Saturday, September 21, 2013

Mobility and Productivity


Before retiring I worked in the very progressive computer industry. One of the areas we focused on was productivity, using the technologies we and others developed. Mobility was high on our list as we understood the needs of a global 24 x 7 x 365 business. We leveraged our most valuable resources, knowledgeable people.

Technology reliability, security, convenience and affordability has progressed to a point that small businesses are able to gain the same advantages. We are no longer a Monday-Friday, 9-5 business community operating in a single time zone.  Business can and should be conducted 24 x 7 x 365. We are in an anywhere, anytime universe. Those able to capitalize on this have a competitive advantage.

We have all heard the old adage: “time is money”.  When you enable your organization to access information from anywhere on demand, you leverage the time spent performing tasks, promote creativity, improve customer satisfaction and increase morale. Those are real profit impacts.

To make this a reality you need to determine the mobility needs of your specific organization.

Who needs access to what, when?

What are the needs for access to: Voice messaging, email, Images, Internet, Documents, Calendars, Contacts, others and how can the access be supported and kept available, secure and reliable?

What technologies are within the realm of possibility for your specific needs?  

Are the people involved trained enough to handle the mobile technologies you want to use and can you keep them current?

Do you need help in providing and maintaining this capability? At what cost?

Should you phase it in over time?

Keep in mind that simply making things happen faster, may not help the business. If the information on which an action is based is not correct, you could simply be making more mistakes in a given timeframe. Providing mobile access to information assists in not just the quantity of actions, but in the quality as well. What is that worth?

How are you handling mobility as a competitive advantage in your business? What are your competitors doing?

 
Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor

Visit us at:  www.scoresouthflorida.net

 

 

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