.KEYWORD handsizing1100
.FLYINGHEAD HANDSIZING YOUR ORGANIZATION
.TITLE Handsizing: a powerful idea for your business
.DEPT
.SUMMARY In this fascinating new column, Kathy Burns explores the concept of "handsizing," the scaling down and optimization of your hardware base through the implementation of handheld computing.
.AUTHOR Kathy Burns
Most of us are familiar with the idea of "downsizing" an organization. This term came to be associated with the practice of scaling down a company’s employee base in order to conserve monetary resources. This new column will explore the concept of "handsizing" an organization, or the scaling down and optimization of a company’s hardware base in order to conserve monetary resources and increase mobility.
Handsizing your organization is still a new concept, and there are many factors to be considered before proceeding. Over the next several months, we’ll explore areas such as cost-effectiveness, need analysis, MIS, support, and security. We’ll attempt to weigh the pros and cons of various handsizing aspects and offer solid information with which you can move forward into this new era.
Since the Palm OS still commands a solid 70% of the handheld market, we’ll primarily explore Palm device handsizing options, rather than the use of handheld computers in general.
.H1 What exactly is handsizing?
The concept of handsizing is simple. It’s the implementation of the use of handheld computers in day-to-day business activities. Modern handheld computers can be used for Internet access, email correspondence, inventory, and database access with real-time updating, report logging, and filing, expense tracking, group scheduling, and even live chat sessions among many other things.
Handsizing employees can be as simple as providing them with a low-cost units, such as the Palm m100, or providing full wireless enabled handhelds such as the Palm VII. In following along with this column, you’ll find there are also many accessories available that some of your employees may require. Accessories range from Global Positioning Systems, to keyboards, to digital cameras, to clip on wireless modems.
.H1 Who should consider handsizing?
Almost any business that uses computers can take advantage of handsizing in one way or another. Corporations with mobile employees, organizations with field sales forces, entrepreneurs, small businesses with small budgets, and service based businesses that track time and expenses are but a few of those that could benefit.
.H1 Why should corporations consider handsizing?
According to a report published by Meta Group in February 2000, in the next three to four years, more than 75% of knowledge workers will be mobile–on the road, working at home, or in a mobile office–at least 25% of the time.
Currently the cost of outfitting employees with full laptop computers and accessories for mobility can range from $1500 to well over $3000 for each person. With software and accessories, the high-end price of handsizing an employee with a Palm device is around $500.
An example of successful, cost-effective handsizing is Remedy Corp. They’re using the Palm OS to mobilize and automate help desk functions for their customers. According to the 1998 Remedy Corp. Customer Analysis, their conservative estimates indicate that customers using Palm devices and Remedy software will realize a return on investment of 700 percent over a three-year period.
.H1 When can handhelds suffice instead of laptops?
While handheld computers cannot completely take the place of laptops, they can fulfill many of the tasks for which laptops are currently used.
In general, those employees that manage information while on the road are good candidates for a handheld computer instead of a laptop. For instance, if you send a VP to a trade show across the country and she needs constant access to her email for the duration of the trip, a Web enabled Palm device is perfect for the task. If you have a mobile sales force that primarily enters order and service requests throughout the day, they’re also good candidates for handheld computers. Why? Because wireless Palm devices allow live database access, and all Palm units can update a corporate database upon return to the office with just a simple HotSync.
However, if you have a graphics designer that must visit a client to present a new brand design, magazine advertisement, or television commercial, he would be best equipped with a laptop. A handheld can handle low quality graphics, but they’re not the best choice for high quality, high-resolution images, video, or sound.
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.H1 Where in business are handhelds currently used?
A variety of industries have already utilized the benefits of handsizing. The United States Navy has outfitted both the USS Constellation and the USS Abraham Lincoln with Palm Vs. The US Army has outfitted the cafeteria at Fort Hood with Palm devices. The Los Angeles Fire Department uses Palm devices in field investigations. Various police departments across the country use handheld devices for immediate access to crime databases while on patrol. Palm devices are also used by doctors, real estate agents, lawyers, and even the United States Post Office.
If government bodies and long standing medical institutions such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are already handsizing their organizations, chances are that it’s time for you to consider it, as well.
In the next installment, we’ll review handsized software options and explore the pros and cons of using what’s already available in your business environment.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For further reading, see the Palm brochures, "Mobilizing Government for the 21st Century" and "Better Care For Less" and the analyst report, " Entering the Mobile Millennium" at http://www.palm.com/enterprise/tools.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6ea89
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