Many of us work in an environment where productivity is hurt because centralized information is not available where and when it's needed. Some examples:

  • Let's start with me. I'm in sales.  I am always mobile, but can only update my forecast when sitting down, plugged in, and logged into my CRM application.
  • If you manage a retail chain every price check requires a phone call logging into a terminal, or a trip to the customer service desk.
  • Suppose  you manage the housecleaning staff for a major hotel. Procedural consistency is critical.  But your staff needs to take a 30 minute walk to double check how to handle exceptions.
  • Or your team of lawyers spends an hour traveling to the office to look up a precedent.

All of these bottlenecks would be gone if we could instantly access the information we needed, where and whenever necessary.  In most cases, ROI has been discussed year over year about how to get proprietary handheld devices to the workforce without crippling IT, tech support, the CFO, or all of the above.

Now, what if we stop thinking about MAKING people use a hand-held device for their job and start talking about ALLOWING them to do so.  Today, many of us are already mobile enabled to a varying degree. And based on current trends for smart phone adoption, we’re on our way to a crowded mobile Web – one with a myriad of applications (just consider what Apple has unleashed with its App Store!). 

Why is this important?  Because if we ALLOW people to use their own preferred device to improve the way they work, they tend to do so.  Let's look at the examples above to see how:

  • I found an app for my Blackberry that allows me to log into my CRM application and update my forecast while leaving a meeting.
  • A retail chain saves millions of dollars by Web-enabling their price book, removing both paper and custom-app developers from the cost structure.  Their employees want to run price searches from the aisle with their customer, not from the front of the store where the Web terminal is.  By mobile-Web-enabling the application, productivity, morale, and customer service has improved.
  • A hotel chain spends millions in overtime because exception handling in house-keeping is so time consuming.  (Broken fixtures, late checkouts, unexpected biohazard situations.)  A simple Web interface to the facilities application was a great start at coordinating resources.  By mobile-Web-enabling that application, staff didn't even need to leave the floor in order to initiate the coordination.
  • A mobile-Web-enabled CMS is all a law firm needed to give attorneys secure access to the thousands of documents they can reference from the office, home, Starbucks or anywhere business and their Blackberries take them.

It's pretty clear the “consumerization” of the Web experience – from the mobile Web to the App Store – is driving a new business opportunity unknown five years ago.  If you build it, they will come. 

If you're interested in jumpstarting a mobile Web initiative, Systems Alliance can help – from modeling a business case to delivering a full-blown mobile site. Visit our Web Effectiveness site to learn more or call 1-877-797-2554 to schedule a consultation.