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"By Todd McKinnon, Contributor\n\n  \nFORTUNE &amp;#8212; We hear so much about the \u2018mobile enterprise\u2019\u00A0that it\u2019s difficult to really know what it all means, or why it matters. A future where employees work from the device of their choosing intimidates many business leaders, causing them to fret about complexity and the security and compliance implications of an increasingly mobile world.\nIt was all so much easier before.\nBut lamenting the challenges of mobile is shortsighted and ignores both its inevitability and its massive potential to bring real value to companies. If you\u2019re a leader of a company, you should start paying attention to the following trends to get your company\u2019s mobile pieces in place for the future.\nThere\u2019s An App for That&amp;#8230;Now\nIt wasn\u2019t long ago that mobile devices were completely novel. I remember my first mobile phone: It looked like a brick, and beyond allowing me to make phone calls at $1.99 per minute, had about the same level of usefulness. We\u2019ve certainly come a long way. Now, you can cash checks by just snapping a picture, book a town car with the press of a button and pay for your morning coffee by swiping your phone. Oh, you can make phone calls, text and check your email, too.\nThink about it: Just 10 years ago, we had fax machines, PBX boxes (remember those?) and those clunky cell phones. Today, buoyed by the cloud, we\u2019re drowning in email, tablets and smartphones at every turn. Change happens fast, and in ten years, the technology we use at work and at home will look very different from how it looks today.\nSent From a Tiny Computer in My Back Pocket\nAccording to the International Telecommunications Union, there are more than one billion smartphone users worldwide, and almost six billion mobile phone users total. (Note: The world\u2019s population is around seven billion right now \u2013 it seems that even toddlers are texting.) People all over the globe, even those who lack basic infrastructure such as running water, are chatting wirelessly. Mobile is already huge \u2013 whether you\u2019re in Kabul, Kalamazoo or Kathmandu.\nThe most exciting part is that is that we\u2019re just getting started.\nOver the next several years, smartphones will increasingly replace unconnected mobile phones, which means that almost everyone on the planet will have a tiny computer in their back pocket. And they\u2019ll be doing more work on those computers, no matter their industry. Nearly every job in the world will become a \u2018computer job\u2019 \u2014 not just white-collar desk jobs. Oil rig workers miles out at sea, plumbers making house calls and, yes, office workers will all rely on smart mobile devices to do their jobs. Not only does this open up new ways for companies to connect with billions of employees, customers and partners, but it\u2019s also an opportunity for forward-thinking leaders to redefine how their companies communicate, collaborate and train employees in the \u201Cmobile-first\u201D world we\u2019re quickly approaching.\nThis shift also spells the end for the multiplicity of specialized mobile devices in many industries. Standalone GPS receivers, building badges, television remote controls, MP3 players and those rugged mobile devices the UPS driver uses to scan packages and capture signatures will soon become obsolete. This consolidation into a single device \u2013 the smartphone \u2013 will also cause other products that we use in our daily lives to become more efficient and to work seamlessly with smartphones. We\u2019re already seeing this in vehicles that read drivers\u2019 Twitter and Facebook feeds and in smart appliances that allow homeowners to adjust the temperature or activate the alarm while on vacation.\nAnd that innovation is not reserved for our personal lives \u2013\u00A0hardly. When CEOs think about computing and how employees will work in five years, they should envision one super powerful, personally owned device that\u2019s always on, supplemented by a network of peripheral devices at home and at work that are just as agile. That\u2019s the direction we\u2019re headed. Fast. And the implications will be as profound in business as they will be in our personal lives, a line that continues to blur as we all become more connected.\nBYOD is Not BS &amp;#8211; It\u2019s the Beginning\nFor businesses, the first step toward a mobile-first reality is ensuring that their employees are connected to the information they need \u2014 no matter where they work or what device they use. The Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) trend we\u2019ve seen popping up in headlines is only the beginning of this shift. In a few years, a company not allowing employees to access company applications and content from their personal devices will be as unthinkable as a company not providing computers to their employees today.\nThe good news is that many businesses are seeing the light and are now encouraging employees to work from personal mobile devices. And those that have are already reaping the benefits, including fewer hardware costs and improved employee satisfaction and productivity. Take Pandora Media (P) as an example. The company\u2019s CFO, Steve Cakebread, has noticed increased employee productivity and happiness by allowing Pandora employees to use the devices with which that they\u2019re already familiar, while also saving the company on hardware and training costs. A win-win, indeed.\nOf course, the shift to a mobile-first environment isn\u2019t as simple as sending company-wide email or a relaying a directive from the CIO. There are security and compliance issues that come into play as organizations open up their access channels, with employees potentially being the weakest link.\nStill, if the plan is built correctly and has the proper measures in place, the benefits organizations stand to see from fully embracing mobile far outweigh the risks or challenges in doing so. Companies that resist this shift will feel the pinch in the future. I\u2019d compare it to the feeling of being stuck with a brand new typewriter when the first personal computers started rolling out in the 1980s.\nHitching Your Wagon \u2013 Betamax vs. VHS, Redux\nOf course, hidden within all of this opportunity are the pitfalls we all hope to avoid. Right now, the biggest mistake to make would be hitching to the wrong wagon \u2013 or mobile platform, in this case. Today, it\u2019s iOS vs. Android, with RIM slipping into irrelevance and Microsoft scrambling to catch up. To get an idea of which way the wind is blowing, company leaders must look at where the most popular apps are available and hedge toward that platform. This is important when buying packaged applications and services, and when you\u2019re building your own internally. You don\u2019t want to commit the company to the next Betamax or HD DVD.\nIn the not-so-distant future, nearly every job will be a mobile one. To take advantage of that mobile-first future, more companies need to build competency in mobile development. Money spent on customization has always dwarfed packaged software \u2014and mobile will be no different. Companies need to aggressively invest in this future or risk irrelevance. That means either focusing on their own application development or working with forward-thinking partners who understand the mobile and cloud forces that are reshaping business. Companies won\u2019t just be able to rely on legacy vendors, all of which have decades of pre-mobile inertia built into their products, to react swiftly enough.\nThe future\u2019s within reach for any company willing to embrace and invest in mobile, instead of relying on yesterday\u2019s software, no matter how comfortable it may seem today.\nTodd McKinnon is the CEO of\n   \n  Okta\n, a company he co-founded in 2009 with the mission of empowering enterprises to realize the full benefits of their cloud-based applications. \u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://fortune.com/2012/07/13/what-the-mobile-enterprise-really-means/?iid=EL/>