SAP Best Practices for a mobility center of excellence
1. SAP White Paper
Enterprise Mobility
Best Practices for a Mobility Center
of Excellence
Keeping Pace with Mobile Technology
2.
3. Table of Contents
5 Executive Summary
6 Exploring a Mobility Center
of Excellence
Dimensions of the Mobility COE
9 Getting Started
4. How can your enterprise embrace the advance of
mobile devices in the workplace – and continually
keep up with rapidly evolving technology? How
can the IT organization support the business
proactively and deal with the many issues, from
infrastructure and security to app provisioning?
The answer: a mobility center of excellence that
serves as the fulcrum for these initiatives across
the enterprise.
5. Mobile Devices Are Everywhere
Executive Summary
As cross-enterprise adoption of mobile stores. This experience has conditioned
technology continues at a rapid pace, IT them to expect a relatively rapid applica-
organizations are trying to deal with the tion development (and enhancement)
following challenges. timeline, without compromising on the
First, mobile technology is constantly quality and user experience of the appli-
changing. In fact, the pace of change in cation. The implication for enterprise
innovation and technology in mobility is application developers is clear: how do
faster than in other IT areas. This rapid you accommodate these expectations
pace of change – in terms of require- with the existing enterprise software
ments and technology – results in the development lifecycle infrastructure?
need for greater alignment between lines Finally, enterprise IT needs to put in
of business and IT on mobility initiatives place the appropriate infrastructure, pro-
to prevent duplication of effort. The enter- cesses, and organization to ensure the
prise also has to deal with a proliferation desired visibility and control across the
of devices, vendors, and services: iPhone, lifecycle of these mobile assets (devices,
iPad, Google Android, BlackBerry, users, and applications). While some
Windows Phone, and more. companies still issue and retain owner-
Mobile devices are everywhere and ship of mobile devices, the majority allow
used by everyone. This pervasiveness employees to use their own devices to
creates opportunities to make employees access corporate information. This blur-
more productive, engage with customers ring of lines between professional and
in a more targeted and personalized man- personal devices leads to diversity and
ner, and streamline collaboration with complexity, as well as data security con-
partners. This means that enterprise IT siderations. Enterprise IT needs to step
needs to plan for and be ready to meet a up to the task, whether that involves self-
diverse set of requirements (end users, service provisioning of mobile devices
engagement modalities, use cases, secu- for users, deep insights into device and
rity, scalability, and so forth) while retain- application usage metrics, or compliance
ing sufficient agility to meet these needs monitoring. What’s required is a robust
in a timely manner. set of tools that automate as much as
As consumers themselves, employees possible the operational complexities of
are used to the relatively smooth and a mobile infrastructure while providing
easy process of downloading and using actionable insights to deal with issues
mobile apps from the various online and exceptions as needed.
SAP White Paper – Best Practices for a Mobility Center of Excellence 5
6. A Way to Centralize Governance, Standards, and Activities
Exploring a Mobility Center of Excellence
Establishing a mobility center of excel- Dimensions of the Mobility COE •• What is the core function of the COE?
lence (COE) is an initiative intended to Are you setting it up to act in a purely
centralize governance, standards, and Different organizations are in different community-enablement function –
activities around a set of principles – stages of their mobility adoption and that is, to drive better collaboration on
organizational and architectural – for maturity, which in turn shapes their mobility initiatives across the organiza-
an effective and efficient use of mobile experience level, competency mix, and tion by providing the infrastructure
technology across the enterprise. By comfort level with mobility. Regardless, (knowledge management, social media,
capturing experience, best practices, a mobility COE has three broad but and so on) and organizational tools
and reference architectures from mobil- interlinked dimensions, as shown in (such as communities of practice)?
ity projects within the organization, the the figure. Or is the function to shape and drive a
mobility COE can accelerate deployment mobility strategy for the organization
within the corporation. In addition, the Scope that can be used by the various depart-
COE also minimizes overall effort, as each As a first order of business, you need to ments and business units as a basis for
work group or business unit no longer define the scope and the charter of the their mobility initiatives? Or is the intent
has to reinvent and implement mobility mobility COE. This is an essential ele- to use the COE to guide the strategy
policies on its own. ment to grounding the mobility COE for and also provide support on mobility
A mobility COE provides the leadership everything it does going forward. We rec- projects – whether in the form of creat-
needed to deploy and manage personal ommend that you answer the following ing usability guidelines, defining archi-
and company-owned mobile devices questions to help define the scope of tecture principles, recommending
seeking access to corporate data. The your mobility COE: specific technology choices, or manag-
group uses a combination of standards ing an initial set of pilots or proofs of
and policies, along with technology infra- concept (POCs)?
structure and skills, to alleviate the chal-
lenges of enterprise mobility.
The mobility center of excellence facili-
tates success by: Figure: Dimensions of a Mobility Center of Excellence
•• Leveraging existing IT processes
(standards, governance) and people
•• Defining standards, vendor and tech-
nology selection, and security policies
relevant to mobility
•• Acting as the trusted adviser to the Scope
line-of-business leaders
•• Reviewing, evaluating, and approving
mobility projects
•• Providing technology expertise to the
business, authoring best practices, and
facilitating training and technical sup-
port during implementation
•• Offering thought leadership, consulting
on mobile technology, and providing
metrics reporting and support after Organization Governance
deployment
7. •• What does the COE cover? Mobile With sponsorship identified and secured, With the organizational structure and
technologies encompass business-to- the next steps are to outline the key roles the roles identified, you need to define
business and business-to-consumer and reporting structure within the COE, the responsibilities of the individuals in
applications, enterprise mobile man- specifying the competencies required to terms of key work activities and deliver-
agement (of which mobile device staff these roles and building out the orga- ables. As you get started on building the
management is a component), remote nization. A critical decision at this point COE, you should look to your supplier
access, machine to machine, radio- is to choose the right person to lead the ecosystem (telecom carrier, system inte-
frequency identification, and so on. COE. Since this individual serves as the grator, network, security vendors, and
That’s why you need to set limits on focal point for mobility initiatives within so forth) for resources that can support
the set of mobility initiatives the COE the organization, he or she needs to be: the COE.
will take on. It is perfectly acceptable •• Comfortable defining “art of the possi-
(and even recommended) to have an ble” mobility scenarios Governance
aspirational statement, but start with •• Credible across business and IT The governance element of the COE
one or two key areas of focus. leadership defines:
•• How will the COE interface with your •• Proficient in driving and delivering on •• The ground rules for its operations
existing IT organization? Since most IT innovation •• The funding model
organizations already have an existing •• Grounded in real-world IT project •• The mechanism by which decisions
infrastructure (processes, tools, and delivery are made
people), you need to define what the •• The criteria used to track its ongoing
COE will define and create as “net new” In addition to the leader, here are some effectiveness
for mobility. This will ensure minimal roles to consider for staffing the COE •• The process for communicating key
duplication of efforts and leave “regu- organization: decisions and milestones to its
lar IT” relatively unchanged, thus caus- •• Solution architect stakeholders
ing as little disruption to ongoing IT •• Usability specialist
activities as possible. •• Business analyst In defining governance for the COE, it
is important to keep this process light-
Organization Given that most COEs are “bootstrapped” weight and pragmatic. For a space that
Once you have defined the scope for the – that is, staffed up over time – deciding is moving as fast as mobility, you need a
mobility COE, the next element to review which resources will be full-time versus governance process that is nimble yet
is the underlying organizational structure part-time is important. We recommend robust enough to get the desired results.
and associated ways of working. This that you start with a full-time COE leader Being transparent about how mobility
starts with securing buy-in from major and explore leveraging resources from projects are reviewed, approved, and
stakeholders across the organization. other parts of the organization (applica- delivered is a critical part of the gover-
Since mobility has an enterprise-wide tion development, technology architec- nance model.
impact, it is important to get sponsor- ture, user experience, and so on). We find that three of the most com-
ship from senior and influential individu- monly addressed areas within gover-
als across business and IT for the COE. nance relate to architecture, security,
Securing this kind of executive sponsor- and operations.
ship conveys the importance of mobility
(and the COE) and lends legitimacy to
the entire effort.
SAP White Paper – Best Practices for a Mobility Center of Excellence 7
8. Architecture: •• If yes, then: •• What guidelines should you develop for
•• How will you decide which modality –– What is the process for specifying mobile applications in terms of man-
(or more than one) to use for a specific the list of supported devices under datory and optional requirements for
application – native client, HMTL5 the BYOD policy? Does it cover security – authorization, authentica-
app, hybrid app, mobile browser, text smartphones and tablets? tion, and auditing (AAA); data at rest;
messaging? –– What processes and infrastructure data in motion; and so on?
•• How will mobile application develop- do you need to get the desired level
ment be integrated with your existing of security and visibility across the IT operations:
software development lifecycle tools lifecycle of the mobile assets? •• How will your mobile assets (devices
and process – for example, change –– How do you account for country- and applications) be managed across
management, version control, pat- and region-specific data privacy reg- their lifecycle (from provisioning all the
terns, code reuse, defect tracking, and ulations and their impact on BYOD? way through refresh)?
the like? –– What is the policy for reimbursing •• Which parts of these will you auto-
•• What will your mobile user experience employees on telecom charges? mate? How much of this should be
guidelines be? What parts of your •• If not, then: made self-service so as to reduce the
existing user experience principles can –– Do you support any individual liable burden on IT? And what do you need
you carry over to mobile? (IL) devices at all? If yes, what are to put in place to make this happen?
•• How will mobile align with other initia- the constraints? •• What does “support” mean? What
tives such as enterprise 2.0, service- –– How do you communicate the trade- service-level agreement can you pro-
oriented architecture, collaboration, offs and implications to your vide for these devices and applications?
and so on? employees? •• If users get an unsupported device,
•• What changes do you need to make what is your support policy?
Security: to your existing information security •• What skill sets do you need to support
•• Do you support “bring your own policy? mobility, and how will you staff up for
device” (BYOD)? •• How do you amend the standard that?
acceptable-use policy to account for
mobile devices?
A mobility COE provides the leadership needed
to deploy and manage personal and company-owned
mobile devices seeking access to corporate data.
9. A Step-by-Step Guide
Getting Started
For the mobility COE to succeed, follow Drive effective engagement with end
this core set of best practices. users – Understanding your end users’
Secure executive sponsorship – mobility needs at a relatively granular level
Without strong executive sponsorship, a requires you to “walk in their shoes.” Devel-
mobility COE cannot function effectively. oping the level of insight might involve, for
It will not be able to get the visibility and example, a ride-along to document how
the organizational muscle it needs to an insurance adjuster goes about the job,
drive a consistent approach to mobility or mapping out a current business pro-
across the business. Mobile technology cess and a new mobile process for a field
has the potential to impact every part of inspector. You need to understand the var-
your business, and you want the backing ious user personas involved and capture
of someone who can help you keep the how and where mobility can be embedded
initiatives within your organization to a in the most seamless way possible. Mobil-
well-defined and manageable minimum. ity requires a kind of engagement with end
Drive a partnership between business users that is different from many other IT
and IT – Closely tied to sponsorship is capabilities.
the need for strong partnership between Define a “straw man” mobility strat-
business and IT. While this may sound egy – Once the mobility COE is launched,
cliché and trite to experienced IT pro- the enterprise should focus on maintain-
fessionals, it is all the more true with ing and developing the mobility strategy
mobility. Since we are all consumers of and framework. The key here is to develop
mobile technology, we expect the enter- a “straw man” strategy road map – a
prise to provide the same level of support starting point for gathering feedback –
for mobile devices that we experience and evolve it based on experience gath-
in our daily lives. A successful COE will ered from ongoing mobility projects. This
demonstrate how to embrace mobility road map could include:
to transform the business – for example, •• Translating corporate and business
predicting or determining the areas of strategy into mobility strategy
the business where process changes •• Creating a set of mobility capabilities
could result in time or revenue savings according to mobile user profiles or
to departmental budgets. personas
•• Creating a strategy and framework
for adoption of mobile applications
Drive a culture of agility, flexibility, and customer
centricity among the COE team.
SAP White Paper – Best Practices for a Mobility Center of Excellence 9
10. The strategy should include taking stock •• Glean insights into evolving device and How SAP Can Help
of and documenting all mobility initiatives wireless networks (from your carrier)
As adoption of mobile technology across
in the company, as well as overlaying the •• Understand considerations for industri-
the enterprise continues at a rapid pace,
corporation’s mobility strategy with its alizing your mobile application lifecycle IT organizations are trying to deal with a set
project portfolio. Part of the responsibility (from your enterprise independent of unique mobility challenges. By embrac-
of the mobility COE could be to align the software vendor and system integrator ing a mobility center of excellence, you can
company’s mobility solutions with its partners) not only accelerate deployment within your
organization but also minimize redundant
product lifecycle. For example, consider •• Capture network and security implica-
effort to maximize success. As a leading
how the company will be using mobile tions (from your network equipment vendor in the enterprise mobility space,
devices in the sell and service stages of and security vendors) SAP can partner with you to “mobilize”
the product lifecycle versus the design your business, providing knowledge and
and develop stages. Consider sales Start small, refine, and mature – As you expertise along the way to help focus your
efforts and streamline your initiatives.
channels and product lifecycle stages staff up the first iteration of your mobility
to determine which mobile applications COE, define your straw man mobility strat-
to develop. The mobility COE should egy, and deliver on the first handful of
also assign budget for mobility initiatives mobility projects, you will acquire experi-
according to priorities and set aside bud- ence in the mobility lifecycle. Providing for
get and resources to test new or yet regular updates to your mobility COE and
unproven mobility concepts. strategy to reflect lessons learned and
Bootstrap from your supplier ecosys- technology advancements is critical to
tem – In the early stages of a COE’s evo- the ongoing viability and success of your
lution, tapping into the extended resource mobility initiatives. However, it all starts
pool across your supplier ecosystem is a with forming a COE in the first place. For
useful way to supplement your internal almost every organization, it is conceiv-
resources. Getting capable resources able that its mobility portfolio will include,
from your partners to participate on a conservatively, a dozen or more applica-
part-time basis in the initial phases of tions over the next 12 to 18 months. A COE
your COE can help you: is a critical foundation for the enterprise
to effectively deliver on that portfolio and
sustain it in a cost-effective manner.
In defining governance for the COE, it is important
to keep this process lightweight and pragmatic. For
a space that is moving as fast as mobility, you need a
governance process that is nimble yet robust enough
to get the desired results.
