CHAPTER 12 :BUILDING INFORMATION
SYSTEMS AND MANAGING PROJECTS
SUMMARY
When it comes to business mobility, many IT components
are in play: devices, operating systems, security management tools, app
development platforms, wireless networks, and so on. But as the old adage goes,
the whole is more than the sum of its parts. That is, the real power lies in
the convergence of the technologies and in how each organization applies them
to redefine the way it works. While the chief information officer will lead the
charge here, the rest of the leadership team will want to understand the
choices and issues that pertain to the following technology building blocks.
Question
1: what people, organization and technology issues need to be addresses when
building mobile applications?
What is most important is a seamless interaction. The
customer wants to be able to look at a product on his or her mobile device and
see the same information on that device as that person would obtain in the
store, plus some additional information, such as consumer reviews.
Question
2 : how does user requirement definition for mobile applications differ from
that in traditional systems analysis
The user experience on a mobile device is
fundamentally different from that on PC. There are special features on mobile
devices such as location-based services that give firms the potential to
interact with customers in meaningful new ways. Firms need to be able to take
advantage of those features while delivering an experience that is appropriate
to a small screen. There are multiple mobile platforms to work with, including
iOS, Android, and Windows 8, and a firm may need a different version of an
application to run on each of these. They can’t just port a Web site or desktop
application to a smartphone or tablet.
Question
3 : Describe the business process changed by USAA’s mobile applications before
and after the applications were deployed.
•
USAA launched its Website in
2007, and went mobile ten years later, with about 90 of its interactions with
customers taking place on these two self-services channels.
•
In 2011, USAA handled 183
million customer contacts through the mobile channel alone, and expects the
mobile channel will be its primary point of contact with customers in he next two years.
•
USAA has 100 dedicated mobile
developers writing apps for devices using the iPhone, iPad and Android
operating systems, along with apps for the BlackBerry and Windows Phone.
conclusion
A mobile strategy involves
much more than selecting mobile devices, operating systems, and applications.
It also involves changes to business processes, changing the way people work
and the way firm interacts with is customers. Mobile technology can streamline
processes, make them more portable and enhance them with capabilities such as
touch interfaces, location and mapping features, alerts, texting , cameras and
video functionality. The technology can also create less efficient processes or
fail to deliver benefits if the mobile application is not properly designed.
