What should I consider mobilizing in my company?
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Kate Gerwig, Editorial Director
Assuming 'mobilize' means pushing data and information in current software databases to mobile devices (notebook computers, Tablet's, PDA's or Smartphones), I would look at all employees who are involved in customer facing and field based activities, i.e. sales, service installation, maintenance and repair, inspections, data collection, asset management, etc. I would look at the processes and information they need to interact with your customers. I would initially look at any process that uses paper instead of technology. Chances are the information people are writing on paper is being keyed into a computer system. Likewise, many field based processes are using spreadsheets and email as a tool for capturing information, reporting and collaboration. Both methods involve double data-entry – which is costly, redundant and leads to incomplete and inaccurate data. Remember, decisions are made upon the information collected during these activities. Changes in policies, pricing, other are based upon this information. So leverage technology to gather information from these activities, as well as enable the employee to spend more time delighting the customer.
This was first published in September 2004