Feb/March 2007

So you've got your mobile solution out there - how do you keep tabs on the equipment, upgrade it, and resolve problems remotely? Sharon Clancy picks up a few useful pointers

According to the analyst IDC, the mobile worker population will to grow from 650 million worldwide to 850 million by 2009. However, in a survey of 250 companies currently using mobile solutions, mobile management specialist company B2M Solutions has found that over 80 per cent are missing a vital component of the mobile business - device management.

The term can mean a variety of functions, but we're assuming it includes deployment of software and patches to the device population from a support centre, plus remote troubleshooting and problem resolution.

Currently organisations that are deploying first-generation mobile systems follow a common pattern, according to Julie Purves, managing director of B2M Solutions. 'First they place considerable effort on specifying the devices; then they analyse the business requirements, then customise applications to meet those needs; and finally they ensure they have a robust and secure communications network upon which the applications and devices can communicate.

 

'However,' she adds, 'the majority are missing the vital piece of the jigsaw - the ability to manage and maintain a large population of mobile devices that are located across wide geographic areas.

'Organisations that want to get the most out of their investment should look more closely at how they will manage their devices once they have been handed out to the field forces. This management solution should to be in place as part of the initial implementation of the field force enablement project.'

Lindsay Kennedy, managing director of Telepartner, agrees. 'Companies considering a mobile data solution should be aware that efficient device management is crucial to successful deployment, operation and maintenance. Before choosing a particular vendor solution they should carefully consider the impact that a poor device management strategy would have on their business.'

Mobile devices are getting increasingly sophisticated, and as such should be treated no differently from a laptop computer when it comes to mobile device management. That's the advice of Steve Reynolds, managing director of TBS Mobility. As a minimum, he recommends, organisations should have a basic policy and procedures that encompasses user hand-over documentation, software and hardware configuration management, backup policy, settings management, training and support material, password policy management, swap-out procedure, device addition/removal procedure, and in-life support.

Telepartner, which specialises in mobile deployments using combined voice/data devices such as PDAs or smartphones, points out that a single device can store details of parts, prices, recommended fix times, details of fixed assets and even technical manuals. 'As a result, it's absolutely mission-critical to keep these devices in tip-top condition with the latest versions of software and other files.'

In the past, points out Kennedy, devices had to be returned to a depot put in a cradle and left overnight while the software was upgraded. 'But what if you have eight hundred engineers? That's a lot of cradles - and the engineers might be spread over several counties. That's a lot of unnecessary travel time to hand them in and then pick them up again in the morning.'

Telepartner developed ESD (Electronic Software Distribution) as part of its mobile data solution. ESD actually does is three things: it notifies the device where to find files and when to download them; it triggers the install; and it confirms successful delivery and successful install. Once the device has received the instructions, it will initiate the download at a pre-specified time.

'This is the volatile bit, taking place as it does over a wireless network,' admits Kennedy. Telepartner developed its own TP2 communications protocol to manage file transfer process safely and quickly. Once on the device, the files must be triggered to install, and this is normally done at pre-scheduled times - overnight for example, when the device is not in use.

Simplicity is the key, says Kennedy. 'ESD sticks to what is simple. It does not, for example, deal with operating system upgrades. These are likely to remain static throughout the life of the PDA, and in any case would require too much bandwidth and configuration work to make this practical over a GPRS wireless network.'

B2M's mprodigy suite is designed to answer the six key questions that Julie Purves believes are essential for successful mobile deployment. How is my staff coping with the new systems? How will I keep track of the devices? How do we keep the software up to date? How will we fix the devices when they go wrong? How well do the suppliers we rely on perform? Do the new processes work for the company and for the staff?

Putting in a new mobile system amounts to a change management programme. Employees have to modify the way they do their day-to-day work. Organisations frequently forget that the employees who are using mobile devices have often not used this kind of technology as part of their job before. It should not be assumed that that they will find it easy. You need to be able to keep an eye on how they are adjusting.

A good mobile device management system can do this by tracking usage and helping you identify how your staff are working with the mobile devices. It will enable you to see where problems are arising, and head them off before they become a source of resentment - something all too common in change management programmes.

Investment in mobile devices can mount up, especially for large deployments. Julie Purves comments: 'One of B2M's clients had lost over 18 per cent of their devices over the period of a year - a loss of over £750 thousand of investment.' The organisation had assumed, says Purves, that their staff would take adequate care of the devices.

Software is updated on a regular basis. As more intelligence is put on to the mobile devices and new applications are added, you need to be able to do this remotely. You don't want to have to bring all the devices back to the IT department to update because this will cause real disruption, especially if you are a dispersed organisation. Neither do you want to rely on the remote worker to do this.

Increasingly, if a mobile device breaks down, so do the underlying business processes. If that happens, the best-case consequence is that workers will waste time, and the worse-case is that they will be unable to do their jobs properly. Yet Lynx, the parcel carrier, found that in 80 per cent of cases simply rebooting the device will get the system up and running.

When things go wrong, you need to be able to identify what the root cause was: hardware, software or the network provider? When are devices failing and why? Do the new processes work for the company and for the staff?

B2M provides mprodigy, a mobile device management system that helps organisations such as Lynx to manage deployments of mobile devices.

Device management software and security software will go a long way in providing most of the solution, points out Reynolds, by enabling IT administrators to capture the asset characteristics, configure the settings and security policies of mobile devices, and update or roll out new applications with minimal interruption to the user, dramatically reducing the cost of deploying and managing devices.

'It is important that the users of any company-issued mobile device take care of the devices in a diligent manner. So it's important to ensure that they agree to a set of usage terms and conditions.' This could include when and how the device is to be used, and any limitations as to it use (Internet policy, for example), as well as any liability the employee faces if these terms are broken.

Certain companies, says Reynolds have insisted that if the unit is maliciously destroyed then the employee is liable for the cost of replacement. 'Careful consideration must also be given to any health and safety aspects of using mobile devices, especially in moving vehicles.'

Managers should keep a documented record of the software and settings on each device, and of what applications are active and what applications are to be disabled, advises Reynolds. Because mobile devices are capable of holding large amounts of corporate data, some companies may want a backup policy, he points out. Training field workers on using the applications is also advisable he says. 'If necessary, provide supporting documentation as reference material.'

Reynolds says mobile devices are potentially more prone to theft than laptops, and warns that a password policy is therefore extremely important. 'Third-party applications are available which will wipe the mobile device clean should the 'power-on' password be entered incorrectly after a certain number of times. These should be considered for confidential information applications.'

However, Reynolds points out that consideration should also be given to the impact certain password policies may have on the usability and overall user experience of the mobile device. 'There is nothing more frustrating than having to enter a user ID and password every few minutes because the device has gone into sleep mode.'

Once a device is deployed, the user becomes dependent on it functioning properly, points out Reynolds, so should it fail, clear and effective procedures need to be in place to enable the user to continue working, either through emergency paper backup or with 'hot swap' devices geographically located.

Ten top tips for mobile deployments

The mobile data association's advice

1. The business case

Look closely at your business and identify the areas you think would benefit from mobilisation. Then, create model workflows to identify which parts of these processes can be mobilised. Use a 'before and after' scenario to calculate the impact upon those workflows. This difference can then be utilised to calculate the return on investment (ROI) you're likely to achieve.

When evaluating the ROI, start with the paperwork. In almost all cases, removing the cost of processing paper-based forms should give you a tangible ROI. It's easier to do that than to try and measure the return on intangible benefits such as productivity.

2. Total cost of ownership

Make sure in the business case includes all the costs associated with your mobilisation project, including:

• Costs for the support of your field staff as they come to terms with the technology
• Ongoing help, especially with the management of the devices and swap-out of devices
• Periodic updating of applications on the devices
• And of course, that all-important communications cost

3. Mobile communications

When choosing a mobile solution, it is imperative that it works equally well without signal and with signal. This also ensures that the solution can manage all communication sessions without any intervention from the user.

4. IT enterprise connectivity

When businesses deploy field mobility solutions, it's only the beginning of the experience. Initially the solution may need to interface with just a single element of your enterprise, such as your CRM system. However, there will probably be future requirement to integrate it into an ERP, payroll, intranet, GPS tracking system and so on. So make sure the application uses industry-standard interface technology such as XML, has the flexibility to work with all your enterprise systems, and can grow and change as your business grows and changes.

5. Change management

Introducing field mobility into your business will improve existing ways of working and allow for new ways of working. So choose a solution that will allow changes to be made easily over the air to minimise the impact on your field workers, yet will allow you to react quickly to your customers' changing requirements.

6. Diversity

If you have of staff who spend more than 20 per cent of their working week out of the office, they will benefit from field mobility. Once you have deployed the solution to that part of your work force, doubtless you will start looking at other areas of the business that could benefit from mobility. Ensure, therefore, that the initial application is flexible enough to work over a variety of field activities and a variety of enterprise systems through a single mobile gateway. Language support is also essential for either global or European roll-outs.

7. Security

Security is a very subjective: what one organisation would consider secure, another organisation would see as very insecure. Your chosen solution should be flexible enough to work with your existing security policy. If you don't have a mobile device security strategy, ask your solution provider to suggest one based on extending your current policy.

8. Scope creep

It's very easy to extend the functionality of your field mobility project, but this can result in elongated project time scales and spiralling costs. So as phase one, start with the examination of your field worker processes; identify the areas that would benefit from mobilisation; and produce a detailed set of functional requirements. Provide these to your potential suppliers and get a fixed-price quotation for undertaking the work. Ensure that any potential supplier can support your wish list of functionality moving forward.

9. Pilot

One of the most important stages of mobilising your workforce is 'testing the theory' in the live environment in which your staff work. The pilot will enable you to test, then fine-tune your mobile application, ensuring best fit with the field workers environment.

10. Future Proofing

Mobile technology such as PDAs has an average life of six to eight months before being upgraded or superseded. Your target mobile device may no longer be available once you reach the roll-out stage. Leave the final mobile device selection until you are ready to go live, and ensure your supplier has a product road map which includes the support of future devices.