Extending Enterprise Applications To Mobile Devices

Extending Enterprise Applications To Mobile Devices

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Today's enterprise mobile application space continues to mirror developments in the personal computing industry 20 years ago. PC adoption was driven by the basics - word processing and spreadsheets. However, businesses started to realise increases in efficiencies as the PC was gradually introduced into line-of-business operations. Now in the modern workplace almost every task is performed with the aid of a personal computer.

The same is true of mobility. Much of the early adoption of enterprise mobile solutions has been driven by the basics - which in this case is email and messaging. But, like the PC, the most dramatic benefits will be realised when the power of mobile computing is harnesses for business-specific applications.

We're now entering the second attempt at introducing mobile computing into the workforce. Around the time of the first dot-com crash vendors were trying to push mobile solutions for businesses with little success. Looking back now, it's clear they were far too early. The phones back then were bulky, the networks were cripplingly slow and the software - based on WAP - was rudimentary by today's standards. If you look back at 2001, Wi-Fi barely even existed and WAP-enabled phones chugged along at 14.4 kilobits per second.

Mobile can now take its rightful place in the workforce. Equipped with duel-core processors, plenty of memory and incredibly sharp displays, smart phones and tablets now outperform many PCs. Bandwidth is now ubiquitous with Wi-Fi hot spots delivering nearly 10MB per second and 3G and 4G phone networks available everywhere else.

Mobile devices can now house a wide variety of enterprise applications that offer a greater scope for innovation and process specific functionality.

There are, we believe, two main categories of workers who can take advantage of mobile solutions - task based workers and knowledge based workers.

Task Based Workers

The main efficiencies of introducing mobile software into task-based work is the extension of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to mobile devices.

Process orientated tasks will be the first to realise significant savings from the introduction of always on, always connected mobile devices.

Production and operations managers can receive alerts whenever there are potential problems - such as raw material stuck in transit, or equipment breakdowns. Without mobile ERP, these alerts are only visible when the managers are at their computer; with mobile alerts, they can be informed of problems immediately.

Also by inputting data directly into a mobile device, a company can greatly reduce paperwork and avoid recording the same information more than once.

Knowledge Based Workers

Improving the productivity of Knowledge Workers is one of the major challenges for the present day business world. Knowledge workers contribute to the organisaiton through thinking - and the thoughts they think will improve when they have the necessary information and facts at their fingertips.

In sales and marketing, mobile Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is relatively well established, but sales staff can be further helped by having full integration with their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system available on a mobile device. For example, it might be important for sales staff to have ERP access on their mobile to be able to understand the profitability of a deal.

Having the right information when you need it and having the benefits of an ERP software database and CRM database at a sales rep's disposal can dramatically optimise their time. For example, a sales person can prep for a meeting while he is in transit to a client or a new prospects site, check the status of an order, view data on other prospects in the vicinity and get product information and data immediately without having to touch base in the office.

According to research done by VDC, the average organisation that deploys mobile field sales solutions boosts its sales revenue from 20% to 25% as a result.

Using mobile enterprise applications staff can make critical decisions in the field, on the way to the airport, at the customer site - at all levels of the organisation, anywhere, anytime.

About the Author:
Anthony Gherghetta is the lead project manager at The App Studio in Melbourne, Australia. http://www.theappstudio.com.au



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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