ABSTRACT
Chapter Key Points Discusses a wide range of goals of MET such as reduced risks in successful ◾ transitions, cost reduction, and improved customer service Discusses the mobile organizational structure and the effect of MET on the ◾ organizational structure Discusses and explains the MET phases ◾ Discusses the unique and personalized nature of mobility ◾ Discusses the integration of mobility into the existing business processes ◾
Introduction Mobile technologies contribute uniquely to the communications revolution by eliminating the need for physical land-based connectivity between people, processes, and entities. Adoption by business of this unique wireless connectivity, as discussed in Chapter 1, results in significant impact on business enterprises. This includes changes to the organizational structures; internal and external business processes; and relationships with customers, employees, partners, and stakeholders, and is observed irrespective of the size and geographical location of the organization. However, although the ability of businesses and customers to connect to each other independent of time and location by using mobile technologies drives a significant change in the business, its success depends heavily on a meticulously planned and executed methodological framework. A well-researched, tried-and-tested framework reduces the risk in changing the business and ensures mobile success. This chapter outlines such a methodological framework. Called the Mobile Enterprise Transition (MET) framework, it provides detailed guidance based on the questions of “why, what, how, and who,” thereby facilitating the strategic adoption of mobility by business. These generic questions translate to questions related to people, processes, and technologies involved in transitioning to a mobile business. The MET framework, validated by research, provides an orderly approach to mobile business transitions that acknowledges the aforementioned questions, studies them, and incorporates them into four major dimensions of the business in transition. This chapter outlines these four dimensions within the MET framework and how it ensures the successful adoption of mobility by business. The MET framework focuses the goals of the organization on strategic and formal adoption of mobility and, at the same time, ameliorates the risks associated with the transition. Thus, this chapter discusses the goals of MET, managing the expectations of the business, layers and structures of the organizations, the four dimensions, project management considerations, and the overall research framework that forms the basis of the MET framework.
