It should not be a surprise that many of us manage our daily lives with the apps on our smartphone or tablet. These apps are always on and always connected to assist us with the task at hand. Very soon smart watches and other smart wearables will further enhance our mobile capabilities.

The growth and adoption of smart devices (phone, tablets, wearables, etc) is the fastest spreading technology in human history. This rapid change has created a significant shift in the mindset and expectations of mobile users. Forrester Research has defined this transformational change as the “mobile mind-shift” which they describe as:

The expectation that I can get what I want in my immediate context and moments of need

Many organizations have not kept up with this mobile mind shift and this has created an “app gap”. The gap occurs because organizations have not provided mobile business apps to their employees or customers that leverage the always on, always connected advantages of a well-designed mobile app.

At a recent SmartApps⁴ webinar, our attendees completed a quick survey to determine how many apps they had on their mobile devices and also how many of these apps were used to support their key business processes. The results below confirmed that they were also experiencing an “app gap” at their organizations:

84% of the attendees had well over 25 apps installed on their devices, however a majority (88%) had less than 10 apps that addressed their business process needs.

Daniel Burrus of the Huffington Post blogged about similar results in a survey he conducted with over 700 business customers where only 4% had developed a mobile road map but 100% knew they needed to create one.

And yet, effective mobile business apps can create significant benefit for organizations as noted by IDC in recent research where they found clients with mobile initiatives expected to achieve:

• Improved employee productivity
• Increased sales and revenues
• Improved customer service/support
• Enhanced competitive advantage/market share
• Numerous other organizational benefits

So what should a business do if they are experiencing an app gap?

SmartApps⁴ has found that there are 3 keys to mobile success:

1. Develop a mobile road-map that aligns with your key business strategies.

For a good example, check out the free webinars from Forrester research on their “IDEA Cycle” which provide some great insights and case studies on how to develop an effective mobile road-map.

2. Design, Build, and Launch mobile apps using lean-agile methodologies.

Using an iterative framework helps organizations get the speed and agility required to develop and deliver successful mobile apps.

3. Identify and leverage technologies that support your mobile road map.

Organizations have had great success using technologies like the Business Process App (BPA) platform from K2 and Microsoft’s Azure and Office365 cloud offerings to quickly create and manage effective mobile apps.

Enterprise mobile is not a trend, its a reality. How are you preparing to mobilize your workforce?