How to carry out a mobile technology audit
If your phone is a breezeblock with an aerial that wouldn't look
out of place on a roof then the chances are you need to upgrade
your mobile technology. But what to upgrade and what to buy are
considerations not to be taken lightly. Read on for our
indispensible guide.
The decision to upgrade your mobile technology could be
motivated by negative factors (your current set-up is holding your
business back) or positive factors (you want to buy mobile
technology that will help you to grow).
Before you do anything, consider why you want to upgrade. It
will influence the outcome of your audit. Ask yourself too:
- How and in what ways do you expect grow in the short term
future?
- What aspects of your mobile technology do your employees
complain about regularly? These will need to be addressed as a
priority.
Large businesses undergo technology audits every year; for your
small business this might be prohibitively expensive, but depending
on your needs it's okay to leave it a little longer, or indeed to
tweak your network instead of completely replacing it annually.
If you're doing the audit yourself (you could use consultants
but they will charge a pretty penny) then you will need to consider
a number of factors. In no particular order, they are:
- How many devices do you have and how many do you need?
- What services plans are in place and when will they
expire?
- Can you calculate a likely return on investment - ie will
purchases help you to make money?
- What information is accessed through current networks and can
this be improved with an upgrade?
- Can you put a figure on increased productivity through the
upgrade - is it 10 or 30 per cent?
- How will you transfer critical data using new handsets?
- What do you need the technology to do: take payments? View
customer data? Calculate stock and accounts?
When you have all the answers, research business packages from
the major mobile networks. Which of these represent value for money
while allowing your employees to do everything they need to do?
Aim for a fixed package with generous terms, this way you will
have dependable monthly outgoings and won't be surprised with a
shock bill after a particularly hard month of data use. It's just
as important that you sign up to a package that gives you to grow -
the last thing you need to be forced into another audit three
months down the line!
#MWW offer: share minutes with your
colleagues
As part of Mobile Working Week, BlackBerry and O2 have teamed up to offer
Smarta readers an exclusive offer. To find out how you can share
your minutes for free, click here.
For more information about how BlackBerry can help
your business go to www.blackberry.co.uk/sme
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