Enterprise mobility has become an improvement necessary to stay competitive in almost every industry. The approach, as well as the execution, can be quite different, but here are three sectors that have powerful ways of deploying mobile applications in their businesses:

Insurance

For the last few years, insurance companies all over the world have been struggling with ever increasing churn rates. As consumers have got used to adopt technologies to shop the best deals, they began to change insurance providers every chance they got, heating up the price competition.

Technology soon became an outstanding differentiator: just as the price, the easiness of managing their insurance mattered for the customer. But as a next step, businesses needed employee-facing apps for a real competitive advantage.

According to CapGemini’s World Insurance Report 2016, new entrants building their operations around digital services are considered the biggest threat by insurers. The rise of connected technologies and tech-savvy customers can make the demand for technological advancement necessary.

Sales processes, for example, have gone entirely digital in insurance, and the customer is usually given full control over the calculations of his or her rates. Participation throughout the whole process is a ubiquitous demand by the connected generation.

This requires a robust digital tool that supports the agent and the customer with real-time data and compelling visuals while capturing client data all along the way. The same tool opens the way to a set of innovative features, such as a custom presentation or a social map of prospects.

Utility/Energy

With decreasing prices and alternative service providers in renewable energy popping up from all corners, plus the outdated processes and organizational structures still in place, energy and utility companies also feel the pressure rising. They have more specific problems, too: to deal with high-value assets and various compliance issues. Improvements in technology have so far been out of consideration.

Mobility, on the other hand, has proven its value in several markets already. Equipping the field service team with enterprise apps on their mobile devices results in real-time, location-based data gathering that allows a more effective asset management,  collaboration, and reporting. For example, the administrators can immediately reassign tasks in case of any problems on the field. Workers can also access all data while out and about, like technical specifications or inventory for changing parts. Mobility is also able to boost the sales of services: with innovative mobile solutions, utility providers can easily include sub-contractor services while still keeping full control over the offerings.

Retail

Retailers are really at the forefront of the mobile movement, as their interest became obvious sooner than in any other industry, in implementing mobile solutions for the customers. The rapid expansion of e-commerce and the need to reposition offline channels made it more important than ever to give customers a seamless shopping experience.

In the convergence of the online and offline, mobile emerged also as a savior for more streamlined operations, although the challenge in developing employee-facing mobile apps compared to customer-facing ones soon became evident. Those that were developed for long-term use, with a workflow-based approach, and scalability in mind, became the most successful.

Today, the most advanced retail mobility apps provide customer data for a better understanding of demand, real-time supply or inventory information making operations among brands or branches more seamless. Furthermore, these smart tools enable store visitors to easily administer and report the performance of different locations, products, or sales personnel.