Mobile is fundamentally changing how businesses need to think about customer and employee engagement. Why? Consumers and employees expect anywhere anytime access to information and services in their moment of need. They expect highly contextual or relevant experiences that allow them to complete tasks quickly.

Mobile strategies have moved well beyond shrinking desktop experiences down to small screens.

I get asked a lot, “Well, who is doing this well?” My answer: “Very few companies.” Sophistication in mobile services has become less obvious. Companies with a solid vision are working hard in the background to put infrastructure in place – to create a services layer and APIs – that allows access to their core. As Scott Wilson of United so eloquently said, “We needed a single source of truth.” I would add that you need one ready to deliver real-time information in a consumer's or employee’s context. Expect it to handle a lot of volume as well.

When it comes to benchmarking, too many business professionals are sitting in their inflatable kayaks on the surface of the Gulf of Alaska. They can’t see below the surface to see what their competitors are doing. They treat mobile as a project rather than a product.

They can’t start to build the infrastructure until they team up with their technology counterparts. Business and technology teams are not speaking the same language. Business professionals are using words like “experience” and “engagement” and “conversions.” App developers use words like “jQuery mobile” or “Ruby” or “Xcode.” This is one of many barriers that must be broken down.

Next month at Forrester’s Application Development & Delivery Forum, we’ll explore this topic and more. Register now to join us in Indianapolis on October 17 and 18.