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Gaining edge with mobile computing

Posted on: Monday, 29 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

MOBILE computing is a rising trend in business enterprises, especially among those which need to supply and provide most, if it not all, of its workforce with critical data and information as they are constantly out on the field.

This certainly holds true for Microsoft Corp. For the software giant, mobile computing has been a key focus for its internal information technology (IT) group to provide value to its business by improving employee productivity.

"Microsoft believes in empowering people and businesses through great software, anytime, any place and any device. To this end, our salesforce are equipped with Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs and smartphones which enable them to better collaborate with their colleagues at the office, and to have `information at their fingertips'," says Microsoft Malaysia's product marketing group director Alex Fong.

This, he adds, is in addition to the Windows XP-powered laptops that each of the 120 Microsoft Malaysia employees are equipped with, to facilitate their mobile lifestyle (travelling for events, training, etc) and to still be able to connect to the corporate network.

"We believe that yesterday's wired office employee is today's connected mobile worker and that's certainly becoming a reality starting with our employees."

To make it a reality corporate-wide, Microsoft has committed to an ongoing investment which is not limited to the IT investments in mobile computing equipment, but also in the form of research and development - particularly software, which today amount to US$6.8 billion (RM25.8 billion).

Infrastructure. To support mobile computing, Microsoft has positioned Microsoft .Net as its underlying approach for connecting people, systems, information, and devices.

"The Tablet PC, Pocket PC and smartphones are available today, and are all critical elements for the .Net strategy, since they represent smart, innovative client and rich user experience. These devices run powerful operating systems (Windows XP and Windows Mobile), and are among the most mobile and rich devices ever made, featuring natural input capabilities, including pen and speech technologies," Fong says.

"But we do not stop here. We feel it is important to continuously work with our industry partners to innovate such devices in an integrated fashion, ensuring that the usage experiences with these devices are extremely positive."

Benefits. Microsoft's operations and technology group is in the process of deploying Tablet PC to all the company's employees worldwide. In the interim deployment survey, Microsoft's Operation and Technology Group (OTG) discovered that productivity has improved nearly 20 per cent, and digital information and computers were used more during a typical workday.

"Microsoft's OTG recognised that the Tablet PC offers an opportunity to enhance productivity of our employees compared to standard notebooks through the enhanced mobility capabilities (longer battery life, digital inking, better screens). When combined with the wireless network, employee productivity is therefore maximised," Fong says.

He adds that Microsoft also sees a great future for Pocket PCs, smartphones, and Internet appliances, as well as a huge potential for extending the capabilities of notebook PCs to support driving Windows with a pen and working with handwritten ink across all applications.

"Today, Microsoft enables capabilities such as Outlook Web access, Outlook mobile access, over-the-air synchronisation with Pocket PCs so that our employees with these mobile devices can access their critical personal information like e-mail and schedules on Exchange Server without impacting their need to spend more time with our customers and partners on the field."

Issues. Mobile computing deployment is not without its issues. For Microsoft, one of the biggest challenges lies in the human factor.

"Online information consumption has exceeded yesterday's technologies capabilities to intelligently present, filter, find and digest information that is most important to information workers and businesses to be productive and effective. Hence, the information worker is likely to face information fatigue, inefficient collaboration, lack of business process integration, and disconnected islands of data," Fong says.

"Due to information explosion, workers spend too much time finding, storing, and processing information. This calls for new tools and new ways of thinking about information gathering, distribution and consumption, so that the ultimate benefit will be the information worker's ability to get their jobs done and business' ability to maximise return on their people assets," he adds.

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