Mobile First – The Role of Enterprise Mobility in Your Business

Nowadays, there is a raft of enterprise mobility options out there for businesses to choose from. However, just because a solution exists doesn’t make it the right option for your business. 60% of Google Store apps have never been downloaded, 20% used only once, and 95% of apps are abandoned within one month. It is therefore the task of the management team to ensure they select the right solution for their business. If businesses fail to take the time to do this, they will be left with a solution that may look the part but that will fail to be the right fit for their business. This in turn can cause low user adoption and may actually decrease productivity and revenue.

We advise companies to start by defining the business problem/s that they believe can be best solved via a mobile solution. Instead of getting sucked into believing that the latest solution on offer will be a panacea for your business, those businesses with a clear enterprise mobility strategy can take a more objective, critical review of the solutions on offer, asking the key question: “How will this solution add value to my business?”

Mobile ERP

The Mobile First trend and the hype surrounding it would also lead you to believe that businesses should be able to do everything via their phones, but this is simply not true or viable, especially for an enterprise-wide system. There are still quite complex tasks where it doesn’t make sense to translate that functionality to a mobile device. Therefore, we are seeing a hybrid model emerging where certain ERP functionality can and should be extended to mobile smartphones, perhaps further extended for tablets (and keyboard driven tablets), and then – where limitations arise – desktop becomes your application of choice.

When we developed our enterprise mobility platform we adopted this approach, extending the functionality of our ERP software to mobile, where relevant. We took a common-sense approach, asking the simple question: “By making this functionality mobile, how will it add value for our customers?” We then recognised that if we were to introduce one app where customers could access all this functionality, the user experience would be negatively impacted. We wanted to deliver the nuggets of functionality that individuals – not companies – required on their mobile device. We diverted from the industry norm of a one-size-fits-all approach. What we have found is that by personalising the employee’s enterprise mobility experience to their position/task, user acceptance rates are much higher, and training is minimal.

The enterprise mobility benefits

For us, it’s all about empowering employees, improving productivity, boosting revenue, and getting ahead of the competition. If your BYOD (bring your own device) strategy isn’t delivering these benefits, it is simply not fit for purpose.

In addition, it’s a low cost, high adoption solution. People may be using their own device, or one currently supplied by the company, thereby reducing the hardware cost. In addition, 99.9% of staff will already be familiar with the use of mobile phones and related apps, so adoption should be high. Businesses also benefit from the new trend ‘nomophobia’ – the fear of being without a mobile device or internet connection. Employees know that the excuse of “I didn’t get that email” or “I forgot to bring my laptop” is no longer viable, as their work-related tasks/info are now directly accessible via their personal mobile device.

What we are seeing is not only a boost to productivity for those workers using BYOD for work purposes. It has also had a dramatic impact on office-based employees. Time is being freed up as staff on the road no longer need to phone back to base to access information, place orders, get contact details, and so on, with all the information and functionality they require in the palm of their hands. Customer service levels are also improved as field-based teams can provide immediate answers to customer queries, given the access they have to real-time information via their enterprise mobility platform.

Justin Lawless – CEO, Intact Software

For more information about selling online, email us at info@intactsoftware.com. If you would like to download our free guide Mobile First – The Power of Enterprise Mobility Log on to www.intactsoftware.com/intactinsights.

This Business Support article featured in the May/June 2018 edition of The Hardware Journal.