Small Businesses Steal The Show At Mobile Business EventSmall Businesses Steal The Show At Mobile Business Event

Last night I had the pleasure to moderate a panel for the New York City chapter of Mobile Monday entitled, "Mobile Business 2.0 - How Mobility Will Impact Business from the SMB to the Enterprise." We addressed the big issues that going mobile poses for so many businesses.The panel consisted of the following industry insiders:

* Stephen Woram, AuditMatic * Jim Welch, Dexterra * Sergey Fradkov, DynoPlex * Vishy Gopalakrishnan, Mobility Partners * Mark Chellis, Motorola * John Yrigoyen, NEC Unified Solutions * Ramon Ray, Smallbiztechnology.com

We opened with the customary intro pitch for each company and its role in the mobile ecosystem. The panelists included a mix of startups, an industry analyst and an online journalist, and two of the biggest hardware vendors.

After we wrapped the obligatory pitches, the panel moved to questions from the audience. Several themes emerged during our lively discussion. The first was simple: Leave the heavy lifting to the professionals. Put simply, let your solution provider and your wireless carrier help you go mobile. Don't try this on your own. Panelists gave this advice to every business, from small companies to the largest enterprises. A few audience members seemed justifiably skeptical of this advice -- especially given that many of those present were either IT staff or, in the case of the small business owners, their own IT support staff.

Another topic that emerged was the mobility and fluidity of the modern workplace. Fewer employees today are anchored to their specific desks and most work remotely on a frequent basis. This shift to a distributed workforce is impacting all levels of business (from the CEO on down the food chain) and companies of all sizes.

As panelist Ramon Ray pointed out in his blog, the next big theme was small business. Frankly, I expected the discussion to lean more to the enterprise, but most attendees were interested in the value of mobility for small companies. I was surprised by the number of small business owners present who used mobile solutions and how rapidly they were moving to leverage and evolve mobility for their companies. Most mobile business professionals assume that the real innovation is coming from the verticals -- like healthcare and field service -- but based on what I heard from both the panelists and the audience last night, I expect to see innovations coming from small companies too.

The third theme that emerged was moving beyond the ROI. This is a meme I've been hearing at mobile business events all year, but it seems to have staying power. And, surprisingly enough, none of the business owners present last night asked any ROI questions. They were much more interested in cost and in usability -- i.e. how long does it take to deploy and what can they do with the technology today.

My thanks to the panelists for a great session and to the New York Mobile Monday organizers for giving us an opportunity to discuss these pressing issues.