Microsoft on wireless...

Dan Arildson from Microsoft noted that wireless devices started out nearly as toys, but now many industries have mission critical wireless apps. Fedex and UPS, for example, he noted, run every bit of revenue through wireless devices as they deliver and pick up packages. So what is a people-ready business? Embrace business process and business practice. People drive the most important business outcomes. Bet on people. Understand the broadening role of software. Software can amplify people's impact. Bet on software. Demand new classes of solution. Innovative, well connected, familiar & easy to use...Bet on mobility. We're talking about process enablement. What is that? Tae current processes and systems and make them more people ready and ultimately more effective. What value does it deliver? Improved access to information; quicker time to decision, easier to leverage tools-- improved employee morale and productivity, and lower cost of ownership and delivery. So why mobility? Because ultimately your people need information in an easy to use, understand, and leverage way to make decisions. Mobility solutions provide the access, integration and collaboration required to acquire this level of process enablement. Arildson talked about emerging business trends. "85% of companies will provide more access to applications via mobile devices in 2007...and 3 out of 4 companies will increase spending on devices such as smart phones." Industry is conservative. Manufacturing, according to IDC, is at the top of wireless technology rollouts. This means that the industries recognize that wireless technologies are the way forward. The world doesn't need better wireless email. Companies managing field personnel vial mobile communications retain more customers and operate more efficiently than competitors. 38% of all midsized business have deployed at least one mobile application, and an additional 23% are pilot testing a mobile application. There are a lot of enablers, drivers, and requirements. Business drivers include increasing employee productivity, open new markets, growing customer base and revenue per customer, reducing cycle time, and speeding decision making. Increasing responsiveness to customers increases cash flow and reduces OPEX. Strategic shift is driving standardization. Mobility is moving from tactical to strategic. Mobility is becoming a budgeted item. Platform standardization mirrors the PC market of the 1990s. Multiple standards are an expensive way to roll out enterprise wide. Aridson discussed some solutions stories. He talked about a SAT IntelaTrac application and several others, showing that mobility solutions are real, that they save money, and they are being used in manufacturing environment. When you want to mobilize your enterprise:

• Establish your competency group.
• Standardize on a mobile platform.
• Start a pilot project
• Establish cross business unit understanding of mobile needs, scope project and anticipated benefits. Measure return on investment at www.windowsmobilestart.com/businessvalue.
• Bring in all stakeholders early in the process.