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The Truth About Mobile and Wireless Computing

The Truth About Mobile and Wireless Computing
By Rob Veitch
Article Rating:
January 1, 2000 12:00 AM EST
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 8,050
There's a lot of talk today about the potential of mobile and wireless technology. Somewhere between the hype and the naysaying lies the truth. While you cannot yet watch a movie on your mobile phone, many companies are harnessing the power of mobile technology to reap significant rewards. Don't let the mobile application revolution pass you by.

You probably never believed the hype to begin with, but a realistic appraisal of the strengths of mobile technology will likely surprise even a skeptic. And once the limitations are honestly addressed, the real possibilities of mobile technology are more apparent.

Uncertainty in the face of revolutionary enterprise computing technology is not without precedent. Over the last decade, desktop applications for customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, and supply-chain management brought about a revolution in corporate productivity by distributing key enterprise information throughout an entire organization. This revolution saw its share of hype and naysaying, but its true potential is now standard business practice. The goal of new mobile and wireless technologies is both to extend these gains to workers who cannot access a desktop computer, as well as to develop entirely new applications not previously possible.

The real question is not whether mobile and wireless technology can increase worker productivity, but rather how to design and implement the right solution for your organization. The optimal combination of device, network, and application design will make or break your mobile implementation. Following are four guidelines to keep in mind when your organization is interested in developing and deploying successful mobile and wireless solutions:

1.   Think Mobile - Not Necessarily Wireless
Don't confuse mobile with wireless. A mobile solution extends enterprise information to workers who do not have access to a desktop computer, while wireless technology is simply one of many methods of data transmission. It is true that better wireless technology is still to come - faster transmission of larger data files over a broader geographic area - but it is important to recognize its opportunities as well as its limitations in your up-front application development planning.

  • Leverage an "always available" model. Given that workers need to be productive anywhere, anytime - even when a wired or wireless network is unavailable - it is critical to develop your application on an always-available model. This architecture leverages local data storage so that workers can access important information offline and synchronize when convenient or when the network is available. This model increases battery life and application performance, while saving on connection costs.
  • Weigh the costs and benefits of real-time access. Depending on your users' needs for timely data collection and retrieval, continuous wireless connectivity might not be required at all. While a financial trading application likely would require real-time wireless access, most applications such as sales and field-force automation don't require an instant exchange of information. Hourly updates or even nightly updates through either a wireless connection or wireline option, such as a docked PDA, would be sufficient.

    For example, Jose Cuervo wanted to leverage mobile technology to gain more timely competitive information from market researchers visiting sales locations. After analyzing the type of information that would be gathered, the executives decided that a nightly synchronization using a docking station would provide market analysts plenty of time to review the data. By architecting a solution that fits their organization's exact needs, Jose Cuervo has saved on connection costs and increased application performance and battery life while enjoying a 30% increase in sales.

  • Don't get caught "waiting for 3G." The truth is that widespread rollout of the much hyped 3G wireless network is still years away.

    Even if it were available today, the same challenges for wireless mobile computing would remain: bandwidth constraints, unreliable coverage, high cost, and the presence of numerous competing network standards with varying coverage areas, costs, and business viability. Your organization can be successful today by developing always-available mobile applications that balance the benefits and limitations of current mobile technology.

    2.   Match the Device to the Application
    A number of mobile hardware vendors offer a range of devices that are suited to different uses. There are laptops, PDAs, bar-code scanners, point-of-sale devices, wearable computers, and smart phones available with specific capabilities and varying degrees of network connectivity and water or impact resistance. Buy the right device and you will improve productivity with a low total cost of ownership (TCO); buy the wrong device and constant repairs, user frustration, and poor ROI could be the result.

  • Choose the right device for the job. For example, delivery drivers for Millstone Coffee, a division of Procter and Gamble, use specialized handhelds to enter relatively simple inventory and sales information, saving two hours per day, per driver. Mobile representatives of Foremost Insurance Group, on the other hand, use the larger screens and memory capacity of laptops to run more sophisticated sales and marketing applications, saving the company $1.2 million in the first year of deployment.
  • Tough jobs require tough devices. Where and how your employees work will also determine the type of device you need. If they work outdoors, in a lab, or in a restaurant, chances are the device will get dropped and splashed with liquids. Paying more for a rugged device will reduce your TCO by decreasing device malfunctions, downtime, and support costs.
  • Evaluate wireless roaming capabilities. Most mobile devices are designed to support only one wireless networking standard or wireless carrier, and require add-on hardware to do so. This is an important consideration for many companies, especially when field workers such as delivery personnel travel widely, crossing multiple public wireless networks.
  • Stay powered up. Battery life for most mobile devices is barely as long as the average workday - much less if a modem is attached and constantly in use. Look for ways to maximize battery life, such as by not maintaining a continuous connection to a wireless network.

    3.   Understand Your Goals to Maximize ROI
    The decision to create a mobile application for your organization usually comes from a desire to cut costs or increase revenue by eliminating slow, error-prone paper-based methods. Each organization measures success by its own standards, making it essential to map out specific cost savings and productivity goals before beginning development.

  • Measure twice, cut once. An important factor for achieving a healthy ROI is deployment time. Upfront planning will avoid serious problems after deployment. However, it's important to select vendors that have a long history of successful, on-time deployments since the project cost increases with every additional day of planning.
  • Get the most out of current investments. In order to preserve your existing investment in IT infrastructure, including servers, databases, legacy systems, and even disparate mobile devices, you need a flexible solution that will provide seamless connectivity from back-end systems to your people in the field.

    4.   Think About the Big Picture
    The right mix of technology and industry expertise can help your company overcome the challenges of mobile and wireless computing, and realize the compelling benefits. Find an experienced vendor who can support you with expertise and flexible technologies, serving your needs before, during, and after deployment.

  • Plan for the future. The mobile application you deploy today may not be the same application you will need tomorrow. Because you expect your business to grow and new technologies to emerge, your mobile application should be built on an open platform that can incorporate new technologies and functionality. Ask vendors for references and see how well they understand the market. Choosing a vendor with no track record or a technology platform that only works with a narrow set of standards may leave you with an application that is obsolete only a short time after it is deployed.
  • Security is number one. Wireless communications involve the transmission of potentially sensitive information, making security an important concern for organizations. The first step in data security is ensuring that all mobile users connecting to the enterprise server are successfully and correctly authenticated. Second, the communication line between the device and the server should be encrypted, and finally, the data located on the device must be protected.

    As application and system configuration issues are among the most common causes of security breaches, use centralized management software to enforce application and system configuration settings to comply with your corporate security standards. Centralized management software should also enable you to schedule and push out new operating system and anti-virus updates.

  • Allow for growth. Widely deployed wireless solutions should be built on a platform that can scale to handle high volumes of simultaneous users. Since multiple users will be independently editing the same data on their devices while not connected to the enterprise, update conflicts must be resolved by the server-side component of the application. Employ robust synchronization software with sophisticated conflict resolution that can ensure consistency of data throughout your organization.
  • Stay in control. For overall IT administration of mobile applications and devices, you can simplify deployment and support, as well as save costs, by adopting a centralized management strategy. Leverage automated central software distribution to save your users the time and complication of having to download their own files.

    In addition, centralized inventory and asset management is a must for your IT administrators to understand what hardware and software is installed and currently deployed to virtual workgroups - for example, to ensure compliance with the number of seat licenses you've purchased for a given application.

    The Bottom Line
    While many organizations will start small with pilot projects, the benefits of mobile and wireless applications on worker productivity, customer service, and operational efficiency can be significant, and can scale up dramatically as more workers and applications are mobilized. Whether your plan is to mobilize five users or thousands, the key point is not to let the mobile application revolution pass you by.

    As you develop mobile applications, it is important to work with solution providers who have the vision, leading technology, and customer experience to be a trusted advisor throughout your development and deployment process.

    • Published January 1, 2000 – Reads 8,050
    Copyright © 2000 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
    Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.

    More Stories By Rob Veitch

    Rob Veitch is the director of business development at Sybase Internet
    Applications Division.

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