Some of these key details which make mass

deployment in a short timeframe problematic include:

Mobility is no longer a “one size fits all” deployment. Because each employee group uses mobile in a different way, user profiles defining application and network settings must be built for each user group and device type involved in the mobile deployment. Then, each device has to be configured and the correct user profile loaded to ensure the user has the privileges necessary to access all systems, application and data on day 1. Few enterprises are staffed to complete this detailed level of configuration.

Help desk and support teams have to be adequately trained to handle the influx of calls that come with any new mobile deployment. As mentioned previously, most new mobile deployments create a 10% to 17% spike in support calls in the first 90 days post-deployment. However, most enterprise teams build staffs to accommodate “run rate, normal” support volumes, not the spikes in call volume that come post-deployment and with every subsequent upgrade. As a result, these overworked support teams have to do more during peak support times often at the expense of another part of the project.

Quality Assurance testing is critical in deployment. To ensure a positive “out of the box” user experience, quality assurance checks must be made on each device, including specific configuration settings, software settings and verification that all cables, user instructions and other accessories make it into the final kit. Few enterprises are equipped to complete these exhaustive checks at scale, and each of the checks is critical to delivering a flawless user experience.

Not only is this quality control effort an often overlooked part of the process, the costs of this extensive quality control can be significant.(For more information, see this paper’s sidebar, “Failure to launch due to lack of quality checks.”)The complexity of deploying mobile to thousands of users in 90 days or less is extremely complex due to all of the details outlined above, which is why most enterprise teams struggle to execute mass deployments.“One-size-fits-all” Gives Way to Personalized Mobile
As mentioned above, each user group, or sometimes individual user, has to be considered and user profiles created and loaded to meet their needs. This highly-personalized aspect of deployment can be taken a step further with the use of personalized portals that allow users to order their mobile devices online. The portal matches configuration device details to the order. Then, the user receives the configured device at a location of choice: office, home, nearest facility or even a remote location. This highly personalized experience of delivering mobile devices and enterprise services to each user is becoming the norm. (For more information as to how personalized deployments can be achieved on a mass scale, see this paper’s airline case study, “How an airline used MMS to leverage enterprise mobile.”)Few enterprises and their IT teams are able to accommodate this level of personalized service on an enterprise scale. Yet, this personalized mass deployment is exactly what users expect. The wide gap is getting wider, creating yet another major factor contributing to lackluster or failing deployments.Lack of Experience Risks Mass Deployment Success
Compounding the need to scale and move quickly is the inexperience of most enterprise IT teams in deploying mobile across the organization. Only a scant few internal teams have completed an enterprise-wide mobile deployment once or twice before, while most enterprise teams have never managed such a project. That lack of current mobile-specific expertise is a challenge at initial deployment and again at each subsequent deployment.