Mobility

Mobility Drives Business Outcomes and the Bottom Line

Small businesses embrace mobile technology to improve productivity and to create better customer experiences.

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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.

Think back to the mobile devices of a few decades ago: huge cellular phones housed in tote bags and notebooks weighing in at 10 pounds or more. Mobility has come a long way. Today, it truly transforms all segments of business. And that’s why we’ve made this first BizTech of 2017 our Mobility Issue.

Companies have long used notebooks and handheld computers in the field, so it makes sense to explore their experiences and needs. Field Technologies recently conducted a survey, and the results are enlightening. For nearly half of respondents, the need to maximize productivity drives mobility deployments. Other top objectives include improving customer experience, gaining access to better data, reducing cost and increasing revenue.

Mobility solutions are now easier, faster and less expensive to deploy thanks to the cloud, which is good news for the 54 percent of field technology users who declare cost to be the largest barrier to tech investment. Once companies find the resources to fund mobility initiatives, a top priority for 2017 is purchasing or refreshing devices to obtain the latest capabilities, according to the survey.

For Inspirage, a supply chain management consultant in Washington state, mobility offers the most effective way for its employees to work, as most of its staff of 525 work remotely. One challenge? Making access simple but safe. To learn how Inspirage — and the Sacramento Kings — tackle access using single sign-on tools, check out "EMM Helps Companies Protect Mobile Devices — Near and Far."

Intriguingly, mobility is an area where employees have opinions. It’s one reason that many companies maintain robust bring-your-own-device programs. If you’re thinking of embarking on a BYOD program, check out this feature story to learn five factors for making your program successful. Of course, mobility also has been an avenue that businesses use to help serve their customers better too. Our feature story, "Why Small Businesses Are Going All In on Tablet Adoption," showcases some of the unique ways that SMBs deploy tablets to engage customers and drive business — far beyond the original roaming checkout.

Frankly, the speed with which small businesses have adopted mobility and now continue to adapt it is awe-inspiring. We hope that if you have a mobility initiative in your sights that this Spring issue will be your innovation launchpad.

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