Mobile Technologies Give Enterprises a First-Mover Advantage

Adoption of mobile technologies by enterprise organizations is widespread and the impact on the marketplace in the past decade has been nothing short of remarkable, according to research recently released by Harvard Business Review (HBR).

The report, “The Digital Dividend: First-Mover Advantage,” was sponsored by Verizon Enterprise Solutions to determine whether technology pioneers gain a competitive lead by adopting new technologies and services, such as the Internet of Things (IoT, also known as machine-to-machine), advanced analytics, cloud and mobility.

Twenty percent of respondents who identified as pioneers said they experienced more than 30 percent growth and a competitive advantage over peers.

According to the slice of the report pertaining to mobile technology:

• 96% of respondents use mobile technology — nearly two-thirds use it extensively;
• 50% said that marketing, sales and customer engagement were most affected by mobile;
• 38% said customer service was significantly affected by mobile adoption;
• IT operations were the number one internal function affected by mobility (37%).

Mobile technology has permeated all major industries to a varying extent. Retailers, for example, are equipping their sales associates with tablets on the floor to help combat ‘showrooming’ — the consumer practice of going to a brick-and-mortar store to compare products, but purchasing them online from a less expensive competitor. Sales associates are using mobile solutions to offer consumers better product information and even complete the sale directly from the point of purchase.

The financial services sector has seen steady growth due to mobile banking, especially in less-developed countries that lack the infrastructure to support a large number of physical locations. And even in developed countries, the convenience of mobile banking has become a significant factor when it comes to gaining market share among a tech-savvy consumer base that wants to bank from anywhere.

“Mobile has completely infiltrated [businesses],” said Abbie Lundberg, contributing editor, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. “Only four percent of respondents said they are not using mobile and that’s probably not even true. When you think about the pace of change, it was not very long ago [since] the iPhone came out — it’s less than a decade old. To have that kind of penetration in that period of time is pretty remarkable.”

Visit the HBR Business Insights page to read the full report, “The Digital Dividend: First-Mover Advantage.”