Who’s In Charge of My Mobile App?

With mobile investment levels increasing, it's important to establish definitive mobile organizations with a clear mobile app management strategy.

Ported Post: This entry was originally published in the Artisan Mobile blog. Artisan was rebranded as In-App Marketing after being acquired by TUNE in July of 2015. 

You know that thing where everyone’s in charge of getting a task completed… so nobody takes individual responsibility… and it takes forever to get something done? Unfortunately, that scenario plays out repeatedly in companies trying to sort out their mobile app strategies. One of the main reasons is that in many organizations today, the functions of mobile app management straddle areas of strategy, product development, IT, and marketing. Ask any company ‘Who’s in charge of your mobile app management strategy?’ and you might get any of the following responses:

1. The UX/web team
2. Mobile guys
3. A third-party company
4. The e-commerce team
5. I don’t know. Let me check on that.

Now that mobile investment levels are ramping up, however, it’s more important than ever for companies to establish definitive mobile organizations with clear lines of responsibility and authority. By formalizing an organizational structure around your mobile vision and business objectives, you gain the ability to be proactive rather than reactive with your mobile app management strategy. It speeds up decision making and prevents apps from stagnating, or worse, creating a negative impression with customers.

Consider: You want your mobile apps to engage consumers as their mobile behaviors continue to evolve. You want your apps to integrate seamlessly with other channels of communication. And most importantly, you want your mobile apps to help improve business results. It’s difficult to achieve those goals without a coherent organizational design behind your mobile app management strategy.

If you’re still wondering who’s in charge the mobile app management strategy at your organization, it’s time to make a change. Flurry predicts that by the end of 2013, consumers will be downloading two billion iOS and Android apps per week. Don’t get lost in the crowd.