Don’t let computing downtime get you down

Well, take a long, deep breath, it may comfort you a little to know that you are not alone. The latest research reports that two thirds of frontline workers experience mobile computing issues each month, which negatively impact their ability to do their jobs - a rise of 16% from last year.

The study of more than 1500 companies across Europe and North America was commissioned by B2M Solutions as part of its 3rd Annual State of Enterprise Mobility Survey. They found that of all the mobile issues reported, the most common were:

• Poor or unstable WiFi or mobile coverage experienced by 70% of workers 
• Almost two-thirds (63%) flagged that device batteries drain very quickly and do not last an entire shift.
• 62% reported the mobile apps they use often crash. 
• Almost half (44%) cited that their device reboots itself for no apparent reason. 

However these stats are only the tip of the iceberg as 85% of monthly mobile issues go unreported to IT (up from 80% last year). Almost half of IT managers (48%) also admitted to an increase in the number of worker-reported issues over the past 12-18 months.

And, of course, as well as user frustration, these issues lead to lost business productivity, lost revenue and sometimes even lost customers.

So what’s the solution? Despite 97% of companies in the survey having a device management tool like MDM / EMM in place to manage mobility, only 2% of those companies said the tools allow them to proactively manage and control the critical issues. Clearly there is a need for better solutions which provide more detailed analytics alongside real-time visibility.

Proactively spotting and fixing problems, and in some cases even predicting them, is the key to empowering frontline workers and IT teams with the tools they need to keep mobility up and running. Having a complete picture of your mobile device estate allows you to get the most productivity and utilisation out of the deployment.

When you use Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices, our Smart Essentials toolset removes the risk of lost productivity and user frustration by providing valuable, intelligent and actionable insights into the health and utilisation of the entire mobile estate. It’s operational intelligence that helps you monitor your deployed devices closer than ever and make informed decisions, faster.

Header image from: Elnur/shutterstock.com