Strategic Planning for Enterprise Mobility: A Readiness-Centric Approach

Strategic planning for information and communication technologies (ICT) has been a topic of significant interest to both researchers and practitioners. However, the issues pertaining to emerging ICT have remained largely undeveloped. This article examines what enterprises must consider when planning for emerging ICT, with a particular focus on enterprise mobility solutions. Integrating firm-level theories from the strategic management, information technology adoption, and business transformation literature, we develop a framework that conceptualizes the overall implementation decision. We identify four motivating areas that drive adoptions of mobile ICT and reduce overall implementation risk: (1) justified business value, (2) strategic alignment, (3) reasonable cost/economics, and (4) an acceptable level of enterprise readiness. We discuss the importance of each of these areas, introduce and develop a multi-dimensional model of the relatively unexplored concept of enterprise readiness for mobility, and present findings from a global expert study. The article provides important theoretical and managerial insights to the strategic planning process and aids with the investment justification of mobile business solutions.