Sitting On the Plane Talking about Enterprise Mobility

If you have the chance, avoid sitting next to me on a plane. I like to talk, and I particularly like to talk about enterprise mobility.  Last night an unfortunate Accenture consultant sat down next to me. He was on a call with his project team that was working on a large BI (business intelligence) project.  I got so excited just listening to the acronyms roll off of his tongue.  I could hardly wait for him to hang-up the phone so I could jump in and talk with him in the brief seconds before he could pull out his Bose sound canceling headset.  I succeeded.

He shared his background, 15 years working for Accenture, focused on BI in the Fortune 100, travels every week.  I told him my background and shared my enthusiasm for enterprise mobility and mobile strategies.  He turned and looked at me, and said as only a geek could do, "I hate mobility."

He went on to say he is constantly asked to give presentations on mobile BI.  The problem is, they never buy his solutions.  This puzzled me.  Why would Fortune 100 companies have so much interest in mobile BI, but never close a deal with Accenture?  What do you think?

In my recent 2012 Mid-Year Enterprise Mobility Survey, the survey respondents said they expected to get ROIs from improved decision due to receiving real-time data and reports.  In my previous 2011 survey, real-time BI reporting also was ranked a top three in priority.  So we can see that companies believe it is very important.

The priorities were ranked from 1 to 10.  One is the top priority.

In the case of the Accenture consultant, however, his clients express a keen interest without buying.  He then went on to ask me, "Companies don't really buy mobility do they?"  I hesitated.  Then answered, "Of course they do.  They are buying at record levels from nearly all mobility vendors that I interview." 

I have some opinions, but I would like to hear from you.  Why would Fortune 100 companies be keen to learn, but not buy mobile BI from the unfortunate consultant that was seated beside me on the plane?

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst and Mobile Strategy Consultant

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Full Disclosure: I am a mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.