The Real Reason Why You Shouldn't Go All-In On All-In-One Mobility "Bundles"

By Tom Kost, Xplore

If you had to choose between replacing your company’s back-office desktop and servers, or replacing all of your company-issued mobile tablets, smartphones and other devices, which would you choose?

Unfortunately, this is a decision that many companies find themselves making when considering an all-in-one bundled mobility solution. An unexpected consequence, really. That is because the “all” part of an “all-in-one” or “all-inclusive” bundle likely does not use the operating system currently powering your information systems. These all-in-one bundled solutions are very often built around an iOS or other consumer-grade device, which means they aren’t built to run your back-office interface software. They only run the software needed to facilitate mobile tasks, and those who bundle these solutions don’t typically support the API for those server-based tools you ultimately need to connect with to achieve complete workflow continuity.

Interfacing with a business’s back-office system isn’t a priority and, therefore, may not be offered at all as part of the “solution”. Customers ultimately have to choose to “lose” access to their servers to modernize their mobile environment, which really doesn’t solve anything. If anything, it creates new problems. Mobile-specific operating systems don’t natively run Windows programs, so they break the device’s connection to the back-office before you even start to configure the application. That translates to lost productivity due to the lack of continuity between workflow applications as workers transition between their traditional office and mobile office in the field.