Mobile computing is seeing history repeat itself. Twenty
years after IT departments were turned upside down, as PCs gave
users control, they are facing a similar challenge as mobile
computing lets users take IT anywhere they like. As with the early
days of PCs, when users started buying their own machines and
software, companies need to get mobile computing under control
quickly.
One problem is that mobile devices come in a variety of forms,
from phones to laptops, and can be bought in the high street. The
variety of devices is matched by the variety of issues for IT
departments, including adapting applications, supporting mobile
working and where to go for help as network operators, integrators,
middleware specialists and device suppliers all bid for
business.
"The supply side is fragmented and inadequate, and meeting
demand is fraught with complexity," says research group Ovum.
"There is a clear mismatch between what the industry has been
prepared to supply and what enterprise customers want to buy.
Enterprise mobility has often developed despite rather than through
a central function, with purchases taking place at individual or
departmental level rather than across the organisation."
Sharon Gilkes, European IT director at software company BEA
Systems, says, "There are very few corporate policies or processes
to support the new mobile workforce, and this has created a
difficult challenge for IT departments. Devices are bought by
individuals rather than companies, but they are used to store
company information. The response to mobile requirements has to be
proactive."
Companies therefore need a strategy based on a vision of the
potential and what they want to achieve, but too often they look no
further than e-mail.
"Our recent UK research found that 65% of IT decision makers
think e-mail access while on the move is the major opportunity for
mobile workers," says Alex Black, strategy director at
communications integrator Affiniti.
"This is worrying: real increases in organisational flexibility,
employee productivity and customer service are only likely if
workers have access to key applications and information. IT
decision makers must think more strategically."
IT directors' hesitancy here is understandable, says John
O'Malley, European regional director at network access management
specialist Fiberlink. "Advances in communications and personal
computing have simplified the life of mobile workers while often
complicating life for IT managers, who must now provide for
employees and devices that are outside the corporate network.
"As one technology has replaced another most organisations have
adopted a piecemeal approach to managing mobile workers, driven by
short-term needs rather than long-term strategy. For mobile working
to be useful, secure and cost-effective, a long-term service
delivery platform is needed. Yet with so many competing mobility
requirements and corresponding technologies there are many
interpretations of what mobile working is and how it should be
carried out."
Others agree that accurately identifying mobile needs is a key
issue in defining strategy. Executives and professionals might need
to carry all their work with them on laptops, connecting to the
company network occasionally to access information and e-mails.
Personal digital assistants might be enough for sales people and
service engineers to keep their contact and diary details with them
and look up product information stored centrally for their next
call. Delivery drivers might just need to get details of their next
visit and do simple data entry after a drop.
But this might just be the start. IBM research suggests that
once executives go mobile, using laptops to work on local files
while on the move, they find that instant messaging and web
meetings, with access to shared documents, can be useful.
Even simple applications can lead to other things. The South
Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive worked with mobile
specialist FlyingSpark to equip bus shelter inspectors with units
to report vandalism and request maintenance. This is now being
extended to enable staff to enter a passenger's journey details and
provide information on the spot.
Different users might use different communication methods, from
dial-up to Wi-Fi and GPRS. This raises various issues, not least
security, which takes on another dimension as devices are taken out
of the office. An office PC might not be so flexible but it does
not get left in a bar.
Users must be involved with projects to introduce mobile IT,
otherwise they could take matters into their own hands. Nearly 66%
of office workers carry two or more devices, according to research
by network specialist Avaya, and 25% have three or more. Analyst
firm Gartner says 70% of office staff will have three mobile
devices within two years.
Users are vital for success, says Martin Day, European business
sales manager at handheld device supplier Palm. "Users' preferences
and input can make or break a mobile strategy. Projects that try to
sidestep this element rarely succeed."
Mobile users must be confident in the hardware and the overall
system, says Day. "Desktop users sit at their machines, often with
other users who can help them on features, best practices,
workarounds and so on. Mobile staff do not have this: they must be
able to turn their device on, access whatever they need and
continue with the job."
This puts the onus on IT departments to get to grips with
technology strategy, says Gilkes. "Support for mobile technology
should be an integral part of overall IT architecture. The back-end
infrastructure has to be managed in the same way, but bearing in
mind the need to support more flexibility on the front-end, which
could range from a smartphone to accessing company data in an
internet cafe."
All this means that although mobile computing is not necessarily
expensive for IT departments, it can be complicated, says Ovum
analyst Elsa Lion. Enterprise software suppliers such as SAP and
Oracle are increasingly supporting mobility in their products, but
users might need to access other systems too. Large numbers of
mobile application developers have launched products for specific
groups, such as service engineers and sales people, and some have
moved into middleware and made that their business.
Day underlines the role of middleware, which is especially
important for enabling handheld devices to access company databases
in the same way as PCs. "Selecting the user device is only the
start: it is essential that the device fits existing IT
architectures, that it can be managed and secured and easily
integrated to existing systems," says Day.
"Selecting the most appropriate middleware is a distinct aspect
of the most successful deployments. And that middleware should not
only be for a single project: it ideally provides benefits of
secure data, robust device management and simple integration into
the most disparate back-end sources, including SAP, Oracle and
DB2."
Mobile network operators including Orange and Vodafone are
offering mobile connection cards for PCs and services that forward
e-mails to mobile phones. Microsoft and Sun provide applications,
operating systems and software development products for smartphones
and other mobile devices.
"The challenge businesses face is how to select and implement
the optimum solutions within an acceptable timeframe and budget,"
says Jeremy Roth, director of mobile systems specialist Crimson
Tide. "The problem is accentuated as the number of middleware
solutions grows. It will be increasingly important to be able to
select the most appropriate and robust applications. At the same
time, there is more noise from mobile network operators, which want
their users to increase data traffic and are pushing sales of 3G
data cards to synchronise laptops back to the office."
Market fragmentation is a problem, says Lion. "There is not
really one place you can go to source all the products
effectively."
IT departments new to mobile have tended to start by asking
their existing suppliers, typically their network company or main
software supplier, Lion says. However, some observers urge caution
because of vested interests, such as a mobile network operator's
desire to increase traffic or the need for access to data in
different systems. If existing suppliers cannot meet the need, the
next stop might be an integrator or specialist consultancy.
Whatever the complications, IT departments need to get on with
it, says Gilkes. "The bottom line is that people want to be mobile,
and if we do not drive the mobile strategy, employees will find a
way to do it anyway."
Mobile users achieve return on investment
Just 40 minutes' extra work a month from each mobile laptop user
is enough for accounting group BDO Stoy Hayward to break even on
its £2m spending on Orange 3G Mobile Office Cards and handheld
devices for 2,500 staff.
Staff with Blackberries cover the cost in just 20 minutes' work
a month. BDO says actual use outstrips these figures, and its staff
are happier, because they can use travelling and other dead time
productively.
Indeed, BDO can lget an average of 55 minutes' extra work a day
from its Blackberry users, according to a study by Blackberry
manufacturer Research In Motion. Wireless notebooks give returns in
six to 12 months in staff productivity and overall business
efficiency, according to research company Meta Group. Increased
productivity is highlighted by several studies as a key benefit of
mobile working.
Different benefits have been gained by building services company
Response Maintenance, which replaced a combination of paper, pagers
and CB radios with a system from Impact Applications based on
rugged PDAs. Contractors have direct access to information about
jobs and materials. They save time and answer emergency calls 25%
faster. Extra services are being added, such as digital photography
for insurance assessors. Information analysis now allows the
company to cherry-pick the best contracts, enabling it to double
profits without adding staff.
Staff support costs have been halved and empty office space
rented out since business and IT services company Coventry
University Enterprises started encouraging staff to work away from
the office. The company says an office worker costs it £6,000 a
year in overheads; for flexible staff the cost is £3,000. It is
also seeing higher productivity, less sick leave, higher staff
retention and better morale.
Steps to success
- Define a strong strategy that is well thought through and
includes the business case, processes, support, security and
training
- Involve all stakeholders and win their support. They range from
business units to the human resources department. HR, for example,
will want to look at the potential impact of mobile technology on
employees' work/life balance
- Set expectations so that the potential and restrictions are
fully understood
- Match devices to roles so users get the device that best meets
their job requirements
- Trial first to validate the business case and build the
enthusiasm necessary to ensure take-up
- Take one step at a time: strategy, trial, implementation. Users
could reject mobile devices for reasons including lack of support,
especially during initial set-up; poor training; expectations being
set wrongly; lack of integration into existing processes; and
systems being too difficult to use. Source: Atos
Origin