Increasingly, users are asking for access to content repositories from mobile devices, such as phones and iPads. The usage scenarios are primarily for reference purposes, such as checking the price on a proposal document or looking at the age listed on an application, etc.
How big a requirement is mobile access in your organization? How big a market opportunity is creating mobile applications for the various repositories in use today? Our prediction is huge on both questions. Enabling content for mobile access is critical.
But let me be clear about what “mobile” means. It is not remote access from a laptop. It is not browser-based access from a mobile device. It’s a purpose-built application for a mobile-access device, designed around an optimized user experience for locating and viewing content. For a salesperson wanting to glance through a contract just prior to entering a client meeting, speed and navigation are often the most critical requirements, and thus the need for a purpose-built application.
Many organizations have been slow to build mobile applications, primarily because if they do have remote users, the current solutions (Citrix, Browser UI, etc.) have been good enough and there are concerns about diverting resources to developing and maintaining yet another user interface. But I think the mobile application for accessing content is a different opportunity altogether. For many organizations, there is a population of users who are truly mobile. These are the users that haven’t had efficient access to content, and over the next 3 years, they will become hungry consumers of content applications. Welcome to the team.
#mobileusers #Knowledgeworker #contentaccess #mobilecomputing