Mobility

Mobility: The Ultimate Game-Changer

Businesses are realizing the value of a mobile workforce in today's on-the-go economy.

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Ryan has been a magazine and newspaper editor for 21 years, with the last 15 covering a variety of bases for CDW’s family of tech magazines. As Editor in Chief, he works on developing editorial strategy and is always on the lookout for new writing talent and sharing great stories with the IT world. In his spare time, Ryan enjoys spending time with his family, biking and obsessively following Iowa Hawkeye sports and Cubs baseball.

There’s no question that society’s dependence on mobile computing continues to grow by the day. Just walk down the street in any busy metropolitan area and you’ll see that everyone is focused on their smartphones.

It’s no surprise that our addiction to mobile devices has made them game-changers in the workplace as well. Many companies are realizing that anchoring employees to a desk just doesn’t make business sense.

As Jill Billhorn explains in her Business of IT column, a new study, The Mobility Edge: CDW’s 2012 Small Business Mobility Report, finds that 94 percent of small business users surveyed say their mobile devices make them more efficient, while 67 percent believe their companies would lose competitive ground without those tools.

Not only are mobile devices freeing workers from the tethers of their desks, but in many workplaces they’re also eliminating the need for paper — on the football field, for one. The Indianapolis Colts have embraced a mobile strategy that includes replacing traditional paper playbooks with iPad devices, building a robust wireless network for its practice facilities and even supplying a mobile app to fans to enhance their football experience.

Regarding the digital playbooks, Ryan Fannin, the Colts’ director of football information systems, says, “It’s so just so much easier for the players. They log in, it shows they have a new playbook, they download it and are good to go.” For more on the Colts’ mobility initiative, turn to “A Technology Touchdown."

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