Mobile Content Management and The New Rules of Mobile Marketing

I’ve been thinking a lot about how new technologies and greater adoption of smart phones will impact how we find information online.

Studies indicate the consumer adoption rate of mobile devices (smartphones) is significantly faster compared to the adoption rates of laptop computers and wired Internet access. Basic mobile devices are everywhere. Market saturation of smartphone devices and mobile internet access is not far behind.

Nearly 5 billion people on our planet are now mobile customers. Mobile devices are becoming full-fledged platforms running a wide range of applications. Both realities mean mobile devices will augment or supplant personal computers as the new e-business channel for employees and customers.

What does this proliferation of mobile devices mean for the content management professional, our information management and content publishing strategies and the software that we use to provide services to our organizations ?

Mobile Access to Content

Just when we thought we had all wrapped our head around developing interfaces for small phone sized devices (remember WAP?), not only do the phone screens keep getting bigger, but now we have this class of ‘pads’, slates or tablets, with screen’s ranging from 7 to 10 inch diagonals. And it's not just about the screen size, there's also resolution. The screen resolution of the pads / slates / tablets are all different, with different orientations and generally different user interaction paradigms.

Web Page Versus App

This brings us to something which appears to be a common topic for debate recently with respect to this class of devices, and their smaller smart phone cousins; web standards versus custom Applications.
Instead of attempting to configure a separate mobile web interface for your systems, you could create in house specific applications. Maybe your major application vendors have jumped on the iPad band wagon and already created a generic App so you don't need to worry about development (just deployment).

The argument against Apps is the fragmentation of the internet, i.e. we should stick with the web as a delivery channel and the well established web standards. So you code your new interface in HTML 5 and use other standards to ensure your systems can be accessed from iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows smart phone devices.

So apps versus web interface is an interesting debate, but one which might be highly contextual, depending on the approach the vendors take to licensing their Software Development Kits (SDK's). Even so, the lowest common denominator is going to be the fact that all these devices have web browsers.

Another element of managing content for these devices is how they interact with software services, and whether your use of these devices may tie you into 'cloud computing'. For example because the iPad is essentially a 'consumer device' and does not have a user accessible file system, many apps rely on integration with cloud systems such as Box.net for moving or synchronizing content. That might be OK for some organizations, but maybe not for others. 

Considerations for Content Management Professionals

As always it will be highly contextual, depending on whether your organization is supporting engineers in the field with ruggedized handheld's running specialized vertical apps, or if your consultants want access to the intranet via their new BB Playbooks — we will still need to consider the following:

• Do you have a multiple channel publishing strategy (write once, publish many) for internal consumption of information? If not does the introduction of these devices mean you need one?
  
  
• Do you already have a 'mobile' strategy for allowing employee's to access internal information and services via smart phones? Can it be expanded to cover the new devices?
  
  
• Do you have the internal relationships in place to be involved in any discussions and decisions on the Application versus Web interface debate?
  
• Does 'mobile access' need to have greater priority the next time you RFI / RFP for a CMS?
  
  
• Does a cost benefit analysis of providing for example intranet access via mobile devices show net benefits for your organization?
  
  
• Do you have enough information to be able to calculate a hard / soft Return On Investment for mobile device access to your internal information?

These devices are here to stay, they will evolve rapidly, and it is has been theorized by experts that people who are used to having these devices at home, will demand the ability to use them for work. So adding 'mobile' elements to your content management and information publishing strategies just got even more important.

Does your company have policies regarding the use of mobile devices, and are you publishing content through multiple channels. If not, should you?

Mobile Marketing

Connected consumers — those who do online shopping, networking and sharing — are seeking mobile devices with similar expectations for productivity. They want accessibility, usability and simplicity, with user experiences tailored to their devices. They also want the mobile experience to be customized to their immediate needs and use patterns, often with a blend of “offline” and “online” experiences.

At minimum, a brand’s mobile strategy and budgets should be aligned to create mobile-friendly experiences across key digital touch points and critical business services.

Consumers expect a seamless, consistent interaction with their favorite brands, whether through a mobile web site or an in-store salesperson. If mobile is the bridge between channels, some consumers are decisively moving back and forth across it, while some consumers want to stay put. They are neither “online” nor “offline” – they are simply “mobile.” Consumers love this gray area, and your business better start loving it, too.

Mobile Web design and development strategies must be aligned to the fact that mobile web visitors are inherently different. Mobile Web content should be specific to mobile users looking to accomplish smaller tasks more quickly. The design, UI and functionality should be tailored specifically to varying device and browser types. This makes device-recognition capability even more critical, and emphasizes streamlined delivery of content and services.

A mobile device is not just a small desktop. Taking something that works in a desktop browser with a mouse/keyboard interface and shrinking it down to mobile doesn’t cut it. What’s different? Two things: limited screen real estate, and your finger is your only input device. These two things have deep design implications.

A branded mobile app may not be a sound investment for the foundation of a mobile strategy. Consider the initial development costs and resources needed to create awareness of the app and drive downloads. Marketers need to get over their app envy and take serious consideration of:

• Whether the app can deliver business value over and above a well-executed mobile web solution;

• What aspects of the app take advantage of the inherent capabilities of the device, such as the camera or accelerometer;
  
  
• Whether an optimized, branded presence in already popular apps like Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook can accomplish the same goals as a branded standalone app.

The increasingly mobile consumer is dictating the terms of engagement with brands and marketers, setting the bar high with expectations of quality interaction through their mobile devices.

Is Your Next Laptop a Smartphone?

The smartphone might not be one's first choice for spreadsheets and documents, but let's face it, everybody has one (in business, anyway, all over the world), and those that have one will buy a new one sometime in the next two years as cellular products and wireless technologies continue their rapid evolution. The level of capability in contemporary smartphones is remarkable and continues to grow.

Smartphones are as powerful as PCs from just a few years ago, with significantly better software, user interfaces, and flexibility. Smartphones won't replace the laptop for typical business users, but over the next few years, many people -- my guess is 12% to 15% of business users -- will be able to leave their laptop at the office and handle essentially all of their mobile computing and communications tasks with a pocket-sized device.

As you might guess, size here is both an advantage and a challenge. Smartphones need to be as small as possible for mobility while still maximizing the size of the keyboard and the display. The keyboard on a smartphone, be it physical or screen-based, is obviously never going to get bigger than is acceptable for the two-thumb typing technique, although I predict a surge in add-on Bluetooth and USB keyboards that can be quite effective for writing longer missives. The display is similarly constrained, although being able to connect (via wireless) to an external display with better resolution -- the TV in one's hotel room, for example -- should become quite popular in the future.

Networking, storage and processing aren't really issues anymore, as tiny devices can have lots of each, and a connection to the Internet addresses any concerns here in the same fashion as for computer users everywhere. A much bigger issue is battery life.

So, you might conclude at this point that there are really no showstoppers with respect to replacing a laptop computer of any form with a smartphone. But, should you conclude as such, you would be ignoring the effect of the culture surrounding the PC: From IT departments to enterprise users to just about every technology user on the planet, the PC is viewed as the mainstay of personal and corporate IT and thus a core requirement. But it is nevertheless very likely that we'll still be carrying both a notebook or Mobile Internet Device and a smartphone for some time -- well into the foreseeable future. I think that my 12% to 15% number above will grow over time, however, as Web services and cloud computing become the popular, if not dominant, model for enterprise IT.

For now the convenience of needing only one tiny device -- again, one that everyone needs to carry anyway -- is so compelling that more progress toward the single-device solution is certain. Personally, as one who lugs way too much technology around every week, I can't wait.

HTML5: The OS Killer?

By allowing the Web to become a universal operating system, and making mobile devices more powerful than low-end laptops, HTML5 (also sometimes referred to as Web Applications 1.0) is transforming IT more profoundly than any development since the advent of the Internet. As HTML 5 becomes the widely-adopted standard for authoring on the Web, it will radically transform the IT landscape.

The Web Applications 1.0 (WA1) specification updates HTML, but that’s not all it does. WA1 also defines several application programming interfaces (APIs) that have been de facto standards, and adds new ones. WA1 improves on the abilities to use the web as an application platform by adding things such as document state storage in the browser history, local data storage, offline browsing, drag and drop, copy and paste, undo and redo history, cross document messaging, and more.

Unlike XHTML2, which doesn’t have any support from browser vendors, HTML5 has support from all the major browser vendors except Microsoft.

HTML5 is almost the Holy Grail, offering the ability to run applications regardless of the underlying operating system. While the browser isn't more important than operating system today, Google this week firmly suggested it is only a matter of time.

At its developer conference, Google demonstrated HTML5 applications support inside future versions of its Chrome browser and the future Android 2.0 operating system. Mozilla executives also promised HTML5 support inside the forthcoming Firefox 3.5 browser.

Google demonstrated how HTML5 allows tighter integration of browsers and applications, such as its Google Web Elements. Developers will be able to add applications to web sites by adding only a few lines of HTML5 code, much as they already do with Google Web Elements.

The rate of browser innovation is accelerating, with new browser releases nearly every other month. The progress towards the level of UI functionality found in desktop apps through adoption of HTML 5 features in browsers has been quite rapid. It's also fascinating to see how mobile browsers are in the forefront of the innovation.

The technology is here even if the standards committees haven't caught up. Developers are taking notice of these new features, and aren't waiting for formal approval. That's as it should be. As workers on the web today, we reject: kings, presidents, and voting. We believe in: rough consensus and running code.

Support by four major browsers adds up to "rough consensus" in my book. We're seeing running code at Google I/O, and I'd imagine the 4000 developers in attendance will soon be producing a lot more.

Never underestimate the web. We believed that web apps would never rival desktop apps. What was once thought impossible is now commonplace.

Java was supposed to raise apps above the level of the operating system, offering cross-platform "write once, run everywhere" applications that would break the coupling between an application and a specific operating system. Proponents predicted Windows would become less important with the rise of Java apps.

While Java has accomplished a great deal, it's potential as an OS-killer has not been realized. HTML5 has a better shot.

What does this mean for users?

HTML5 is a standard that is still being developed and is likely to remain so for several years. Its focus on running applications within the browser is an important driver of interest in cloud computing, where applications live somewhere off on the Internet and are delivered by the browser.

The focus of future browsers will shift from "going places" to "doing things." This will be a boon to free operating systems, which will increasingly be able to hide themselves under the browser user interface. While Windows and Mac OSX won't go away overnight, the pressure on them will be to innovate beyond the browser, perhaps through a common set of extensions for HTML5 applications to use.

It is too early to start betting against desktop operating systems from the major vendors. However, it is clear their role and importance is likely to change--and probably diminish--as browsers become dominant in users' lives.