAP-Mobile-Platform | Field: SAP Technology
In today’s digital era, mobile technology is transforming how enterprises operate, engage with customers, and empower employees. An effective enterprise mobile strategy is essential to align mobile initiatives with business goals, ensure security and compliance, and optimize investment in mobile technologies.
Within the SAP ecosystem, the SAP Mobile Platform (SMP) and related SAP tools provide a comprehensive foundation to execute mobile strategies that drive innovation and business value. This article explores the critical elements of enterprise mobile strategy and planning with a focus on leveraging SAP technologies.
¶ Understanding Enterprise Mobile Strategy
An enterprise mobile strategy is a holistic plan that defines how an organization will use mobile technologies to achieve strategic objectives. It includes decisions about:
- Which business processes to mobilize
- Selection of platforms and technologies
- Security and compliance frameworks
- Governance and lifecycle management
- User experience and adoption strategies
- Identify high-impact business processes that benefit from mobility (e.g., field service, sales, procurement).
- Define clear objectives such as improved productivity, customer engagement, or cost reduction.
- Use SAP’s industry and line-of-business expertise to prioritize use cases.
- Evaluate options like SAP Mobile Platform (SMP), SAP Mobile Services on BTP, SAP Mobile Development Kit (MDK), and SAP Fiori.
- Choose between native, hybrid, or web apps based on use cases, performance, and maintainability.
- Plan for multi-platform support (iOS, Android, Windows).
¶ 3. Security and Compliance
- Define security policies encompassing authentication, data encryption, device management, and app security.
- Leverage SAP Mobile Services for secure authentication (OAuth, SAML, SSO) and mobile device management integration.
- Ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA.
¶ 4. User Experience and Adoption
- Adopt SAP Fiori design principles for intuitive, role-based, and consistent user experiences.
- Include training, support, and feedback loops to drive adoption.
- Use analytics to monitor usage and continuously improve apps.
¶ 5. Governance and Lifecycle Management
- Establish governance frameworks for app development, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
- Use SAP Mobile Services to manage app versions, push updates, and monitor performance.
- Define roles and responsibilities across IT, business units, and partners.
¶ Assessment and Roadmap
- Conduct maturity assessments to understand current capabilities.
- Develop a phased roadmap for app development and deployment aligned with business priorities.
- Use SAP Mobile Development Kit (MDK) for rapid, cross-platform app development.
- Leverage SAP Fiori Elements and SAPUI5 for responsive, web-based mobile apps.
- Implement offline support and integration with SAP backend via SAP Gateway and OData services.
¶ Infrastructure and Integration
- Use SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) for cloud infrastructure and integration services.
- Employ API management to expose SAP backend functionalities securely.
¶ Monitoring and Analytics
- Utilize SAP Mobile Services analytics to track app performance and user engagement.
- Continuously refine strategy based on data-driven insights.
A retail company crafted an enterprise mobile strategy using SAP Mobile Platform to enhance store operations:
- Mobilized inventory management and sales reporting processes.
- Adopted SAP MDK for rapid app rollout on iOS and Android devices.
- Secured apps using SAP Mobile Services authentication.
- Used SAP analytics to monitor usage and optimize app features.
The result was faster inventory turnover, improved sales tracking, and higher employee productivity.
Enterprise mobile strategy and planning are vital to unlock the full potential of mobile technologies in the SAP environment. By aligning mobile initiatives with business goals, selecting the right SAP tools and platforms, and establishing robust governance and security, organizations can deliver scalable, secure, and user-friendly mobile solutions.
SAP’s mobile ecosystem—including SMP, BTP Mobile Services, MDK, and Fiori—provides a powerful foundation to implement and sustain a successful enterprise mobile strategy that drives innovation and business growth.