One of the next big things from SAP in 2011 is mobility.   Is it a game changer?  Do companies need to react with a solution or be left in the dust by their competitors?  Or is this just another concept disguised to generate more software sales?

The question I always ask myself is how did we ever survive without (plug in name of newest offering)?  Shooting from the hip, seems like mobility is a nice-to-have.  Yes, some people will benefit from the faster updates on their iphones, Droids, ipads or whatever. Suspect most will be able survive just fine with the old-school laptops and desktops.

According to IDC, by 2013, more than 1.19 billion workers worldwide will be using mobile technology, accounting for 34.9% of the workforce.  That is up from 919.4 million in 2008. Only a 4% increase in mobile workers.  So not a huge change in people that are going to be more mobile. 

However, as the mobile devices become more common place in the workforce, I do believe SAP reports, services, transactions will be implemented for mobile devices because they are asked for and not because you need it to survive.  You can survive the old way by sitting in your office to process transactions.  However, it sure is nice to have that information in an app to process immediately from my smartphone while I’m taking junior to soccer.  How big of a jump is that from using your laptop with an aircard?

With all that said, we are required to push the envelope.  Who knows what door mobility leads us?

So all things being equal, I would say the mobility push by SAP is not a game changer but another step in the evolution of how we get information.  As a result, there will be more demand for mobility consultants, and the traditional functional consultants will have to include another part of their requirements gathering and delivery to include mobility.