Hi everyone.
Fifty-nine per cent of professionals surveyed by Microsoft Canada and Ipsos Reid believe mobile devices that allow them to connect to information like email when they are away from the office can make them more productive. And 84 per cent of those who use a mobile device for work say this increases their productivity and helps drive company profitability.
(This post is culled from a Microsoft Canada press release, so read with your marketing-aware lenses in place.)
In addition, 65 per cent of Canadian professionals find it is necessary in today’s competitive environment to remain connected away from the office.
Blevins Insurance Group recently evaluated its current and emerging mobile requirements and decided to upgrade its primary sales force to devices using Windows Mobile 5.0 to allow the team to receive and send critical information, open and edit documents using Microsoft Office and access the Internet. The devices integrated virtually seamlessly with the company’s existing Microsoft-based infrastructure of Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 which includes Windows Exchange Server 2003. Also, little training was required as the sales team adjusted easily to the familiar user interface.
“We selected Microsoft for its low total cost of ownership, ease of deployment, familiarity to users and flexibility to run other applications,” said Jody Cybulski, Partner, Senior Benefits Consultant, Blevins Insurance Group.
Other findings:
- 61 per cent of Canadian professionals say access to their organization’s information or business processes enables them to make better or more informed business decisions
- More than 60 per cent of Canadian professionals feel their ideal mobile device should be able to go beyond basic email functionality and allow mobile workers to review and edit documents, connect to corporate intranet websites, surf the Web and make conference calls
- Nine in 10 Canadian professionals would like the opportunity to work from home and still be connected to information like email
- Remaining connected is a concern, as 28 per cent of Canadian professionals always think of checking their email when out of the office
- 71 per cent of Canadian professionals would like the ability to check email, customer data and listen to MP3s with their mobile device
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My take: What’s interesting in these types of announcements is often what is implied but not necessarily stated. Notice that this study is interested only in mobile data devices — specifically that means cellular-enabled devices, with perhaps some overlap into Wi-Fi connectivity. No mention is made of traditional PDAs such as a Palm Tungsten T5.
To me, this is another indication that industry players have lost interest in the traditional PDA platform.