Digital convergence is happening faster than we realize, and just as the PC industry innovated at dramatic rates in the past, the mobile device industry is now the hotbed of innovation because of the intense level of competition.
So what does this mean for our profession? Some ideas and possibilities …
• More of an outcry from staff for more “friendly” devices such as iPhones. We’ll all need to understand where and why the outcry is happening.
• Less patience from our road warriors for accessing and updating information when they are travelling.
• More demand for ease of updating information such as contact reports using mobile devices.
• Our staff will face increasing challenges from having to support multiple device platforms.
• The distinction between 'personal' and 'corporate provided' devices will continue to blend. This has its own set of security and policy issues.
• Others?
We will all have to be creative in our managing and understanding the effects of convergence within our organizations.
A few thoughts on tactics ….
• Experiment early. If you haven’t done so already, deploy a few experimental devices in your organization so you can start to understand the issues and opportunities.
• Start to develop clear policy and management standards. i.e. What happens if a mobile device with donor information on it is lost?
• Start to receive training on developing content and applications for mobile devices.
• Lobby your fundraising software vendors on what you feel their strategy needs to be to deploy your fundraising software on a mobile platform.
• Make sure you understand the interfaces between mobile devices and social networking platforms.
If we could really predict the future we wouldn’t need to. However, there are some clear mega trends emerging and as leaders for enabling technology in our organizations, we simply can’t afford to sit still.
Many years ago we had to make decisions such as whether we used IBM DOS, Microsoft DOS or some other operating system. The spreadsheet revolutionized our approach to digital prediction and planning. We’re now at another see (sea) change to information access and management.
Don’t be caught “out of water” on this one.
Brian Dowling
brian.dowling@supportingadvancement.com