Analysis: Omni-channel and beyond

Robert Haslam from app development firm Mubaloo looks at why operators need to take a strategic approach to mobile in 2015

While planning and strategy has always played a role in how agencies or developers work with clients, over the last few years there has been a huge change in the depth of strategy employed. In the last twelve months omni-channel has expanded beyond marketing talk to be a core focus for technology leaders within firms. Omni-channel is about offering a consistent, yet tailored, experience to end users, no matter how they choose to engage.

For gaming companies, this encompasses ensuring that whether a customer wants to place a bet in person, over the phone, on the internet, via their smart-TV, smartphone, tablet or even wearable, they can. Omni-channel has pushed the need for firms to ensure they have developed their APIs to easily create new experiences for any device.

Today, users expect to be able to have a cohesive experience from one device to another. To do this, firms need to expand their strategies to account for the ways in which users interact with their devices.

The mobility roadmap

Rather than just thinking about a single app, companies have been increasingly looking at entire app roadmaps designed around the breadth of devices available, and business objectives. Even with gaming, apps tend to be very task driven. That task might be placing a bet in a matter of seconds, immersing in a social game for bingo, finding out real-time bets or planning for upcoming events.

Strategy is less about the planning behind a single app, but instead the entire mobility roadmap and how apps fit into this based on specific audience requirements. The first step involves looking at the back-end to see what is available, what needs to be built and how to best optimise for the mobile user be it on a phone, tablet or wearable.

The smartest companies have spent the past few years building out APIs, to allow for seamless integration. To those working in mobile, it should come as no surprise that the company at the forefront of this is Coca Cola. The organisation has created hundreds of APIs that are for both public and internal use. This enables Coca Cola to quickly build tools for mobile that help employees, the supply chain or consumers, to engage with Coca Cola.

As mobile devices continue to proliferate and change in form, to include wearables, Coca Cola will be able to adapt to changing demands and trends. Companies, like Coca Cola, who build the right foundations can easily develop and progress their mobile strategies by responding to demand and opportunities.
Many gaming companies are wise to this and have spent the past few years focused on building their APIs. This is an industry where innovation is key, and rolling out new games or integrating with real-time data is of high importance.

Gains and needs

At Mubaloo, half the briefs we receive are defined by commercial needs and user gains. Even with briefs that are fully defined, there is nearly always a need to work to further define what success means to the organisation and think about what objectives need to be achieved. We always try to help companies to think about mobile in a much wider sense, rather than just on a per-app basis.

There is a realisation that apps are best when they enable the user to complete a task, whether it is for entertainment, communication or productivity. With mobile, it is all about following where the money is. Apps need to useful be the end user, whether they are a customer, partner, employee, investor or other stakeholder. They need to offer a service that isn’t easily offered through other channels, such as the web, to make life easier for the user.

With the continued rise of the Internet of Everything and connecting technologies such as beacons, apps are becoming more important than ever. We are seeing a real shift in the way companies in all sectors are thinking about mobile. They see them as powerful tools with a blank screen to create unique experiences.

When it comes to thinking about the roadmap, we work through a number of different activities to really get to the core of what needs to be achieved. This includes profiling who the target users are, what their pain points are, what the solutions might be, how other industries are approaching similar issues and what the users’ journey with mobile is.

A lot of time will also be spent in working with internal IT teams to understand what’s available, what needs to be built and how best to future proof any work being carried out.

Outside of this, there are five main steps we take for approaching mobility:

1 – Start by identifying core business objectives and the company’s mobile vision. User needs will need to be explored by looking at internal & external processes, services & communications.

2 – Define the KPIs you’ll measure and report on to understand success. This will show what the return on mobility will be. You’ll need a business case to demonstrate the value of mobile initiatives. If it is a consumer app, you’ll also need to think about budget for marketing your app. Don’t forget to first measure what is happening today in your pre-mobile world, so you can demonstrate how customer behaviours change as a result of mobile deployments.

3 – Map out opportunities for mobile solutions that are aligned to the strategic objectives of the business. Opportunities may then be phased and a roadmap created.

4 – Identify any business obstacles that lie in your path and herd resources towards a joined-up mobile vision, using a clear implementation plan. Explore if small technical advances are possible – remember, it’s easier to justify larger scale transformation once you’ve proven an initial test.

5 – Identify a partner that has experience in building apps for large companies who can deliver tangible value through mobility. They should be able to address not only the snazzy front-end design and development, but also the tricky back-end integration.

What’s more, they should also be able to contribute to your strategy by helping you quantify the financial, legal and customer benefits of rolling out these types of apps, to make the business case to develop the app.