A multi-country report across the healthcare and finance
sectors from industry has revealed that firms may be deploying
mobile computing without fully considering the underlying business
processes or the working conditions of the end-user.
Digital pen and paper technology inventor Anoto, commissioner of
the survey carried out by Quocirca, claims that is has revealed how
mobile devices are often not fit for purpose and that
the use of mobile technologies to automate traditionally
paper-based processes can result in unnecessary complexity.
Excessive complexity of the
mobile technology was picked up by 40% of the survey and nearly
two-thirds agreed that technology solutions should be kept simple.
Key issues cited included difficult to enter data during common
tasks plus mobile devices’ vulnerability to theft, loss and
breaking.
The study suggested that when mobile technology is more complex
than necessary, it can get in the way of effective use. Instead of
boosting productivity, warns Anoto, this frequently leads to
increased and unforeseen costs that can detract from the
effectiveness of the organisation. Furthermore, it adds that
complicated technology deployments often fail in challenging
environments and that poor training can reduce, rather than
enhance, productivity.
More than half of the respondents regarded the high cost of
mobile devices, along with their proneness to theft, loss and
damage, as major barriers to their effective use. The survey
suggested that IT decision-making was still dominated by upfront
cost issues even though the ongoing expenditure for mobile devices
was widely under-estimated. More than 70% of respondents were
‘unsure’ or had ‘no idea’ about the ongoing cost of failures.
“As mobile technologies have become cheaper and offer greater
functionality, organisations tend to over standardise and adopt
products that are too complicated,” cautioned Rob Bamforth,
Principal Analyst of Quocirca, and author of the study. “Mobile
technology needs to be simple and fit closely with the business
task in hand and the needs of the user. It’s people, process and
technology – in that order.”
Petter Ericsson, Chief Science Officer at Anoto added, “It’s
ironic that mobile technologies which are designed to make workers’
lives more productive are, in some cases, having the opposite
effect. “Organisations often don’t consider that a technology
stands and falls with its users. Ideally, the solution they select
should not require dramatic changes to existing processes, be
intuitive with little or no training needed and capable of truly
making staff more efficient.”