Five Steps Series: Step Three – Develop a plan to apply the right technology for how you operate.

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 and two. In this post we’ll discuss the third step which is to develop a plan to apply the right technology for how you operate.

As we mentioned in step two, you want to work with a firm who will understand your business and provide a solution appropriate for the way you operate. Nowhere is this more important than choosing the right technology. There’s an incredible array of technology available today, but how do you understand what’s right for you? Cellular or satellite, for example, typically comes down to coverage and latency. Some assets are never in cell range and while others may enter into cell range at some time, can you wait for the information?

Or take for instance the exploding Smartphone and M2M technologies. By all accounts, revenues are forecasted to at least double over the next four years for both categories. Even conservative estimates are as high as 10 Billion Plus Smart-devices across a range of platforms and networks by the year 2020. Both technologies are driving the price of cellular and satellite services downward. Applications that seemed too expensive before will be suddenly more affordable. Given that most people use Smartphones in their everyday personal lives, uptime to adopt new mobile business apps on these devices will be much faster.

You should also consider the integration impact. How compatible is the technology with your existing enterprise infrastructure, and how competent are your people with it? In most cases there are proven solutions that will be compatible, the trick is in knowing which. You might want to consider an integration specialist well versed in remote information solutions. It’s often more cost advantageous to outsource when you are incorporating technologies you have no prior experience with. It’s often the best way to assure you’ll gain the full economic potential from your project. For example, some satellite services, if not properly administered with the right tools, will provide you with a shocking bill at some point.

Finally, you want to avoid the pitfalls that are common with technology implementation, Chief among them is over-reaching. Projects that are too cumbersome to make it all the way to completion or technologies that unto themselves are dazzling, but fail to provide the base for a well performing solution are prevalent pitfalls. Here’s our list of what we see most often:

• Failure to include use restrictions, especially for satellite.
• Deploying technology that satisfies the current application but does not anticipate future needs.
• Selecting providers with limited range of offerings and/or ability to execute.
• Selecting technology or creating applications that are too complicated for your people to use on a regular basis.
• Over-extending; starting too big, rather than proving out a couple of smaller high probability successes first.

Next we’ll address step four, assuring what you build will be scalable with your business as it changes and grows. To view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm