In our last posts we discussed five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information, as well as steps one through three. In this post we’ll discuss the fourth step which is to assure what you build is scalable.
So far, you’ve staked out your remote information, figured out exactly how you’ll capture it, and hopefully applied the right technology. Now we arrive at step four which asks the burning questions: will what you choose today have the scalability to take you into the future?
Quite simply, assuring scalability also comes down to understanding and anticipating future needs. Every business is different, but similar companies follow the same general path. Some of the considerations when deciding whether a solution will successfully scale as you grow include the following:
- Is the current project just a start for a much broader implementation? If so, will the technology work in the larger scope?
- It could be the best technology solution, but if your people don’t adopt it, you won’t be able to scale it. You’ll want to create solutions that are user appropriate and assure a training plan is built in.
- Looking inside the company, traditional scalability questions have to do with company growth factors such as size, locations, employees, assets, customers, competitors, etc. Looking outside the company you’ll want to consider fundamental shifts in the market and anticipated regulatory changes.
- Finally, take a look at the technology itself. Is it expected to undergo changes or even quickly become obsolete? Will it meet the types of challenges and growth you see ahead?
No advice these days would be complete without considering mobility scalability. Smartphones, tablets and the like are exploding in use. Revenues are forecasted to at least double over the next four years for both categories. Advancements in technology are driving the price of cellular and satellite downward and given that most people use smartphones in their everyday lives, uptime to adopt new mobile business apps on these devices will be much faster. All good news, but will what you choose today scale into the future?
Aberdeen recently conducted a study reporting that Best in Class field service organizations, with as few as 100 technicians, could save up to $8,000,000 per year over industry Laggards by implementing effective mobility solutions. Chief among the drivers of effective solutions included: use of electronic forms, operable in offline mode, real-time systems integration, accommodation of varied platforms and the ability to generate on-demand performance metrics. At minimum, make sure the solutions you consider can at least do all of the above.
Mobility’s rapid paced change across a range of devices, networks, data and communication services, makes predicting scalability a challenge. For this reason, Skymira developed its MobiGatewayTM to seamlessly and easily tie together non-similar devices and information. An alternative to developing programs in native apps, MobiGatewayTM significantly reduces development time, operates both online and offline, and assures increased security. It also assures that changes down the road can be more easily accommodated.
Next we’ll address step five, implementing the solution in the most effective and least disruptive way. To view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm
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