Because user device hardware is generally the most expensive element of an asset management solution - and it’s what users touch - it’s important to get it right.

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by Jim Geier, principal, Wireless-Nets Ltd. Intel Corp.

Take a look at the business drivers and the challenges that enterprises face when deploying mobile applications.

A couple of weeks ago, I moderated roundtable discussions in Philadelphia and Houston focusing on mobile asset management. SAP hosted both events, which were attended by business and IT managers from approximately 30 large enterprises. The topics of discussion included business drivers and challenges for deploying mobile asset management systems. Overall, the discussions were extremely valuable to gaining a better understanding of what these companies are dealing with and what solutions are effective for deploying mobile applications.

Companies have been installing asset management systems for the past 10 years or so. Several years ago, I was involved in the development of an evidence tracking system for a courthouse. In this situation, the court needed a method of keeping track of the location of evidence to ensure that the physical items were not lost and available to appear in court on specific dates. The loss of evidence had been resulting in court cases being delayed, the wrong people being put in jail and actual criminals being set free.

Another example of the benefits of asset management is within hospitals, where doctors and nurses need fast access to equipment, such as portable ultrasound machines and monitoring equipment, when patient needs arise. A mobile asset management system makes it possible to quickly know where to find specific items in the hospital.

Business drivers
Many of the participants at the roundtable discussions talked about the need to define a solid return on investment (ROI) before moving too far forward with the deployment of a mobile asset management system. This is necessary to ensure adequate buy-in from upper management, which of course directly impacts long-term funding. With mobile asset management, it’s fairly easy to define business drivers, such as the ability to increase efficiencies and accuracies. Just the concept of inputting information by scanning the item rather than writing down the information by hand has significant benefits because it speeds up the transaction and substantially reduces human error.

As part of determining the benefits, it’s important to perform time studies before and after implementing the system. Think about starting with a prototype or small pilot implementation in order to conduct trials for the time studies. This will help you validate expected ROI before spending a lot of money and rolling out the system to the entire company. This also helps in the understanding and mitigation of risks, as well as ensuring that you don’t end up with a system that has an unacceptable ROI.