Technology
plays a crucial role in any organisation in the advancement of service
processes and due to its rapidly evolving nature, companies timeously and
continuously remain open and respond to industry changes, upgrades and
environmental demands. Technology is purchased to be implemented long term
therefore the question remains at the heart of an organisation – rugged devices
or consumer devices?
As a global organisation that has been providing supply chain solutions to the industry for over 30 years, we have worked with both rugged devices and more recently with consumer devices, such as smart phones and iPads. We should however understand that consumer vs mobile devices is not comparing apples with apples, as both technologies and their related platforms have developed out of very different needs, budgets and most important, functionalities.
The
choice whether to use rugged devices vs consumer devices depends on the
company’s work demands, environment, use of devices, treatment and production
needs.
Total
cost of Ownership (TCO)
When considering which mobile computing device a company needs to invest in, few factors have to be considered, first of which is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). In our experience, users usually ‘sweat their assets’ over 5-7 years, which sometimes extends to 10 years. The costs will depend on the users’ profile and environment, functionality, security and data privacy, failure rates of your mobile devices and software platforms, to name a few.
Rugged devices are made to be resilient and durable as they are handled by many users. The more users per device the more likely it will get damaged through use and abuse. For that reason rugged devices are built to withstand various environmental conditions.
Consumer devices are specifically designed for a single user; therefore they are not designed for resilience and as a result, cost less. Despite lower purchase prices, these devices run into issues such as high device failures, high maintenance fees or high accessories’ costs, which inevitably increase the costs of owning such a device.
By
understanding the work environment and user requirements, supply chain
executives can select devices that will provide the most reliable performance,
longest lifecycles and superior Return on Investment (ROI).
Return
on Investment
Depending on their jobs, handheld device users lose productivity each time the device fails, not counting the time IT or other support staff spends troubleshooting the device.
Mobile workers who experience some downtime will probably have to miss at least one of their sales or service calls that day. Productivity loss – not device purchase price – is by far the largest component of the total cost of ownership for smart phones and other handheld devices. If you want to ‘sweat your assets’ as regards investing in mobile devices, then consider the upfront cost of your mobile device versus the lifecycle of the device.
Rugged devices are more expensive than consumer devices, but the latter has a short lifecycle compared to the 5 – 7 years of a rugged device. Training on the device and the use of applications and systems is time consuming and expensive. There is a cost associated if you need to retrain staff every year compared to every 5 – 7 years.
Success
of device
Traditionally cost, size and weight have been the leading smart phone selection criteria, but they are not the most important for emerging enterprise deployments. To maximise value from such deployments, it is essential to match the device to the worker’s needs. To ensure the success of your mobile enterprise deployment, factors such as device ruggedness, reliability (minimal downtime), integrated functionality, software compatibility, cost of ownership, device support and ease of use should be evaluated.
With innovations and technologies mushrooming rapidly, it is not surprising that managing mobile applications in the supply chain has become so demanding. Devices and operating systems change and every instance of change puts a strain on IT departments and management. Ensuring the compatibility and longevity of a mobile system has traditionally required continuous investment in time-consuming and costly development, deployment and IT infrastructure.
Ultimately
it’s about making an informed and educated choice – and it might not be one or
the other, it could be a combination of both depending on the application and
functionality required.
Contributed by: Karin
Parker, Executive Head of Sales and Marketing at Zetes SA
