Mobility (next generation #1)

Welcome to a new series of articles about the "next generation of Information Systems". Let me guide you through the series, starting with this first topic: Mobility.

A friend used to say: children will not understand why phones were connected to the walls. That is true today and a simple image of how Mobility technology reached its' peak.

We have today all the mobility we need (important exception made to neglected rural areas and development countries). Devices and infrastructure ensure anytime, anywhere connectivity, yes, of voice, but mostly data. It's a fact it will only improve in speed, latency and coverage and in 20 years we'll forget the old times of Gigabits like today we forgot ADSL (obsolete acronym). But it's also a fact we have (essentially) all we need today (it will be a recurring topic in this series).

But let’s look at Mobility also from the User perspective. For the User, being Mobile means using a plethora of platforms (devices, operating systems, …), depending on the context (location, activity, …). Inside premises we have Mobility scenarios when a tablet or smartphone is used in a meeting room while the laptop stayed at the desk, a smartphone or PDA is used to register a code or action in the warehouse or even when an object logs its state change (let’s not forget IoT, the Internet of Things). Scenarios outside organization boundaries are more frequent, from sales reps registering customer visits to the vehicle fleet logging locations and everything in between. And "everything" should be taken literally, to the point it’s becoming “IoE”: the Internet of Everything.

Mobility is not only a challenge of location coverage but also of platform independence. Being mobile depends on connectivity and the usage of multiple platforms that provide seamless interactions between Users, Devices and the Information Systems.

Since the 90’s we’ve built an amazing platform: The Web. Because its’ creators decided to distribute it, open source it and give up on any usage rights, not only it scaled like nothing else so far but also it is now almost forgotten as it is ubiquitous. Also almost forgotten are Web Accessibility guidelines, initially supposed to be inclusive for those with special needs but immediately adopted as general guidelines because not only almost all of us have any form of limitation at several degrees (e.g. vision) but also all of us can benefit of Web Sites, tools and technologies that are designed to be used in any context.

The ”next generation” is built over Mobility. We’ll use Information Systems anytime, anywhere. Actually, devices will contribute with data every time, everywhere. And any solution, application or system that prevent us to do so shall not be part of that future. Certainly, some concessions might be made and some limitations might be acceptable. But overall, we can’t anymore accept our organizations will live in the imprisonment of “it’s not possible, you have to…” whatever.

Yes, Mobility is Freedom, I like the idea.

Note: this is a series on Information Systems, the big umbrella that guide organizations to treat data, from the subjacent technologies to the processes and people that operate them. Any big umbrella can cover a lot of topics, but this series is clearly focused on the future of Information Systems and how organizations should prepare for them.

Note 2: it’s the future because many organizations are somehow stuck in challenges that many more have overcome. But if you ask me, I think it should be (and actually is for some) the present.

Note 3: it is based on my experience, it may diverge from any other person or organization’s perspective, and it will certainly be incorrect as any other futuristic exercise. My expectation is that it may provide perspective on what should organizations be aware of, on top of following the flow provided by social media, PR and other mass deviation mechanisms. And because of that, comments and feedback are welcomed.