If you'd mentioned that you were 'investing in Mobile' a decade or two ago, people might have thought you were buying a fancy car phone. Today, it's taken on a whole new meaning as it is moving out of the novelty phase. Taking the world by storm, Mobile technology is now seen as a must-have for any forward-thinking business. But the trick is to first identify exactly why your company might benefit from a Mobile solution, rather than diving in just because everyone else is.

It's important to take a step back and understand why you are building a mobile solution, before you move onto planning the how and what. This involves analysing your business' strategic needs and planning a holistic business strategy, augmented by mobile solutions. At Open Box, we call this a 'roadmap exercise'. This is essential in order to get a truly holistic view of your company's processes, existing systems, infrastructure, security, the industry and markets, as well as the people involved etc. It's important to keep in mind that a successful Mobile solution will need to complement and enhance your existing systems. It's all about reducing complexity and streamlining your processes, rather than just extending your existing processes to a mobile device.

A successful business strategy augmented by Mobile solutions can offer many tangible and intangible benefits:

• Improves efficiency by streamlining your business processes
• Reduces administration costs
• Increases productivity
• Improves access to information on the move
• Helps you make more informed decisions through real time reporting
• Improves your customer experiences, aiding customer retention
• Aids employee satisfaction and retention
• Enhances brand perception
• Attracts new clients
• Differentiates your business
• Grows the business

While the benefits and drivers of Mobile solutions are far-reaching, it's still very important to separate yourself from the 'hype'. Ultimately, the business value of a mobile solution needs to outweigh the obstacles and costs. It's always unfortunate to see a company jump into Mobile without proper planning and analysis of the bigger picture, and as a result fail to reap the rewards that one would expect. They inevitably lose out on their investment, and often refuse to invest further into Mobile due to their negative experience. One step forward… two steps back!

When considering a Mobile solution, it's vital that companies take a long-term view of the situation and ensure that it supplements the full business strategy. At Open Box Software, we believe in a holistic approach – we like to partner with our clients in taking a long-term strategic view, rather than just jumping in and building apps. We start by understanding where your business currently stands, and help you plan towards where you see your company in 5 to 10 years. Through our technological expertise and extensive insights into the Real Estate industry, we're able to help create a strategic roadmap which will ultimately inform your company's Mobile strategy. This, in turn, will help to meet your business goals consistently over time, providing a return on your investment.

When implemented effectively, Mobile solutions are aligned to the business strategy with measureable business benefits and truly do have the power to give your business the edge over your competition.