Is Your Mobile PC Really Built To Last?

Those who put more value on the lower price tag of commercial grade devices versus the much lower, long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) of rugged devices will end up taking a loss due to the oversight of “secondary cost” considerations.

Compromising on usability features will lead to productivity losses. Accepting non-rugged devices’ inherent fragility will lead to fast device failure, possible data loss, and the biggest cost hit - the workflow continuity issues. Inadvertent business interruptions and lost customer service opportunities are the primary reasons service organizations abandon commercial or even consumer devices for rugged tablet PCs.

Considering that service revenue is beginning to eclipse many organizations’ product revenue , it is risky to consider a mobile computing solution designed to last any less than five years minimum. (Many well-designed rugged tablets end up staying in the field for seven or nine years before replacement.) Regardless of the industry, many organizations are already forecasting business performance levels while managing budgets to grow slower than revenue for five years out. Most focus on the types of products they want to produce or sell, the types of services they want to offer, and therefore have a pretty good idea of the types of mobile computing technologies needed to execute in both categories.