June 29, 2004

Wireless and mobile computing - a BOOST for your business

If you have not experience the world of wirelss and mobile computing, it's hard to really know what value it can have for your business.

Technology research company, Meta Group has issued an Intel sponsored report, "Taking Business Mobile: The Impact of Wireless and Mobile Technology" which gives data to show the positive impact these technologies can have on ones business.

The report recommends that companies move to mobile and wireless technology in stages in order to best gauge the effectiveness for your specific business and to iron out any problems.

If you have on the road sales force, support teams or etc - mobile and wireless technology is definitely for you.

Members of the Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSPA) Technology Committee, a national, non-profit alliance that helps small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) understand how local technology providers can help them grow, offered tips on how SMBs could successfully adopt mobility products and business strategies:

ï Move to mobility as rapidly as possibleÖbut in stages. SMB decision makers should first assess where the greatest payback will beóboth in effort and costóas far as introducing mobility into their companies. Mobility and wireless offer significant benefits to a company in terms of productivity and growth, and can have a short payback period.

ï Establish list of business needs vs. user requirements. The list can be used to establish what mobility products/strategies need to be deployed first with the least difficulty and/or greatest gain. SMBs should consider listing, in hierarchical order, user types and business requirements that allow them to quickly determine the payback levels for each category.

ï Make small technology shiftsÖand preferably during a refresh cycle. It's usually easier to make mobility changes when buying new systems every three years. However, because knowledge workers can benefit almost immediately from new mobility products, SMBs should evaluate whether the cost of change before the refresh period is offset by improved productivity.

ï Evaluate carefully various wireless technologies. Although many mobile products such as notebooks, tablets and PDAs are ready for prime time, not all wireless technologies are at the same maturity level. For instance, some cellular data networks and wireless wide-area networks in various parts of the world are still being deployed and are relatively costly to use. SMBs should evaluate specific technologies based on need and availability.

ï Protect your mobile devices. Analysts' reports indicate about 90 percent of mobile devices lack protection to ward off hackers. Also, identity theft is on the rise as users accidentally lose their mobile devices, which are full of confidential enterprise data. SMBs are advised to install mobile firewalls and purchase mobile management tools.

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