The New Mobile Workload and Why IT REQUIRES Margin

How do you prepare for "The New Mobile Workload" when predictability no longer exists?

The name, coined by Noel Yuhanna at Forrester Research, sounds innocuous enough: “The New Mobile Workload.” But pay close attention—the consequences couldn’t be more stark for your business.

• We’re going to do 1,000,000 transactions a day



• We’re going to do 6,000,000 transactions a week including the weekend.


• Peak usage times are from 10:30 AM to noon, and then again from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM because that’s when people come back from lunch and they’re the most productive.


• We’ll perform certain things at night because that’s when usage is lower.


• We can project our server usage, and plan when we’ll upgrade our servers.

In other words, everything was nice and predictable - and along came “The New Mobile Workload,” which is disrupting everything.

The New Mobile Workload is a perfect storm of five mobile trends with significant implications for your business:

1. Mobile is primary: 91% of mobile users keep their device within arm’s reach 100% of the time


2. Insights from mobile data provide new opportunities. 75% of mobile shoppers take action after receiving location-based messages


3. Mobile is about transacting: 96% year-to-year increase in mobile Cyber Monday sales between 2012 and 2011


4. Mobile is creating a continuous brand experience: 90% of users use multiple screens as channels come together to create integrated experiences


5. Mobile enables the Internet of Things: Global machine-to-machine connections will increase from 2 billion in 2011 to 18 billion at the end of 2022*

Here’s what this means: because everyone now has a smartphone.

• Just as quick as anything, they can be out shopping at Kohl’s, see something they like, Google it, and see if Target has it for less. They can shop anywhere and at any time.


• Just as quick as anything, social media can cause them to mob your store or your site. It just takes one Lady Gaga Tweet, or one Mark Zuckerberg recommendation (http://goo.gl/7goNrK) to take your operations to capacity and beyond.

1. Your systems need to be working efficiently


2. You have to make sure your organization has spare capacity