Mobile business technology isn't just a useful option for modern companies — it's a must-have tool. Mobile's impact started with consumers, but it's spread to business users and has become powerful in a range of industries, including real estate, insurance, banking, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. Mobile lets companies respond more quickly and directly to prospects and customers. It also helps firms collect data that provides transformative insights into markets, employees and business processes, ultimately allowing them to offer the type of user experience people want.

Business technology is quickly shifting toward mobile, but firms need to be ready to adapt to the change.

Movement Toward Mobile

As mobile growth has skyrocketed, sales of traditional desktops and laptops have slowed. The world is moving toward computing on mobile devices, and business technology has to go where the people are. But that's not the only reason to support mobile: Google's search engine now penalizes websites that are not optimized for mobile viewing. This major shift affects companies of all sizes, but has particular relevance for middle market firms. The good news? Many midsized companies are moving to cloud-based software that is inherently friendly to mobile devices, which will help those businesses provide user experiences that increase engagement and productivity.

If your company plans to become mobilecentric, it should do so intelligently. Here are five best practices to consider implementing when making the transition:

  1. Remember that mobile is king. There's a common saying in business technology these days: mobile first. It means you have to approach processes and software with the assumption that mobile is the most important platform. There are two main reasons this approach is important. One,it forces companies to address mobile rather than default to the platform that is easiest and habitual for them. And two,mobile design and implementation is significantly different from desktop and laptop software, and it is easier to go from mobile to traditional computers rather than the other way around.
  2. Learn about mobile technology's quirks. Developing mobile applications offers significant challenges. The screens are small and restrict what can be displayed at one time. Navigation has to be clear, obvious and simple. Touch interfaces don't have the precision of a mouse or graphics tablet, and there is less room for images and text. Mobile devices come in many sizes, aspect ratios, resolutions and operating system variations, so make sure your teams account for these.
  3. Have the know-how. Although it's possible to develop Web-based applications for mobile devices, you need expertise, either in-house or brought in through consultants, to use a device's full capabilities and give users the experience they expect. Experts in business technology will know how to handle issues such as waiting for data to download through mobile networks or creating cross-platform apps with specialized tools.
  4. Manage the devices. When you give employees mobile devices or access to your systems via their personal devices, you must learn how to safeguard company data. Use device management systems that let you wipe corporate data remotely and prevent the use of third-party apps that cause problems when interacting with company systems. That way, if someone leaves the company or if a phone or tablet is lost, you're covered.
  5. Get other business processes up to speed. Mobile migration improves your ability to be more responsive to customers at virtually any hour of the day. Therefore, you need to ensure that other aspects of the business work in sync. Gathering information does little good if you don't have data-processing software that works well on mobile devices. Why take orders if there isn't an efficient way to fulfill them? Moving to mobile is more than providing apps, adapting websites and enabling employees' smartphones. It means changing the way you do business to be more responsive, efficient and driven by what customers want and what employees need to do their jobs.

Has your company partially or completely migrated to mobile? What were some stumbling blocks in the transition process, and what considerations did your leadership have to make? Tell us by commenting below.

Erik Sherman is an NCMM contributor and author whose work has appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, the Financial Times, Chief Executive, Inc. and Fortune. He also blogs for CBS MoneyWatch. Sherman has extensive experience in corporate communications consulting and is the author or co-author of 10 books. Follow him on Twitter and circle him on Google+.