Disconnected Mobile Workers: A Bottom-Up Proof That Purpose-Built Devices Are Better

By Bob Ashenbrenner, President of Durable Mobility Technologies, LLC.

There seems to be a majority consensus (80%) among global enterprise executives that mobility is a “key enabler of reaching business goals”. In fact, more than 50% of senior executives intend to expand their mobile workforce in the coming months according to a  recent study conducted by WBR Digital and commissioned by NetMotion. All great news. However, many of those same survey respondents indicated that their companies have experienced difficulties deploying mobile technology as of late. Specifically, they’ve been plagued by connectivity issues – which is troubling considering that the whole point of mobility is to extend critical workflow applications anywhere workers need to go. That requires reliable connectivity.

That’s why 47% of the executives polled selected connectivity as their #1 criterion for technologies supporting mobile service strategies. While software solutions can address many of the concerns in the chart, connectivity is almost entirely a function of the mobile device itself. More specifically, connectivity is dictated by how the device was designed. That means that those hundreds of new help desk tickets submitted by disconnected mobile workers are most likely the result of inadequate devices. That’s probably why IT is facing diagnostic issues as well.