igroup exhibited on stand 40 at the Civica show, which proved a huge success. igroup would like to thank everyone who came especially to visit us and to all other delegates who we spoke to. Civica, who specialise in consultancy and software held their annual conference on the 27-28 January 2010, where igroup launched Dynamics Forms 2010 and talked to key members of the public sector on enterprise mobility. The Conference brought together customers and experts from across the many sectors, which provided a forum to share knowledge and ideas and to learn about how to successfully balanc the demands of service delivery and efficiency to their employees’.
With temperatures of -15 hitting most of the UK last week it became a struggle to beat the freeze while local authorities battled to keep the roads and schools open.
Temperature’s plummeted and people across the UK battled treacherous condition’s igroup battled to keep working through the week. However, with remote access, SharePoint and mobile working allowed igroup’s Chester office to perform as normal as many employees struggled to get to work.
Chris, head of operations managed to struggle into work all through last week while the rest of the team dared not to brave the weather. Below are the snowy scenes from our Chester office.
Although ice, freezing fog and up to 11 inches of snow hit the UK igroup’s staff could work and continue as normal from their homes. As many organisations were struggling to keep to productivity levels normal remote working is a way forward. By employing a remote and mobile working philosophy productivity continues no matter what the weather and ensures that your business doesn’t lose out. During the decade employers will become even more flexible to suit our changing weather conditions and daily lives.
Anytime, anywhere working with mobile solutions and SharePoint keep’s ‘business as normal’.
Forrester have announced what mobility trends can we expect to see in 2010.Forrester, believe that 4G networks will continue to grow, along with the deployment of mobile apps. Devices based on Google’s Android operating system may capture up to 10 percent market share. Employees will pressure IT departments to support their personal smartphones and other devices for business use. In addition, cloud-based apps that support the mobile workforce will become more popular.
In 2009, most companies reduced new technology investments in response to the uncertain global economic recession. However, the enterprise mobility picture was more positive as many firms continued to pursue mobility solutions to help them cut costs, improve worker productivity, and enhance business process efficiencies. We predict a more stable economic environment in 2010 and expect mobile network operators to implement programs to drive application development for fourth-generation (4G) and long-term evolution (LTE) networks not only for consumers but also for business. In addition, expect increased vendor and service provider focus on offering machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions to improve business process efficiencies in specific industries (e.g., healthcare, utilities, and the supply chain). More employees will also bring personally selected and purchased mobile devices (e.g., Android smartphones) into the office and use them for work-related mobile applications.
So 2010 is set to be a good year for paper forms to be brought into the new decade by being used electronically.
The UK IT market skipped a heart beat during the past year, however in 2010; it is back to what it does best. Global IT spend will advance by 4.4% led by pent-up demand for software. The leading software market to be in is enterprise software. Enterprise software will be the most lucrative software business to be in, according to Ovum (2009). Lead analysts in the field (Gartner, 2009) propose that the market for large enterprise mobility software is tipped to grow at 9% during 2010, putting enterprise mobility at the forefront in 2010 (Forrester, 2009).
By the end of 2010 the software market will be worth about £6.44 billion. Top ten trends to watch for in 2010 are as follows:
- Cloud Computing
- Advanced analytics
- Client computing
- IT for green
- Flash memory
- Virtualization for availability
- Mobile applications
- Reshaping the data centre
- Social computing
- Security: active monitoring.
Positively, companies specialising in business applications is a “key growth area,” for the UK software industry will “keep growing” (Gartner, 2009).
Lower cost of ownership
The cost of going mobile is falling. Clients today are paying only a tenth as much for mobile technology as they did 10 years ago.
• Flat rate tariffs – the era of £1/MB is coming to an end. Flat rate tariffs from the consumer world have arrived in the enterprise
• Device management – Remote device management can reduce the need to recall devices for failures or mass updates
• Security & networks – traditional mobile solutions required dedicated infrastructure, either private networks, or at least private APNs
• However, non-technology components cost just as much as ever
Field service operators are looking for solutions that provide sophisticated functionality with lower costs and risks …
Device Proliferation
There are more devices available than ever before, and our users are increasingly familiar with technology from everyday life
• Supporting a wide range of different devices can be a recipe for rapidly escalating cost
• Choose devices that are fit for purpose – a construction surveyor will not use the same device as a meter reader
• Use software platforms to separate your applications from specific devices
• Think about how all these devices will be supported; how long will they be available for?
• The right device can be a powerful force to overcome resistance from end users
To conclude:
• Focus on what benefits mobility can deliver for your business
• Take advantage of new developments in technology, as well as your existing investments
• Remember it’s all about people
Best practice: Holistic approach
By 2010, 50% of enterprises will have migrated away from tactical mobile application silos (supporting a single application) to strategic platforms capable of supporting multiple applications, managing devices, and securing data and transport.
Gartner, 2007
• Faster development – A platform approach gets applications into users hands faster, delivering value quicker
• Shared costs – for mobile infrastructure, development components, and devices
• Focus on users & processes – remove technology concerns from the hands of the business
Best practice: Measure, Measure, Measure
Failure to measure benefits and impacts is one of the most commonly seen points of failure in mobile projects
• The highest performing organisations are ones that focus on measuring their performance
• Mobile solutions are complex – without the right measurement approach you won’t know what works and what doesn’t
– Especially for pilots, set aside time to fully analyse results and outcomes
• It’s easy to fall into a trap where you just become very good at measuring things and generating KPIs
– Look for “leading indicators” to reduce measurement overhead
Best practice: Human factors & adoption
• Technology is a tool, not an end in itself
• Demystify the technology, but hide the complexity
• The importance of training
• Workers are influenced by their peers
• Bad news travels fast
igroup had a successful had a successful exhibition at IT in housing 2009 at Olympia, London. IT in Housing Conference and Exhibition is the UK’s premier IT event in the social housing sector, which offered an unparalleled opportunity for igroup to get in front IT and ICT directors and managers from the housing sector to help increase their efficiency and maximise mobile IT investments through showcasing Dynamic Forms, which proved to be a huge success.
82% of housing departments and associations have stated that mobile working is a priority for them in 2010, yet only 38% have a mobile working strategy in place.
Integration with other IT applications is the main bug bear faced by housing departments in developing a mobile working strategy. Applications such as Micrsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be intergrated with a mobile IT solution, such as Dynamic Forms. However, according to the poll, the greatest benefits in implementing a mobile working strategy are to provide flexible and innovative ways of working for housing staff (33%) and higher service to citizens (36%).
Housing associations face immense challenges (NHF, 2009). These range from being able to generate tangible savings in 2010, improving ways of working for staff and enhancing service for citizens. Housing associations are coming around to the idea that mobile working strategies can deliver innovative, yet practical, ways of solving these challenges.
An example of mobile working initiative is to give field staff handheld devices to carry out updates on repairs and timesheets while they are out visiting customers which are logged on completion. Immediate benefits in achieving efficiency improvements. In addition to reducing levels of manual data entry, fuel and inventory costs will decrease and there have been significant gains in productivity.
Visit igroup at the premier IT exhibition in social housing on the 17 – 18 November, Olympia, London.
IT in Housing Exhibition is the UK’s largest and most highly acclaimed housing technology exhibition.
The exhibition, which forms the focal point of the National Housing Federation’s IT in Housing Conference, is now in its 10 year, and offers delegates and visitors an excellent one-stop opportunity to explore the latest innovations, products and services from 80 leading ICT suppliers to the housing sector.
Visit igroup Ltd to experience demos of Dynamic Forms, and talk to our team to discuss your mobile IT needs.
Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.
Housing Associations belong in the community, not behind a desk. Many housing organisations are already reaping the rewards of today’s technologies. According to the Future Work Forum, one in three UK workers does at least part of their work each week away from their desk. Millions of working hours each day are spent working in the community, undertaking surveys, assessing houses fit for purpose. With growing awareness of flexible and remote working, the challenge is to enable workers in the field, or at remote locations, to be as productive and efficient as they possibly can be in the housing sector.
The ‘real’ work is outside the office
One part of the solution is to deploy mobile technology to provide the housing sector workers with access to job-related information wherever they are based. The potential benefits of mobile working are positively compelling: the UK government estimates the public sector could save up to £336 million a year through mobile technology. These savings would be generated through reduced office costs, efficiency savings, service improvement and improved quality of data.
Rob Bamforth, research analyst with Quocirca stated that “the ‘real’ work is outside the office” meaning that housing associations could benefit enormously from mobile working. “Providing access to IT on the move saves time, and therefore makes the individual more productive.”
For example, the London Borough of Sutton achieved 47% efficiency savings when it provided staff with tablet PCs to record the results of interviews. Computerising the process has reduced errors and also means the results can be processed more easily – a typical house survey can now be processes in less than one week, compared to five weeks previously.
In Sheffield, 84 local councillors have been provided with PDA’s allowing them to electronically record requests, complaints and repairs, which are automatically sent back to the council’s contact centre. This system saves each councillor around three hours per week in paperwork and administration, translating into a major financial saving for the council.
Making Mobility work for Housing Associations
Achieving the benefits of mobile computing isn’t always straightforward. One of the biggest challenges with mobile computing deployment is a lack of knowledge and a lack of planning. Local authorities can access expert advice and support for mobile project from igroup ltd, which has successfully completed a number of mobile projects in the housing sector/ public sector.
