The IBM Institute for Business Value has produced a great research paper called “The ‘upwardly mobile’ enterprise.” In this series of blog posts, I intend to give my thoughts and insights as a mobile infrastructure strategy consultant on the ground and in the trenches.

In my previous blog post, “Mobile strategy: Thoughts on the IBM “‘Upwardly mobile’ enterprise” study,” I discussed the finding that “only half of all companies have a well-defined mobile strategy.” In this post, I’ll be focusing on the leadership needed to develop a successful mobile enterprise strategy.

The IBM study claims that “Today, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) plays a prominent role in the majority of mobile strategy activities.” In fact, the CIO was identified as the primary figure in the mobile strategy decision-making process, ranking number one in four of the five categories (the CFO leads funding efforts with strong support from the CIO).

The statistics from the study are congruent with my experience working with clients: the CIO (or equivalent) is typically my sponsor as we execute mobile infrastructure strategy engagements. We report to a committee consisting of the other roles identified on the chart above, among others. I believe this is the most appropriate and effective model.

One thing to note is that the study chart shows clear involvement early in the process from line-of-business (LoB) leaders; however, their involvement appears to drop off significantly after the first two sets of activities. That is a potential challenge for organizations, as it appears that a “handoff” is occurring when an LoB executive charters a mobile initiative yet leaves it in the hands of others during the rest of these early stages. During my engagements, I strongly encourage my sponsor to keep the LoB leaders involved within the governance committee so they can continue to be aware of progress, provide input and steer the strategy.

Overall, the study highlighted the need for greater cross-functional participation in mobile initiatives. As one banking executive noted:

“Our governance structure—which includes representatives from finance, risk, operations, customer service, product and application development, project management, technology, marketing and strategy—has been immensely effective in terms of increasing the precision and speed with which we deploy mobile solutions. The substantial membership of our governance team is reflective of how digital affects everything we do and the importance of collaboration.”

From my experience, the study reflects the framework of mobile strategy leadership that I work within every day. While the CIO is usually the individual that is responsible for the development of the mobile infrastructure strategy, a broad representation of leadership from all areas of the organization is key to overseeing the development of the strategy and beyond.

Is the CIO leading the way for mobile strategy in your organization, or is it someone with another senior leadership role?

Want to learn more? Learn how IBM MobileFirst Infrastructure Consulting Services can help. And tweet me @seanphair.

Technorati Tags: Chief Information Officer, CIO

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