We are living in game-changing times, and the playing field for business is being leveled. In fact, it’s more than rapid evolution; we’re really in the midst of a revolution.
When we have major revolutions taking place (like the cloud, iPhones, iPads, smart tablets, Androids, Blackberries, etc.), most business people tend to think about the device. In other words, they see all the smart phones and smart tablets and notice that their customers are using them, so they ask, “How can we take advantage of that?”
That’s the wrong question. What they really need to do is step back and come up with an enterprise-wide mobility strategy to accelerate growth that includes apps, tablets, and smart phones, rather than focus on the apps, tablets, and smart phones themselves.
In fact, very few companies have thought through how to use mobility to drive business process transformation, not even Blackberry—and they’re a mobility company. Rather, they’re still focusing on the software…and they’re taking their time.
That’s a recipe for disaster. It used to be that the big ate the small. Today, the fast eat the slow. So the longer you wait to do anything, the more you fall behind.
Playing catch-up is never a smart move, but it seems that Blackberry is continually trying to catch up to Apple and Android. As a result, Blackberry is not looking at really helping companies develop a game-changing mobility strategy using their devices. Rather, they’re still focused on the device itself.
What should Blackberry do? They should start by looking at their biggest asset (and it’s not their device). Let’s face it…most people use Blackberries today because their company says they have to. You’ve probably seen business people carrying two smart phones: the one they have to use and the one they want to use.
So what’s the real asset that Blackberry needs to leverage? Their highly-secure mobile data network.
Knowing this, Blackberry has to ask, “Which companies would be interested in a highly-secure mobile wireless network?” Not every company would want one, but a lot of big companies would.
When Blackberry focuses on developing and leveraging their network in the right way—not just for voice and email but for highly-secure and sensitive data that’s sent in a wireless way—they’ll finally gain the competitive advantage they need and potentially emerge as the mobility leader.
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