Mobile working is playing an increasing part in business life – as the technology has improved, so has its affordability.

Now SME’s can implement the same solutions as larger businesses use for sensible money, and with a good Return on Investment (ROI). It was only a few years ago when these solutions were only available to businesses with large cheque books.

However despite its current affordability – there are significant considerations to bear in mind before you embark on any such investment.

Selecting your third party provider

Mobile technology is highly dependent on 3rd party service providers who can provide the connectivity to the internet via WiFi Hotspots (BT etc) or mobile carriers providing mobile internet access via 3G, HSDPA, GPRS such as T Mobile, O2 etc. The Microsoft Small Business Server provides all the mobile services (push email, VPN, remote access to data, web based email, intranet etc). Without these 3rd party providers, mobile working would be pointless.

Training

We also have to consider the arena of training – almost a swear word amongst British industry and technology.

UK employers generally don’t invest a great deal of money into training staff how to use the IT equipment or infrastructure put on the office desk or in our home.

How many of us could honestly say we’ve been shown how to get the best out of our £1000 pound laptop crammed with many pieces of software maybe totalling another £700? Very few indeed. Microsoft published a survey stating that 90% of users use less than 10% of the features of Microsoft Office Professional. So let’s put that another way, let’s say we pay £700 for a PC and £300 for MS Office, so a total of £1000 per user. So we have a medium sized workforce say 100, therefore we’ve spent £100,000 and applying Microsoft’s observations of 90% of users use less than 10% we can conclude that we largely wasted around £80,000. This example is very biased and not exactly science but it makes a point – a point we all know – we don’t really know how we should use our IT and our staff most of time just get on by.

I don’t know of a situation where real world (on-site) consultation and training hasn’t had a business benefit to help with the ROI on the large sums of money we pump into IT solutions.

Which gadgets to go for?

In terms of which gadgets provide a real return on investment, this depends on the user and most users will be driven by the ‘gimmickry’ as opposed to the need.

A large proportion of gadget technology provides a solution to where there is no real problem! So careful consideration must be given as to ‘the need’. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need we must be clear as to who needs what to do what.

Modern technology can be expensive to implement for a business and getting a tangible ROI is hard to satisfy. As an example setting up a push email system for 25 users is going to need an infrastructure, some software licences, some hardware and someone to look after it and maintain it. That’s a lot of money wasted if the majority of the 25 users do little else but show their friends that they can get their email on their phone.

So if there is a need for a travelling sales team, or a senior manager, to have mobile access to business information then the ROI is extremely quick. If a sales team can close an order online at a customer’s site and the order starts being processed that’s efficient and profitable, where as the travelling manager can quickly recoup time by dealing with emails etc whilst sat on a train, plane or sat in hotel lobby.

So in summary, a gadget becomes ‘a gimmick’ when someone has no use for it, but if it has a real use it’s a business tool and there will be a ROI if implemented and trained correctly.

Current Desirable Gadgets include:

Apple iPhone – personally I think that this is a highly desirable gimmick. Nice to have but serves little business purpose.

UMPC’s – Ultra Mobile PC’s – Very small, fully functional computers running full blown business applications. Can be a gimmick but can also be a highly efficient tool in the right environment for the right user

Multi Touch interfaces (like the screen on the iPhone) this means finger gestures can perform simple tasks – like at the start of the film the Minority Report. Computer manufactures are starting to build these into laptop screens. Are they of any use? Hard to tell right now, I think they will catch on – slowly.

In terms of getting full value out of the technology we do have, companies are often held back by poor implementation and understanding of what could be done with their systems. People hate change and IT solutions instigate change.

I feel the biggest cost is in the equipment and software and this where money is being wasted as the systems are rarely levered to the fullest ability; basically people and business are ill advised and just sold to. They don’t get maximum bang for buck!

IT is supposed to support the business, help it be efficient and streamlined – not hinder it. The dog should wag the tail not the other way round. How many times have I heard people say that computers in their office have generated more paper not less and acted as nothing more than an interference! That’s a sad reflection of people perceptions.

Published in  Telegraph Business Club

http://www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk/default.asp?p_id=search&showresults=1&showarticle=2940

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