You’re giving a presentation to your in-house team and want to show some slides to your remote staffers – so you unlock your smartphone, launch a video conferencing app and connect with offsite employees.
What you just did there is adopt a mobile workstyle, which enables you to stay hyper-connected and always on. With the traditional work style becoming a distant memory, today’s entrepreneurs are likely to utilize mobile technology to finish business tasks and improve employee productivity.
According to the Mobility, Performance and Engagement study conducted by the EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit), adoption of mobile technology raised employee productivity by 16%. The report of the study also informed that mobile collaboration presents new ways for businesses to get tasks done and keep teams working effectively.
New Opportunities
It’s self-evident that mobile technology is transforming how organizations operate. Apart from the famous BYOD (bring your own device), app collaboration, and MDM (mobile device management) trends, developments in mobile technology offer the following opportunities to enterprise:
- Enterprise Mobile Web
Morgan Stanley’s report from last year revealed that users of mobile browsers are growing 2x faster than app audiences. The trend is expected to continue in 2016, so enterprise can leverage the opportunity by optimizing native mobile websites instead of creating native mobile apps. Also, initiatives like Google’s AMP further highlight the drive towards mobile web.
However, mobile web poses a greater threat in terms of cyber crime. For example, adversaries can hack a customer’s account and enter the backend of your mobile website, and if it’s hosted on your company’s server, they can insert a malicious code that wipes your enterprise data.
Fortunately, enterprise has the option of Ottawa IT support and similar support solutions to quickly integrate application and security patches and employ data duplication services. With investments that improve the overall health and upkeep of your server, you can keep your business information safe. Agile IT support is one of the best defense against hostile agents and viruses.
- RFID Enterprise Mobile Solutions
Mobile RFID solutions are a new development that can be leveraged by businesses for stock taking, asset location monitoring, asset assignment and tracking, recording movement of assets (point to point or directional), and stock receipting. The communications from RFID enabled mobile devices are achieved through web services and TCP/IP from the service provider’s back-end system.
Also, there’s an opportunity to keep costs low as it can be cheaper for organizations to purchase mobile RFID readers as scanning and monitoring devices than purchase handheld RFID readers. The cost of ownership is lower, and if employees use their own devices with RFID upgrades, then that also results in cost savings.
- Augmented Reality Mobile Applications
SAP-based augmented reality apps are being made available to enterprise. These untether an organization’s backend system so that people can work hands-free – in the field or in the workplace. The apps will allow you to utilize voice recognition, visual enterprise 3D modeling, and gesture control in the workplace.
Don’t be surprised if you see AR-based apps being used to stress-test materials and assist staffers in routine maintenance tasks, especially in the manufacturing sector. Apps could also allow for heads-up assistance in remote environments, allowing the remote team manager to co-ordinate grouped teams in demanding environments.
Final Thoughts
It will be in these areas, for enterprise mobile workstyle, where adoption is going to accelerate. Although there’s time until these developments mature, they nonetheless demonstrate what the mobile technology is capable of in the enterprise environment.
Are you keeping up with the latest in mobile tech? Do you have any other interesting developments to share? Feel free to leave comments.