Mobile ERP Strategy

Getting through an ERP implementation successfully can be a definite challenge. Add mobile ERP to the mix and you are opening your team up to an entirely new set of challenges. But people want mobile and ERP to work together. Recent studies show that:

• 43 percent of people want ERP access via their smartphone
• 38 percent want access to ERP systems through their tablets
• 25 percent of people access their ERP solution from their smartphone or tablet
• 65 percent believe that mobility is important because it enables access to information and helps support communication for virtual workers

So what do you need to consider before your company takes its ERP solution mobile?

How will people connect?

There are two ways your employees can connect to your ERP solution, through a native app or via the web. Since native applications are installed on the mobile device more of the heavily lifting is done by the application and the device itself as opposed to a web app where the work is done server side. Native apps, however, require coding and development work especially if your ERP solution is heavily customized.

Additionally, web apps are platform independent so Android, Windows and iOS users all have the same experience. They are, however, limited by data connections and have a greater propensity to time out if large amounts of information is being sent.

Usability/User experience

The most important thing to remember here is that users will be working from a much smaller screen. This could make some tasks rather difficult, especially if there is quite a bit of data entry involved. Those who are given access to the mobile version of the ERP should also be trained in its use. You can’t assume that because they can use the desktop version they will be successful on the mobile one.

If the user experience is difficult to use or unintuitive, it will likely cause people to abandon the mobile offering and opt for their laptop or even hard copies of the data.

Security

Whenever sensitive data is available through a mobile device there is a security risk. Phones and tablets are frequently lost or stolen and without proper endpoint security protection they could put data at risk.

Additionally, mobile devices commonly rely on public wifi in order to send and fetch data. If your users connect to a rogue hotspot this could put data at risk. These open access points also make it easy for criminals to sniff wifi traffic and collect sensitive information so adding a VPN connection to the mix is essential in protecting data in transit.

It’s true, people want mobile access to just about everything and ERP solutions are no different. It is important, however, to understand what a mobile ERP strategy involves before committing to rolling this out. Take the time to plan things the right way by including experts who have experience with mobile ERP implementations as well as the end users from your company who will be able to provide you with the feedback you need to get buy in from the folks who matter most.