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| Greg Donaldson |
Kevin: What do companies fail to plan for when implementing mobility?
Greg: First, let me explain that we provide both a desktop and a mobile version of our software. It seems that companies still use the desktop the most. Consider the entire work week. If a manager is traveling for two days out of five, they may need a mobile application for two days, but they would rather use their laptop or desktop during the three days in the office. A company needs to think of the entire work week. Many of our applications are simplified versions of an ERP. Managers would rather access SAP through our simplified interfaces. They don’t need to see the entire SAP ERP, just the parts they need to see in order to do their jobs.
Kevin: What advice do you have for companies just starting down an enterprise mobility path?
Greg: 1) Understand how you will connect to devices and how you will secure them, 2) Start with a simple mobile application and get an easy win (a good success), 3) Focus on a great user experience, and 4) Look for a packaged app (or off the shelf) to start. Building a complete enterprise quality mobile application yourself requires a huge amount of effort, and much of it has no business value for a one time development project. Find a packaged application for a quick and easy implementation.
Kevin: How important is mobile device management and security?
Greg: Very important. Have the right infrastructure in place to protect your data before you implement mobility. There are thousands of ways to connect to a back end system, so the company first needs to decide how they want to connect.
