How Mobile are your Staff?

Mark McArdle, Group Sales Director, Intact Software, outlines the benefits that mobile working can bring to your business.

When you consider that companies who facilitate mobile working gain an extra 240 hours of work per year from their employees (IPASS), it’s something that can’t be ignored. Smartphones, tablets, laptops and connected devices are all playing their part in this mobile revolution, which is changing business as we know it. According to Digital Strategy Consulting, 60% of employees now use mobile apps (rather than mobile websites) for work-related activity. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, they are quick to load and use, which means instant access to information and quicker response times when being used. Many business-related apps can also be optimised for specific tasks or end-user requirements. Plus, they are very reliable and can often work both on and offline.

While some businesses have fully embraced mobile technology for their employees, others have barely given enterprise mobility a thought. This year, however, enterprise mobility will become
increasingly important to those wishing to stay in the game. Some of the benefits that can be derived from a more mobile workforce include…

Empowered employees

Today, enterprise mobility is enabling staff to be ‘always on’ as they meet with clients, sit at the airport and travel across the country. It can help sales reps take orders on the road, delivery teams process orders and account managers or senior management keep up to date with key company relationships and metrics. Giving your employees the tools to do their work from anywhere at any time allows them to make their workday their own. Beyond simply choosing the location from where they work, you give them the freedom as to how they work. This often leads to a culture of constantly looking for ways to work smarter and manage time more efficiently.

Improve productivity

Enterprise mobility empowers individual employees to be more productive. It enables them to securely carry out critical business functions at the times and places that are convenient to them. According to a survey carried out by Apperian (2016), improved business processes and increased productivity were the primary benefits of enterprise mobility cited by respondents. The portability of mobile business apps means you can use your device around your store, warehouse or on the go. With critical information delivered and read in real-time, your customer-facing staff are therefore more self-sufficient and reduce calls back to the office. This ultimately leads to better engagement and enablement.

A low-cost, high-adoption solution

Providing users with access to your business system via their own mobile device can be a low-cost, yet very effective, solution for your business. Most staff are already familiar with the use of mobile phones and related apps so adoption should be high. For the most part, you avoid the ‘breaking-in’ period in favour of enabling employees to use their preferred devices, which can
make them much happier as a result.

Stay ahead of the competition

Not many companies are currently enabling the effective use of mobile devices in their workplace but they can be a great point of differentiation from your competitors. With increased competition, innovative enterprise mobility solutions are important for managing operations and staying ahead. As more businesses appreciate this, developers will continue pushing to create business software with a mobile-first attitude. As a business owner, it is time to challenge your software provider to provide your business with an enterprise mobility solution aligned to your business needs.

This will subsequently lead to more effective decision-making, improved productivity and empowered employees. Your team will deal with customers more efficiently and will be afforded more
time to focus on driving sales.

Intact Software provides an ebook that offers more details on enterprise mobility. Entitled Enterprise Mobility: Use the power of mobile to increase efficiency, drive sales & stay in control, copies can be obtained by emailing [email protected]

This Business Support article featured in the May/June 2017 edition of The Hardware Journal.