Mobility’s shift towards the enterprise is accelerating, especially in light of recent hardware announcements from the world’s major device makers.
Apple, for example, unveiled the iPad Pro last month, a bigger version of the iPad complemented by a stylus and a keyboard, all in the name of improved productivity for professionals on the go. Google joined the high-performance tablet fray with the Pixel C, its first Android tablet that comes with a detachable keyboard for working professionals. And more recently, Blackberry announced its first Android-based device.
These developments were preceded by Microsoft’s Surface products, 2-in-1 devices that run on the full Windows operating system that can run almost any line-of-business apps for Windows.
The proliferation of smartphones – forecast by IDC to reach 1.4 billion unit shipments in 2015 alone – also points to the increasing “mobilization” of the global workforce.
Advancements on smartphone technology have not only put business systems and applications on mobile phones, transforming them into smarter, more sophisticated business tools. Today, any business without an app strategy will find themselves quickly losing out to their more agile competitors.
For small and medium businesses (SMBs) with limited resources, this accelerating shift towards mobility has made the competitive business landscape a more level playing field. The cloud is also doing wonders for SMBs. With the advantages of faster deployment and lower cost of ownership, more SMBs are embracing the cloud.
The cloud enables SMBs to improve operational processes and offer smarter, more agile solutions to their customers without incurring unnecessary investment on additional hardware and other IT resources. In short, SMBs are realising that cloud allows them to operate smarter, not harder – and grow faster.
Mobility and the cloud come together to empower SMBs and help them grow their businesses. However, implementing a mobile and cloud strategy can be a daunting task, especially for SMBs without a dedicated IT manager.
The following three questions are proposed as a general starting point to help SMBs identify their specific challenges and evaluate the mobility and cloud-based tools they may need to overcome them.
1. What’s my app strategy?
According to a global Accenture study, 87 percent of executives see the necessity of mobile apps in order to fully realize the benefits of the digital economy. SMBs, too, should consider implementing an app strategy, both internally and externally.
Embracing smartphone and tablet apps for work can be a remarkable boost for productivity, and this is truer as mobile devices become more powerful.
Externally, apps that provide a good experience can dramatically boost a brand’s market perception, and help SMBs reach new demographics that were previously impossible.
This is a question that SMBs cannot overlook — apps are an integral part of mobility, and will certainly become more powerful and provide richer user experiences as the devices powering them matures.
2. Which cloud service works for me?
Cloud-based unified tools and systems helps SMBs better integrate their resources and business processes, so they can communicate and collaborate better and more efficiently – regardless of the platform or hardware of their choice.
Today, there are cloud managed services for many essential business functions, from networking to data storage to customer relationship management. The cloud is so powerful that it can even host applications and desktops. Our Remote Application Server, for example, helps delivers applications, data, and virtual desktops from a central location. These are crowded fields with multiple vendors offering different solutions, all of which have to be evaluated with care.
When considering these options, SMBs have to further decide whether public, private, or hybrid cloud deployments work best for their business.
3. How can my employees collaborate seamlessly no matter which devices they choose?
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are common in SMBs thanks chiefly to its cost-effectiveness.
In a recent Parallels survey of 1,000 SMB stakeholders in the US, the full results of which will be released soon, 47 percent of respondents say they have a BYOD policy in place, with 15 percent saying they cover both laptops and mobile devices, and 43 percent saying they allow mobile device access to email and other corporate systems.
This means that an SMB office could see not just Windows and Mac PCs, but also iPhones, iPads, and Android smartphones and tablets.
To bridge these disparate platforms, cloud collaboration services such as Dropbox and Microsoft Office 365 are the mainstay tools that many SMBs rely on. No matter what devices your employees use, their productivity software and business-critical data are all easily deployed and synced through the cloud.
In another case, businesses frequently see the need for additional devices and platforms as they expand. For example, there could be a need for specialized video editing software available only on the Mac.
To scale these needs efficiently without incurring more hardware costs – which can sometimes be prohibitive – SMBs can also consider maximizing their current hardware resources through methods such as virtualization or remote access.
For instance, desktop virtualization software can turn your employee’s Mac into both a Windows and OS X machine, easily running apps on both platforms without having to reboot. These are usually available in business versions, such as the Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition, which includes additional features to help you manage installation on multiple machines under a single pane of glass.
Perhaps best of all, SMB employees will end up happier with the ability to choose their favourite devices on which to work.
Marching towards the future
Importantly, these three questions are not exhaustive, and should not be the only ones that SMBs ask themselves. However, as mobility and the cloud continues to steadily impact progress in communication and collaboration, they are among some of the most crucial questions to ponder over and can serve as appropriate launch pads to delve deeper into deployment options.
With high-powered mobile devices and mature cloud services, it has never been easier for SMBs to deploy powerful IT tools. Many of such businesses all over Asia are already leveraging mobility and the cloud for higher productivity and business success.
Indeed, we may be living in the golden age of technology for SMBs.
About the author:
This article was written by Eugenio Ferrante, General Manager, Parallels Asia Pacific, a provider of desktop virtualisation software.
