The Power of Mobility: How Your Business Can Compete and Win in the Next Technology Revolution

By Russell McGuire

Praise For The Power of Mobility: How Your Business Can Compete and Win in the Next Technology Revolution

"Mobility is the next technology force that is redefining how businesses operate. Going forward, the winners will be 'anywhere enterprises' that learn how to combine the Power of Mobility with broadband connectivity to create competitive advantage. Russell's book lays out a straightforward road map for how to do just that."
--Berge Ayvazian, Chief Strategy Officer, Yankee Group

"Our experience has proved that integrating the mobility of our services into the lives of students creates tremendous opportunities and new value. The ideas presented in this book will serve organizations and businesses of all types well as they explore the innovative growth that can come with the Power of Mobility."
--Dr. Karen Pennington, Vice President, Student Development and Campus Life, Montclair State University

"For many professionals, the workplace is no longer a 'place, ' and the work day is no longer a 'day.' The Power of Mobility shows us that companies that recognize this fundamental shift are in the best position to take advantage of mobility to increase business agility, transform the way they serve customers, and enable exciting new business models."
--Don Proctor, Senior Vice President, Collaboration Software Group, Cisco

"What businesses need is a plain English explanation of the new values and disciplines of the Mobility Age. In The Power of Mobility, Russell McGuire provides that clear guidance without the 'technospeak.'"
--Clint Parr, Chief Executive Officer and President, Anyware Mobile Solutions

"Companies that figure out how to keep employees connected and leverage context have the opportunity to outperform their peers in the marketplace. The Power of Mobility explains what this all means in simple terms, describes how companies can build mobility into their businesses, and provides helpful examples for those wanting to gain competitive advantage."
--H.P. Jin, PhD, Chief Executive Officer & President, TeleNav Inc.

"The Power of Mobility prepares you, in a step-by-step fashion, to interpret the opportunity presented by mobility into your firm's environment."
--Danny Briere, Chief Executive Officer, Telechoice

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B007YZS7ZO
• ISBN13: 9780470171288
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A book about moving away from bricks and mortar shops and going online as a digitized company.

I liked this book. It reminded me that the way we do business in the US, Europe,and worldwide is changing. Personal computers, the Internet, and cell phones are tools in a digital world. And these tools enable a business to be mobile or remote from the customer. The author calls this the beginning of the Age of Mobility (AOM). Not all businesses have accepted the fact that we are entering AOM. And not all customers are willing to take advantage of the AOM in making their purchases. But times are changing and the shift to the AOM is moving quickly today. This book explains a seven-step process by which any business can shift its operations to take full advantage of the AOM. These seven steps include: Step 1: Digitize Step 2: Connect Step 3: Evaluate Step 4: Limit Step 5: Position Step 6: Protect Step 7: Learn from your customers So when is a law firm going to provide legal advice via email instead of through face-to-face sit-down consultations? When are document reviewers going to be able to do legal discovery work from their bedrooms instead of commuting to some law office? When will the big chain bookstores go out of business because their rent bankrupts them? This will happen at some point when the AOM really kicks in. We're not there yet. But this book explains that the day is coming. I would have liked the book better if the line spacing of the book had been smaller. The book was not all that long and the line spacing made it appear the book was being artificially elongated. Also, I would have liked the book better if the endnotes at the end of each chapter had been saved for the end of the book or possibly omitted altogether. Seeing them made be feel like I was reading a high school term paper. But the content of the book was good. And the writing was reasonable. 4 stars!

Mobility is the new Internet Age

McGuire is a smart guy and I love everything he writes. He's deep in the Strategy group at Sprint and knows his mobility as well as his technology. He's got this knack of prognosticating the future of techology around us, and how it will impact you, ... and it's really important, I think, to read what he writes, if you are going to stay abreast of all that's going on, and it's impact on you. (And I'm a consultant so I'm already supposed to know all of this stuff.) In The Power of Mobility, McQuire posits and then backs up that the Next Technology Revolution will be all built around mobility, and if you want to keep your job, whatever that is, you'd better be thinking now about how to build mobility into your products and strategies. And then he tells you how to do it and how to think mobility in all aspects of your operations. The book is a quick read, but in its examples, it brings home the issues he's talking about. You can only agree with his fortune telling about mobility, and what this means for your business. Then presumably the hard part begins for all of us -- enacting powerful mobility strategies to keep up with the new Age of Mobility.

Author's Notes

I am the author, so I'm biased :) Here's how I describe The Power of Mobility: When the Internet wave hit corporate shores in 1995, half the business world said Oh wow! and half said Oh no! That bifurcated reaction is typical of technology trends that disrupt how business gets done. The same emotional responses erupted in the mid-1980s when computing power burst out of the basement and onto workers' desktops. Strong positive and negative responses are totally justified as disruptive forces release both power and danger that radically impact the rules of competition. In fact, in both the above cases, the impact lasted over a decade, with management attention dominated by capturing the power and managing the danger of the PC from the mid-1980s and capturing the power and managing the danger of the Internet from the mid-1990s to today. Whenever technology disrupts business patterns, the companies that catch the power wave and avoid the danger reefs create tremendous value for their customers and ultimately for their shareholders. Obviously, seeing the wave coming makes a huge difference. Amazingly, although most companies chose to ignore them, there were clear indicators well in advance of both the PC and Internet revolutions. Moore's Law observed the financial reality that anticipated the economic benefit of moving computing power from the data center to the desktop. Similarly, Metcalfe's Law modeled the chain reaction of network value creation that drove sudden rapid adoption of the Internet. Business leaders and technologists are obliged to scan the horizon for the indicators of the next technology wave that can either crush them or carry them to new heights of success. The Law of Mobility raises the flag on the impending deluge of power and danger unleashed in the emerging Age of Mobility. The core of the book is The Seven Steps to the Power of Mobility. This section clearly defines the specific thought processes and actions required for businesses determined to win in the new Mobility Age. Additionally, the book includes seven specific examples of companies that have successfully followed the seven steps to redefine the rules of competition in their industries. Although the primary focus of the book is on the implications for businesses, every reader will resonate with the changes that are described that are infiltrating every aspect of our lives. A powerful aspect of the book, and truly of the Mobility Age, is that the continued blurring of the lines between our work and our non-work lives allow us to envision and apply the Power of Mobility to our everyday activities in a way that is captivating and exciting. We live the Power of Mobility everyday. The grocery list e-mailed to my phone as I drive from work to the store. Checking project status while standing with my son in the Lego aisle at Toys-R-Us. Providing coaching to a team member heading into an executive meeting while I'm stuck in traffic during a family vacation. The Power of