2011 was the year smartphones and smart devices started to really reach mainstream adoption.  With that, came a surge of devices into enterprise environments.   Many IT organizations struggled to build policies and best practices – as they tried to keep up with the introduction of so many tablets like the Kindle Fire, RIM Playbook and Apple iPad, among many others.  

 

According to Esther Shein of Information Week, 2012 is the year of the tablet!  This claim is only further supported in David Willis, chief of research and communications at Gartner: 

"This year, IT organizations will embrace [tablets] and finally recognize [their]

 legitimate business uses. IT thought this was another hoola-hoop in the beginning 

and as it turned out[BYOD] is not a fad; it does make people more productive 

throughout the day." 

 

According to Gartner’s latest forecast, Media tablet sales will continue to experience strong growth through the end of 2015, when sales are forecasted to reach 326.3 million units.  Willis also states that in order for ERP, CRM, and other business application vendors to be successful in their tablet version apps, they will have to redesign to avoid the desktop experience. Be prepared to see more sales reps with tablet in hand as 2012 progresses.

Speaking of the mobile trend, Business2Community agrees with Making Customer Relationship Management Mobile. Vivek Thomas of Maximizer CRM, states that CRM mobility can provide additional sales insight, data, and real-time forecasting resulting in increased productivity. 

“Mobile CRM isn’t just a cost-cutter, but a value-adder that an increasing 

number of forward-thinking companies can’t do without.”

 

Would mobility allow you to be more proactive as well as reactive when it comes to sales? Dennis Pobriant of Beagle Research wrote a piece for CRM Buyer inviting salespeople to get reactive.  The article notes that: “Current Tools Fall Short!”

We at SAVO feel that sales enablement is a critical factor in the overall mobility ecosystem.   It’s critical that organizations bridge the gap between the C-suite’s strategic revenue initiatives and their execution in the field. CRM systems only offer partial relief here.  Effectively managing the implementation of strategic revenue initiatives requires sales enablement technology and functional alignment to ensure the vision is executed in the field and the growth gap is closed between corporate execution and buyer decision.  Mobility is a key part of this equation and we’ve been out in front of this trend for some time.