“Anywhere, anytime, and any device”- It’s the bellwether statement of this generation and pretty much summarizes the massive shift in the way that consumers expect to be able to interact with the friends and companies that they do business with.  Consumers are also increasingly looking for simple self-service options that reduce time spent managing mundane life tasks.   Think about it. When was the last time you stood in line at a bank to withdraw money or called your airline to change a seat on a flight? Increasingly we see social and mobile technologies transforming the way that we orchestrate our daily lives.  Foursquare, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have changed the way that we communicate, share ideas, and interact with one another.    These technologies provide a new playground for individuals and companies to connect, allowing us to literally be anywhere in the world while enjoying an uninterrupted continuity in our relationships and work.

Uber, United Airlines and Bank of America are all examples of companies that have combined the power of mobile technologies with simple self-service options to remove friction from the customer experience.

For example, the United Airlines app allows me to book a flight, change a seat, request an upgrade and see what’s for dinner without having to stand-in-line or call a customer service agent.   Bank of America allows me to check my account balance, transfer money, pay bills and even deposit a check without ever stepping foot into a branch office.  Finally, Uber allows me to request a car-service, instantly know when and where the car is arriving, and pay without ever having to call, wait on hold, or fumble with cash or credit cards when I am in a hurry.

Not all of these examples are exclusive to mobile experiences, in fact the unifying factor here is the elimination of friction and eliminating high cost touch points with the consumer.  It is important for these solutions to leverage the capabilities of the platform to enhance the experience.

More than ever, we see that employees are expecting this same type of consumerized experience when interacting with their own company.  In order to support this experience companies must be willing to invest in their IT departments, and IT departments must be willing to adapt to this new mobile generation.

New applications and service delivery models are needed along with back-end processes that must be standardized and automated to support the real-time nature of user requests.   IT will need to work to deliver personalized, self-service options across their increasingly mobile and socially connected workforce.

Just as these applications and delivery models have the power to deliver new revenue streams externally; they also have similar powers to increase productivity and eliminate employee down time internally.

Simply put, IT departments must work to remove the friction between users and their services and continue to drive towards the same sort of flexibility and freedom enjoyed in their personal lives.

If you are in Orlando and want to meet in person, feel free to stop by BMC Software booth  #1112 Pacific Hall and ask one of our friendly booth workers to schedule an individual meeting or tag me in a tweet @fryfrye and we can meet up!

So what is your ideal consumer experience that you’d like to bring to the enterprise?