Last week at the WWDC event, Apple announced its new operating system -- iPadOS. While on the surface it feels like a small move, in reality, it signals a fundamental shift from decades-old desktop computing paradigms to tablet-based computing paradigm. This release gives the additional horsepower and capabilities that tablets needed to fully replace a desktop computer in the enterprise setting.
To give a perspective on how far the tablet adoption in the enterprise has come and continues to grow, I recently boarded a flight to London and was greeted by a flight attendant as she tapped and scanned a tablet. Within seconds, she had retrieved a trove of real-time information about me, including my travel plans, my preferences, and my loyalty status. She wasn’t holding a stack of computer printouts and wasn’t reliant on potentially outdated information. The power of the tablet in her hand allowed her to do her job more efficiently and led to a most enjoyable flight for me. This was enterprise mobility at its finest.
Enterprise mobility is the notion of empowering employees to do their jobs efficiently from anywhere, by accessing a simple user interface on an iPad, iPhone or Android device, and leveraging the power of the cloud for data access and storage. And by implementing a strategy of enterprise mobility, companies everywhere are now creating elevated experiences not only for their employees but for their customers as well.
Enterprise and Mobile – The Perfect Marriage
This is really a story of 1+1=11.
First, let’s look at enterprise systems. Companies have always relied on legacy desktop systems to power their experiences. These systems were typically expensive and hard to use and have a clunky interface. There was very little emphasis on user experience and productivity of the employee. These systems also required the company to run their own servers.
Fortunately, about a decade ago, we saw an important paradigm shift toward cloud computing, which allowed companies to effectively outsource the running of their servers so they no longer needed to worry about building their own data centers and infrastructure. Cloud computing has now become a defacto standard with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud leading the foray.
Also within the past decade, we’ve seen an explosion of mobile use among consumers. We all know that more and more people are using mobile devices, they are spending more time on their devices and they are able to do more things on their phones and tablets.
It, therefore, makes sense that there is incredible power in the combination of these two trends. Yet the combination of enterprise systems and mobile hasn’t garnered the attention it deserves. Fortunately, we are now beginning to see the widespread use of mobile devices by employees on a company-wide, or enterprise, basis that allows for efficiency in ways never seen before.
How Does It Work?
Historically, the only technological device that a store associate had was a desktop computer, with a wired keyboard and mouse, which was fixed behind a counter. This allowed for no mobility and therefore very little spontaneity or efficiency. Associates were tethered to that computer station if they wanted answers about products, pricing, customers or inventory. And customers oftentimes had to wait in long lines to ask these questions or checkout.
But mobile is changing all of that. Thankfully, you only have to go as far as your nearest Apple Store (Nasdaq: APPL), Nike (NYSE: NKE), Sandro, Sephora or Maje stores to see that this paradigm is fundamentally changing. Store associates now carry small mobile devices and can perform all the same functions, on the go, that used to require a desktop computer.
Apple’s iPadOS Launch
And it seems that this innovative shift is here to stay. As we mentioned, Apple will be introducing the iPadOS, a redesigned tablet that offers improved features and enhancements that mimic the capabilities and ease-of-use of an actual desktop computer, but still, offer the mobility of a tablet.
So Who Benefits?
In a word – everyone. By offering enterprise mobile devices, companies provide employees with greater efficiency and flexibility, which lead to improved job satisfaction. Customers get more accurate and timely information, avoid lines and receive more personalized service.
And which industries are ripe for enterprise mobility?
Retail - Clearly the notion of enterprise mobility works well in retail. Informed sales associates who have mobile access to enterprise data, and who are free to roam the sales floor, can provide superior and real-time clienteling services and mobile checkout.
Home Depot (NYSE: HD), for example, provides rugged mobile Android devices for employees at all 2,000+ of its retail locations. With an average store footprint in excess of 100,000 square feet, these devices allow employees to roam the vast aisles and provide customer assistance on the spot.
Nike (NYSE: NKE) uses mobile tablets and kiosks throughout its flagship Fifth Avenue store to facilitate communication between customer and associate and to make a more pleasant shopping experience. Many features available to customers via the popular Nike app, such as Shop the Look and Scan to Try, communicate directly with the employee-facing app on the store associate’s mobile device to create a seamless, mobile-driven customer journey.
Airlines – In the early days, the only way travelers could get answers was to wait in painfully, slow-moving lines and ask questions of the employee sitting at the desktop behind the counter in the terminal. As my recent flight experience shows, airline employees are now equipped with tablets, both in airports and inflight, to assist with most travel related needs – even ordering food. In addition, mobile kiosks in airport terminals minimize wait time as travelers can check in, check bags and reschedule flights.
Relationship Banking – Rather than customers waiting in line to chat with bank employees at their desks, many employees are now using iPads. This personalizes the one-on-one interaction between advisor and client because meetings can now take place anywhere – on a couch or over coffee, as the advisor can check rates and compare investment products right from the tablet.
Hotels – Checking into a hotel used to be a formal, impersonal experience that required waiting in line at the lobby counter. Now, many hotels, including Hyatt’s (NYSE: H) Andaz chain, have improved the “first impression” by offering guests a comfortable seat and a glass of wine while easily completing a simple check-in on a tablet. Mobile connectivity to the hotel’s enterprise-wide data and systems provides the hotel employee with a 360-degree view of the hotel guest, while the experience for the guest is high-tech, efficient and personal.
Enterprise solutions have historically been desktop-based. And when employees needed to move about with company or customer information, they often had to resort to more primitive solutions such as carrying around sheets of paper or communicating via walkie-talkie (after all, it’s not very practical to strap a desktop computer to your belt.)
This is because, when building systems to make employees more productive, organizations simply didn’t have the tools or skill sets to build applications that were mobile first. Fortunately, there has been a major paradigm shift and solutions now exist that allow companies to implement mobile-first enterprise solutions. These solutions combine robust mobile technology with the limitless power of the cloud to provide employees with information, flexibility, spontaneity, and efficiency.
Remember when you used to carry a phone, a camera, and a watch? Well, the introduction of the smartphone over a decade ago obviated the need for these separate devices. We are seeing a similar shift happening in the world of enterprise solutions. We no longer need desktop computers, fax machines, walkie-talkies, and paper. Instead, we are converging into an employee-facing, mobile-first experience thanks to the efficiencies of enterprise mobility.
