I wrote this article for EMQ magazine in 2008 to show how business could create a mobile network

1. How to plan a MERP [ Mobile Enterprise Resource Planning ] Network
It’s been eight years since I first came up with a way for companies to
plan how mobile technology could help them improve the way they do
business and how mobile technology could make them more productive.
Back then I’d thought that it was a no-brainer that companies would plan
out their mobile system just like they would any other system that is
crucial to how their businesses work. For example, there are countless
books on LAN/WAN, Database, CRM and back office planning. No CIO
worth his salt would simply buy a network without coming together with
his team and management. Yet after seven years of talking with
companies about the importance of mobility planning, I still find that most
companies still look at mobility planning as an afterthought if at all.
Even though they see that the problem keeps getting bigger and bigger, unregistered growth of
mobile devices are still being used by management and staff who send, receive and store
sensitive company data with no control or security set up by IT or management.
I’d ask myself ‘Why is this?’ Why do companies wait until a mobile device gets lost or stolen with
valuable company data that they get somewhat serious about mobility planning? I’d thought
maybe they just don’t know what mobility planning is or that mobility planning means a change in
their corporate culture that they are not ready for. Either way, mobility is here and it’s not going
away. Planning for its growth is the duty of any company if it wants to take advantage of how
mobility can add productive to its staff by the proper use of mobile devices, training, applications,
and networks.
What is MERP [Mobile Enterprise Resource Planning]?
MERP Consulting:
MERP consists of three main parts: Consulting, System Integration,
and Training. All three are vital to creating a successful mobile
system that will grow as you add more devices, users, and
applications to support those uses. Let’s look at the first part, which
is consulting. Now most CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs will balk at paying
a consultant’s fee to tell them whether they should use a Blackberry
over an iPhone, or an Android. You know what? I wouldn’t pay a
consultant either if that’s all he can come up with.
A true mobile consultant would not care what type of mobile device
you use. His job is to find how mobility solutions will benefit your
company by becoming mobile. He would show you the pros and
cons of mobility and the impact on your company. He’d also look at
security issues associated with mobility and show you how applications would work with your
existing systems and what type of training that your IT and end user staffs will need to properly
use your mobile system.
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2. He would develop a multi-year plan on how you can update your mobile system that would
eliminate the need to purchase new mobile devices every time mobile device makers tell you that
you need the ‘latest and greatest’ mobile devices to stay ahead of your competition. In most
cases, you can keep a mobile device for at least three years before changing it. And depending
on the type of application upgrades, you can extend that life to four years with your fixed PCs and
laptops systems, believe it or not. The final thing a consultant will show you is both the ROI and
TCO of mobility. Now sometimes it will seem like there is no monetary ROI, but in time increased
productivity that comes from a completely planned and successfully implemented mobile network
will save your company money as opposed to a ‘piece meal’ pay-as-you-go network. It’ll be well
worth the expense.
MERP System Integration:
The next step in creating a mobile network is system
integration. This is the most important but sometimes
overlooked part of a mobile network. It’s probably because
many mobile devices can access email and the Internet on their
own that IT staffs in most companies feel that’s all that is
needed for a mobile worker. Nothing can be further from the
truth. Like any other device in your system, mobile devices
must be able to ‘talk’ to that system if you want your mobile
staff to get the true benefits of having a mobile device.
Being able to access not only your company’s mail server is
essential to giving a mobile work force all they need to be successful. That means making sure
their devices can access customer records, invoices, CRM applications, VPNs, and remote
access from anywhere just like PCs and laptops. Let’s not forget about the most important
integration: the company’s security protocols.
This above all else should be number one on the list. Yet most companies seem to have a blind
spot when it comes to security system integration of mobile devices. Mobile security must be the
first thing integrated into your system. Mobile devices carry a lot of sensitive company data in
them and, in some cases, they can store up to 64GB of data when it is linked to your network.
Many times unsecured data is lost or stolen. When those company records are gone, that breach
of security could become a big legal problem for the company. You must always remember that
security, security, and more security is job number one for your IT staff if any mobile device wants
to access your network. The final part of system integration is mobile management.
Now that you have a mobile network in place, it must run smoothly 24/7 like any other IT system.
That means mobile devices must be managed meaning access to company data, upgrade of
applications, and replacement of mobile devices if they are lost or stolen. That also means setting
up the same type of help desk for mobile devices that you would give to PCs and laptops. Making
sure that mobile devices are fully integrated into your system is going to lower your TCO and help
you realize a better ROI, but most importantly it will make mobility a profit center for your
company.
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3. MERP Training:
Last, but certainly not least training. To create a successful mobile
system you and your staff will need training on how mobile devices
work. Now before you laugh and say ‘I don’t need someone to show
me how to use my mobile device’, I want you to look around and
see how many mobile devices do you have right now. If you have
more than two devices in less than a year and all you can do is
email and an address book, then you need training.
In the ten years I have been around businesses I have seen desks
full of mobile devices that have been under-used simply because
most end users don’t know how to properly use them. So they take
the devices to the IT staff to get help. The IT staff doesn’t want to know that you even have a
device. They don’t want to support them because nothing is in place anyway. Plus, most IT staffs
are not trained on how to support mobile devices.
So now you have a ‘belt’ full of mobile devices that looks like Batman’s utility belt. The only
difference is Batman knows how to use his devices and you don’t. Ok, you can laugh now! But
consider this; not knowing how your mobile device works raises your TCO and time and money
are unnecessarily wasted on device after device. If you believe “Maybe the new device will be
easier than the old one”, you are wrong. Mobile devices are getting more and more complicated
as more features and memory are being added on each new version that comes out.
Look at it this way. If your teenagers came to you wanting to drive the family car, would you give it
to them if they did not have any lesson on how to drive? No you would not. That’s what you are
doing if you have an untrained person using a mobile device on your network. If you have
invested time and money into a mobile network, your investment is wasted if your staff can’t use
the mobile device to properly access your mobile network.
Mobile training is just as important to the success of your mobile project as the applications and
the mobile device you will use on that network. In fact, if you’re planning a mobile network, a
report by Gartner Groups says that at least 12% shows budgets for training. Basic training should
include an overview of mobile devices.
There are differences, for example, the way Palm and Blackberry handle email. Palm is a ‘pull
technology’, meaning you have to get your mail from Palm’s server while Blackberry is ‘push
technology’, meaning that when you turn it on it pushes all your email on the screen all the time.
Mobile Windows like all Microsoft products works better with Outlook or Exchange email than
either Palm or Blackberry.
The on-board applications are all different in their look and feel on the device and the desktop. All
of them have different ways they link to their desktops and servers. Now if your company is like
most companies, your end users have not look at the users’ manual. In some cases the manual is
still in the box.
Meaning your end users are hoping that someone in your office will become the go-to guy about
mobile devices. If there is someone in your office like that, then you just made him your unofficial
mobile trainer. If he is on your sales staff, then you will lose productivity every time when
someone comes to him, not the IT staff, asking questions about how to use their mobile device.
But you can turn that around by training all of your mobile users on how to use their devices.
Remember that if all of them are trained on how to use their mobile devices then they all can be
productive. That productivity is where your profit begins and ends. According to another study by
Gartner Group, trained workers can bring in more than $2000 to more businesses as opposed to
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4. untrained workers. Putting it in prospective, having a trained mobile staff is the best way to
achieve an ROI from your mobile network.
Now that we have gone over how to create a successful MERP network, your mandate is to
research all you can about how mobility can help your company become more profitable. If you
can’t do the research hire a Mobile IT firm that can take you from A-Z on how to create a MERP
network for your company.
By: Howard Lee
CIO
Wirehead Technology
Tel: 773-506-7215
Email: wireheadtec@gmail.com
Web: www.wireheadtec.com
This article was originally published in three parts by Enterprise Management Quarterly
in 2008:
How to Plan a MERP Network Part 1
How to Plan a MERP Network Part 2
How to Plan a MERP Network Part 3
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