How mobility is closing the gap between business and personal technology tools

Mobile devices are transforming the way we live and work, blurring the lines between business and pleasure like never before. Mobile applications permeate every aspect of our lives, from e-commerce and electronic payments, to communications and information services – across multiple platforms.

Gone are the days of specific technologies for work and personal life; once quite distinct, they are now completely interchangeable. Today’s apps, tablets, and smartphones offer seamless integration and have become ubiquitous in both work and life.

I first bought an iPad same years ago, with the intention of using it to check emails and stay plugged-in to industry news while on the move. I still use it for this, but it’s now equally useful when spending time with my three year old grandson, Sebastian. It’s become a vital tool for us to enjoy movies and photos together.

It’s amazing how easily a toddler interacts with today’s technology. It’s designed with such ease of use and brevity in mind. In fact it was while playing with Sebastian that I first realized the uncanny similarity between the way a toddler communicates with limited vocabulary, and the way social media communicates with limited characters. Both tend towards efficiency – getting a message across as quickly, clearly and easily as possible. Kids were tweeting long before Twitter launched!

Brevity has become the new digital language, driven by social media and mobile platforms. You need only look at the latest websites, blogs, and social feeds to witness how increasingly condensed yet information-rich they are becoming – just another way mobility is impacting our lives.

Business is equally impacted. Most of today’s workers increasingly rely on smart devices to perform business–critical tasks, much the way they live their personal lives. One only need look at Apple’s success to realize that regardless of economic climate, smart devices continue flying off the shelves. Thus, the devices that first mobilized voice communication have again emerged as the technology that is driving industry to mobilize work.

At SYSPRO we recognised the opportunity to embrace this new way of living and working and created SYSPRO Espresso, our new mobile solution that delivers the mobility that businesses and individuals are looking for. We spent much time perfecting things like the look and feel, inherent simplicity, and no-nonsense functionality of the product – all critical in satisfying a workforce that increasingly craves instant access to information and services.

Smart devices also offer powerful features that redefine ‘real–time’ business activity. They offer operational agility and business value. This translates into new communication channels and innovative services and products for organizations, strengthening their competitiveness and developing new revenue streams. On the operations front, mobility can unlock productivity and reduce the cost of operations, whilst nurturing collaboration and efficiency.

More and more, businesses are coming to terms with this new trend, called ‘consumerization of technology’, often allowing employees to use their own devices on the job. Mobility is forcing companies to rethink their business models, reinvent their organizations and rewire operations.

One need only to look around to realize the mobile future has already arrived, and with it a flavour of dynamism and revolution. As a doting grandma, I often imagine with great excitement the technology little Sebastian will be using by the time he reaches working age.