In the last ten years we’ve seen a rapid evolution in mobile technology and the way it allows people to connect and share with friends and family anywhere, anytime.

Comparatively, in the world of business, communication often remains fragmented and information, to a varied extent, siloed. Information control, document review via email and other inefficient processes remain prevalent in corporate communications. Each archaic practice places a major drain on productivity and inhibits the growing need to deliver client and customer transparency in the digital age.

A momentous shift in business dynamics to a more collaborative, transparent, real-time, sharing economy will happen in the future, across all sectors. Openness and collaboration is how modern businesses will deliver value and earn the respect of their customers.

To accommodate this shift in business dynamics a corresponding increase in the development and use of Mobile Technologies that erode professional communication barriers between individuals, teams, businesses and entire industries will occur.

The ‘mobile worker’

Already the ‘mobile worker’ is everywhere and encompasses more than simply being able to work on the go. Mobile Technologies have created a new breed of worker who doesn’t see distance as a barrier to collaboration. They’re already free from the constraints of physical space.

In every sense of the word we’re already seeing a ‘movement’ in the way business is being done, with workers increasingly operating collaboratively from all corners of the globe. Much of this movement is a direct result of mobile technologies.

The creation of our business collaboration platform, Rundl, came from our recognition of the need to realise the true value of people working together in a streamlined way without the confinement of having to physically be in the same space.

In the future this growing trend will have a follow on effect to worker expectations and habits.

Mobile technologies will increasingly enable people to work while carrying out activities that would once have been thought of as entirely separate to work. They will naturally seek out a comfortable and collaborative working environment – in both a physical and a mental sense – as the boundaries between work and leisure are blurred.

This intermixing of work and leisure represents the shift to an “always on” workforce of the future. However the nature of the work will also change to match the new style of work. People will increasingly rely on smart algorithms for decision making and action, leaving them to play more of a monitoring role.

Professionals will evolve to be more like system administrators, not unlike the shift already made by international airline pilots, who today manage software systems that fly as much as actually flying themselves.

Clients of the digital age

The shift in employee behaviour through mobile technology is in-step with the evolution of consumer and client expectations whereby it’s no longer ok to have just one part of the answer, people want the whole story and demand context.

The driving need for transparency, sharing and efficiency will be propelled forward through mobile technologies. More and more we’re already seeing the need for digital platforms that allow companies, customers and service providers to connect, collaborate and transact, in any location, often across varied time zones.

Observing the way professionals services businesses operate on Rundl, we’ve noticed client expectations surrounding transparency and timeliness have been raised to new heights.

To live up to these expectations we’ve adopted the traits of social media for business software platforms, allowing for streamlined communication.

We are now seeing mobile technologies on the way to becoming an integral software tools to multiple sectors including business, health and government.

Why the time is now to integrate mobile tech

To summarise here’s why mobile tech will be of paramount importance to businesses of the future:

• Employees will be attracted to workplaces that allow for flexible working conditions through mobile technologies
• An intrinsic level of customer understanding will need to be reached, one where the understanding goes beyond the tech creator’s primary customer and instead delves into all stakeholders within their customer journey
• Identity will be central to operating successfully in the digital age
• Security will be tied closely to identity and will result in a decrease in anonymity
• Across multiple sectors mobile technologies will become integral – health, business, government

We are in the throes of a monumental shift in the way businesses operate and it will only be through understanding and balancing customer and employee expectations and adopting mobile technologies that enterprises can truly succeed in the digital age.