What is stopping the mobile workforce?

There has been much hype and immense debate surrounding the introduction of mobile workforce automation on South African shores. While this hype is anecdotal evidence of the enthusiasm that organisations have for mobility in terms of envisaged cost savings, flexibility, increased productivity and team collaboration, there are a number of challenges facing the true adoption of such technological advancements.

It is no secret that mobility can offer all of these benefits. However, this simplistic summary on the advantages that mobility can bring is hindered by challenges that spread across the industry from infrastructure, acceptance and political obstacles.

Examining some statistics, it is clear that, as a country, we have over the last decade embarked on an information technology (IT) surge and the sophistication compared to some years ago has trebled. For instance, according to a recent predictions report from the Meta Group, 80% of corporate employees today depend on the desktop to conduct business - a vast improvement from 10 years earlier. The report also states that this situation is going to ricochet into different spheres of technology usage - most of this change being directly linked to mobility. The report further highlights that by the end of 2006, 45% of corporate workers will be using desktops, 40% notebooks or tablet PCs and 15% using other information devices.

Although these statistics are promising - the technology implemented for mobile solutions has to highlight a true return on investment for companies that have already felt the disappointment of the IT boom and gloom. Correct technologies have to be developed and implemented to ensure that mobility is implemented in a manner that delivers true ROI and the mobile workforce is one area that can, through correct support, management and control, bring the benefits of mobility to the forefront of our technology era. So then, these challenges need to be addressed and rectified appropriately. In examining this, I would like to highlight some of the prohibiting factors associated with mobility.

Traditionally, users have been able to synchronise their handheld phone data with that of their office PC via personal information management (PIM) solutions. These solutions, which have become available in the last 18 months, offer users the ability to synchronise personal information such as e-mail, contacts, tasks and calendars between office and mobile devices. Early solutions relied on cable or infrared-based synchronisation, requiring the user to return to the location of their host system. This is not only a duplication of information but the software has limited levels of compatibility with common applications such as Microsoft Outlook. This manual working process causes a number of limitations and frustrations and contradicts the true value proposition of mobility. Recent solutions allow users to be continually synchronised using an always-on GPRS connection. This overcomes common information conflict issues but does introduce an additional operational cost for the bandwidth used by the GPRS connection.

A mobile infrastructure is very different to that of the traditional PC LAN-based tools that have been designed for use over constant, reliable and high-speed connections. Instead, interoperable technology solutions need to be developed to ensure effective functionality and management capabilities on mobile devices. At the same time, organisations need to ensure the mobile infrastructures they implement can integrate seamlessly with existing network architectures and operating systems. Therefore the correct technology infrastructure for true mobile capabilities is not necessarily implementing an entire new infrastructure, but rather adapting a mobile approach to be compatible with existing technologies.

Mobile telephony products as we know and understand them today can be categorised into the following: personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellphones and smart phones - phone profile devices with PDA capabilities. The integration of PDA-like functionality and voice capability into smart phones and voice-enabled palmtop devices has been debated and developed over the last three years, but the challenge is finding a device that attracts not only the end-user, but is also compatible with the business strategies of developers and manufacturers. When investing in R&D, the prospect of convenience to the end-user needs to override the prospect of punting the latest and greatest cellphone purchase to the consumer.

The software platforms that enable the operation of such devices can be categorised by usage activity into PIM and applications solutions (AS). As mentioned previously, PIM refers to the synchronisation of personal information, while AS is well suited to functions such as sales force automation (SFA). Organisations are implementing SFA in efforts to drive down operating costs and improve sales force productivity and customer service levels. This type of application has a higher level of complexity and often requires greater investments into supporting infrastructure and back office systems.

Although software giants such as Microsoft have introduced operating systems for mobile devices catering for the development and deployment of mobile workforce applications, there are technical and distribution complications that can hinder the success of the development. For instance, currently in SA, the majority of mobile phones and PDAs do not offer the most recently released version of the Microsoft mobile operating system. The cellular network operators locally have not yet approved Windows Mobile 2003 configured devices despite being widely available and utilised throughout Europe and the US. This is relevant as the latest version introduces significant improvements in capabilities and greatly simplifies the development of solutions. This creates an obstacle in deploying mobile application solutions and a further setback in the advancement of mobile capabilities within the country.

For mobility application development there are two common types of models used, both with its own pros and cons. Web application type solutions, which are browser-based, are easier to program and set up but give less control on elements such as security and compression and have reduced application functionality. On the flip side, applications that are built to operate on mobile devices are more complex to develop and set up but give more control of security, data compression and offer richer functionality.

Another challenge facing the development of mobility in SA, especially for the corporate market, is the perceived potential high operating costs associated with mobile applications. The basic payment model provided by the cellular network operators is known and understood but comparatively expensive when considering equivalent European costs. The model works by charging for the amount of data transferred between the device and the operator typically using GPRS. When examining a mobile force of say 100 employees requiring access to personal information and central product and customer information stores, these costs could become significant - making the reluctance to mobile implementation a justified concern.

According to a recent Gartner report, only 25% of mobile application deployments in 2003 will succeed. The research company cites social factors and poor architectural choices as key factors that will contribute to the failures.

What is important is that corporate employees are realising the benefits of mobile working and are increasingly seeking access to electronic mail and core business systems from home and while travelling, the onus lies with the organisation to implement workable mobile solutions to its employees. Corporations are going to have to focus on supporting mobile workers more aggressively than they have in the past, treating them as mobile workers and not desktop workers, while ensuring that models are developed and implemented to support this new age of conducting business. Other areas of focus for corporates include:

* Secure applications
* Centralisation of company information
* Easy to use synchronisation tools
* Continuous connectivity
* Wireless enablement
* Support of mobile devises such as tablet PCs
* Support of other industry developments such as "hotspots", 3G and GPRS
* The adoption and implementation of new management practices and policies to govern mobile workforce effectively and efficiently

So after examining all these challenges in more detail, what is the way forward for mobility? The Windows Mobile 2002/2003 platform and applications give one the ability to synchronise easily and effectively, making it simple to connect to Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft platforms. Organisations running Microsoft Windows on their desktops can deploy Exchange 2003 on their network and be assured easy integration with the Active Directory and Exchange platforms, as well as other existing network infrastructure. The Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003, Phone Edition has the software and extended functionality built into it to support robust functionality and synchronisation of data plus support for integrated voice capabilities for locally available devices such as Qtek. Once truly efficient and integrated mobile applications become readily available to consumers and corporates, uptake will be more positive, making a direct impact on pricing structures - thus making mobility a reality for all individuals and companies in SA.

Mobile device platform standards need to gain traction in SA. Businesses need to investigate development and deployment of solutions that will increase productivity to the business - making this transition about organisational efficiency rather than individual efficiency. The move toward the integration of the cellphone and PDA is rapidly approaching and the industry needs to work collaboratively to ensure that mobility becomes a reality for all. Until this exact mindset is changed, there will be limitations in this regard.