Simplifying mobility

WHILE MOST organisations see the business benefits of a mobile workforce, they often underestimate the complexity of implementing the solutions needed to support this.

This is where specialist company Mobile at Work comes in. The company says organisations can`t just "buy" mobility. Rather a mobile workforce solution needs to come through a logical process of adding new technology and function in a structured manner, "to achieve new businesses capability and competitive advantage".

Mobile at Work has built its business model around offering companies everything they need to roll out a mobile workforce solution - from reviewing a company`s readiness to implement such a solution, to helping procure the necessary components, offering consulting, design, implementation and support, and partnering with its customers to ensure that they achieve the deployment they desire.

METHODOLOGY

MD Barry Saunders and sales director Lyn Noble explain that the company aims to simplify the process of rolling out a mobile workforce solution. "We provide a roadmap in terms of mobility," says Noble. "We understand the space and apply our knowledge to provide our customers with the services they need - from hosted solutions to custom application development."

This knowledge comes from the company`s directors having spent years in the IT industry. "The cornerstone of our offering lies in providing service level agreements (SLAs)," says Noble. "Our IT experience made us aware of the importance of service and adhering to high standards, something that voice typically lacks - voice is usually classed as best effort. We took this philosophy and moved it into the industry by ensuring that all of our services adhere to the highest standards."

Mobile at Work first uses consulting services to ascertain the current status of a company`s mobile infrastructure and needs, gathering information with which to make decisions. This is done using a combination of workshop sessions, surveys and interviews. "Having collected information from the existing mobile set-up, the first step is to begin to put in place a process that supports the existing base, making their use of mobile technology simpler and more efficient. It also establishes a means of establishing feedback as to progress to the end goal," says Noble. This stage may require certain integration services to deploy additional systems or customise those already in place, enabling the mobile components as required.

"Without access to ongoing support, the initiative will falter and fail. This is especially true in the early stages of a project where trust among the existing user base needs to be built. It also shows commitment to supporting their previous efforts as they begin to see the benefits," says Noble.

Once deployed, there is a need to monitor the success of the project, recording trends of usage and other enhancements that might have been overlooked. Inevitably, new possibilities for mobile technology will emerge, often requiring more consulting services.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Identifying this gap in the market led the company to becoming the first Research In Motion (RIM) partner in South Africa, deploying the first 40 BlackBerry sites nationally. "We began our discussions with RIM 18 months before BlackBerry came into South Africa," says Saunders. "We developed a proof of concept and a method to seamlessly integrate the RIM solutions, and found that the two companies were a good fit."

Mobile at Work says it has conducted more BlackBerry deployments than anyone locally, with customers including the major banks, mines and about 70% of the top 100 SA companies. "We support the RIM infrastructure, not just the network. Basically, we support the customer because we manage their mobile infrastructure," says Saunders.

Mobile at Work was also the first local company to offer any form of RIM training. "Lack of training has been identified as one of the key reasons that mobile deployments have experienced problems," says Noble. End-user training, she explains, is vital. "In addition to providing the training, these sessions allow us to establish a better understanding of our customers` requirements and their specific business needs"

Mobile at Work feels its close links with service providers as well as its customers will keep the company abreast of the needs of both.