CAMBRIDGE, U.K.-Corporations are cautious about the return on investment that potential wireless business applications represent, according to new research from Analysys.
Analysys, however, suggests ROI can be generated as long as employee productivity is sufficiently increased, adding that more complex and expensive implementations will require higher productivity improvements. “The level of productivity improvement required for a break-even ROI varies widely between types of implementation,” said Jonathan Tee, the report’s lead author. “If employees must first be equipped with PDAs or laptops, substantially higher productivity improvements are required.”
The report illustrates examples of implementations in several industries: a distributor, hospital, insurance company, manufacturer, professional services firm, utility company and wholesaler. The models show break-even ROI can be generated if employee productivity is improved by 0.6 percent, or a time savings of 14 minutes per week per employee. However, the most expensive implementation required a 3.4-percent productivity improvement, or a time savings of 1 hour 17 minutes per employee per week, to generate break-even ROI.
Analysys further suggests corporations review which employee functions would benefit from the use of mobile applications. Currently e-mail, sales force and field service applications are popular, but inventory and order management applications, intranet access, and time and expense management applications also represent potential ROI.
