Spirit 2011 Questionnaire and survey results

See the results of our survey

The questionnaire and survey is now closed.

The original survey is below - we would still be interested to get your feedback and to evaluate your business so please feel free to participate.

Your company might never have considered how mobile data capture solutions could help your business. Alternatively, you might already have a comprehensive mobility strategy. Whatever your situation, our experience and expertise could help you to find ways of boosting your productivity and efficiency and ultimately reducing your costs.

To find out how, simply complete our questionnaire.

One of our consultants will review your solution and recommend improvements that are designed to meet the specific needs of your organisation.

Click here to be redirected to our Questionnaire.

Notes

• www.spiritdatacapture.co.uk is compliant with the Data Protection act. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent.
• By entering your details you agree to one of our representatives contacting you to discuss your submission.

Survey results

We recently carried out a survey on the use of rugged data capture technology. We thought you might be interested in seeing a summary of the results, which include some of the key benefits and issues experienced by users. A special 'thank you' to everyone who participated in the survey.

Application area
Originally, warehousing was the most popular application for mobile solutions. However, following the evolution of wireless communications and the diminishing size of rugged mobile hardware, there has been a significant increase in the number of organisations deploying solutions for field workers in recent years.

Solution lifecycles
Most solutions in the survey had been implemented within the last two years but some were over ten years old. The solutions implemented over five years ago solely used rugged hardware - which demonstrates the stability and reliability of rugged solutions.

Future growth
The survey shows that organisations are planning to increase their mobile users by 25%-30% over the next three years. The trend seems to be to implement mobile solutions departmentally but with corporate guidance, this means that individual departments can identify solutions that meet their specific requirements but their selection must be in line with the overall company strategy to support standardisation.

Technology adoption
The most common form of mobile technology within organisations is still the smart phone. This is because it is lightweight and easily integrates with calendars, emails etc. making it the perfect tool for the white collar worker. In terms of key applications, the rugged mobile device is now significantly improving its market share as people realise the high operational costs of running smart phones in rugged environments.

Wireless solutions are now by far the most widespread, with internal wireless or Wi-Fi still the most prevalent option for both office and industrial use. External wireless or 3G solutions have increased in popularity significantly over the last three years, improving data transfer speeds and the overall experience of the mobile user.

Support and security
Most field-based solutions transfer data between the handheld device and the central system, with some form of sensitive data stored on the device. However, surprisingly few organisations have implemented any security either to safeguard the data on the handheld or to encrypt the data transferred over the air.

The main problems facing field-based solutions lie in maintaining a consistent connection with the central system. This can leave the field worker unable to upload a completed job or download their next work order. Deploying software updates to field workers is a logistical nightmare without proper device management, as individual field w orkersneed to return to the central office to receive the updates. The number of organisations adopting device management has increased over recent years but a large number of solutions still operate without any form of visibility of their remote users.

Solution Benefits and perceived concerns
A significant number of organisations are looking at how and where mobility solutions could help their business. The initial hurdles facing companies include the cost of acquiring the new hardware, software and services. The main benefits are perceived to be greater flexibility, higher productivity and increased accuracy.

Conclusion
The results from the survey re-enforce the industry trends that there is significant growth in the development or introduction of mobility in key business applications. The main driver is to improve productivity and efficiency and to reduce operational costs.

The increased adoption of field-based technologies has demonstrated the need for stable and secure solutions, which has led to organisations considering the total cost of a solution rather than initial investment. The number of organisations considering additional solution components (such as Mobile VPNs and/or device management) has increased, but a significant number would still benefit further from the implementation of such technologies.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of rugged mobile computing please email Helen Jones or call us on 0845 33 73 243.