Opportunities of Making Business with Mobile Computing

This article discusses the concept of mobile computing and the opportunities it offers into the business sector as well as the technologies. It evaluates and examines the characteristics and potential benefits of mobile computing in a business organization. The article also elaborates on the various technologies that make mobile computing possible and why business organizations should shift their concern on mobile computing as an alternative information management tool.

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Opportunities of Making Business with Mobile Computing
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Opportunities of Making Business with Mobile Computing
Introduction
As years go by, technology in various sectors has been advancing and mobile computing
is one of the recent technologies to be incorporated in business. Any business that wants to thrive
well has to be flexible in adapting to the rapid technology advancement witnessed in the current
local and international business environment. With the prospects of mobile use to keep on
increasing in future, it is very important to keep our concerns of mobile computing as one of the
technologies that can be a game changer in business (Luan et al,2015). Mobile computing is a
term used to refer to the use of computing devices, which typically interact in some way with the
central information system, while they are away from the fixed normal workplace. Mobile
computing is important because it allows the mobile worker to process, create, communicate and
access information regardless of their physical location therefor they are not constrained to work
from a single room. This is an important aspect of communication since it allows the interaction
of organization personnel from different locations by extending the reach to the fixed
information system of the organization. This project is going to discuss the concept of mobile
computing and the opportunities it offers into the business sector as well as the technologies.
Mobile computing is an exciting, capable, potential and versatile technology that should be
embraced in the business sector since it has so many potential benefits to the information system
of many business organizations.
Project Objectives
The main objective of this paper is to discuss and illustrate the benefits that mobile
computing can bring to a business organization. Information management has been one of the
challenges faced by business organizations all over the world and mobile computing seems to be

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an alternative solution to this perennial challenge in business. This project is going to evaluate
and examine the characteristics and potential benefits of mobile computing in a business
organization. The other objective of this project is to elaborate the various technologies that
make mobile computing possible and why business organizations should shift their concern on
mobile computing as an alternative information management tool (Kohtz et al, 2015). Also to
elaborate how mobile computing will improve the communication efficiency and cut on the
operation cost of business organizations.
Project Scope
My project on mobile computing is mainly going to cover the technology making mobile
computing possible and the benefits it offers in a business organization. However, if I am going
to concentrate mainly on the benefits of mobile computing and a few disadvantages that may
come along with incorporating mobile computing in a business organization. The project is going
to look at some of the limitations of mobile computing and the future prospective of this
technology in the business sector especially information management. Mobile computing has a
very high potential of being a game changer in business and therefore we have to critically look
into it from various perspectives before coming up with any conclusive suggestion,
recommendation or conclusion.
Literature Review
Mobile computing is a new technology but there are several publications that have been
written to share some insight on the topic. Muller in his article titled ‘Mobile Telecommunication
fact book' published in the year 1998 he explained how mobile technology is likely to take over
the world in the near future. O'Brien also wrote an article in 1996 titled ‘Managing Information

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Systems: Managing Information Technology in the Networked Enterprise.' O'Brien explained the
importance of having a networked information management system in an organization and
mobile computing is one of the key technology that ensure the networked information systems
are operational. There are many more publications that have talked about the benefits of mobile
computing and its potential in business.
Mobile Computing Technology
Mobile computing is a technical aspect and therefore it is important for us to look at the
technology behind its operations before we can talk about its benefits. The mobile computing
technology consists of the hardware, software and communication medium (Wolf, 2014). Mobile
computing is becoming more versatile due to the availability of extremely small and powerful
mobile gadgets, improved communication media, and specialized software that work efficiently
(Kansal and Daetz, 2015). This technology section we are going to briefly look into the types of
hardware, communication medium and software that are integrated to come up with the mobile
computing solution.
There are various mobile computing hardware that are characterized in the form of size,
weight, secondary and primary storage, battery life, screen type and size, means of input and
output, durability, expandability and communication capabilities. The above characteristics can
be used to clarify the mobile computing hardware into laptop, penslate, palmtop, handheld
Penkey and clamshell. This wide range of hardware can be used by the business workers to
access data wherever they are as long as they are connected to the organization's information
system. The wide range also ensures that the works chose a device that satisfies their needs and
they can access data at their comfort. The decision on which device to be used should entirely
consider the organization's needs and the cost factors of acquiring the gadgets. There are also a

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wide range of software and applications. The most commonly used software for mobile
computing consists of windows, MSDOS, PenRight, Palm OS and Unix. The various software
has a range operational capabilities and user interface and the organization has to make a
decision on the software that suits their business well. There are several communication
technologies that enable the hardware gadgets to communicate with the central information
system. These medium include satellite, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Global System
for Mobile communications (GSM), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) and many more. The
communication medium come with a range of communication capabilities that the business
organization has to considered before settling on the appropriate one. In order to achieve an
efficient mobile computing solution, an organization has to require to correctly match the
capabilities of the software, hardware and the communication medium.
Mobile computing applications can be categorized as horizontal and vertical. Horizontal
applications are those that are broad-based and perform functions such as word processing,
email, scheduling, messaging, web browsing, to-do list, contact management and presentation.
Vertical applications are specific to a given industry and they can only be used for the specific
industry. These applications are commonly used in retailing, shipping, warehousing, utilities and
public safety.
Benefits of Mobile Computing
Mobile computing has several benefits that it brings to business technology. If the
technology is properly utilized it has the potential of cutting the operational costs of a business
by ensuring effective communication. Below is a discussion of some of the opportunities of
using mobile computing in business. Mobile computing is important because it allows the mobile
worker to process, create, communicate and access information regardless of their physical

Opportunities of Making Business with Mobile Computing 6
location therefor they are not constrained to work from a single room (Showering et al, 2015).
The technology has so many benefits to business organizations with very few limitations.
Improved overall quality
Mobile computing is a technology that improves the content, form dimension, the time
and information quality. Information systems in organizations that utilize the mobile computing
will, therefore, improve since each dimension is improved by the technology.
Improved Information Accessibility
Mobile computing improves the accessibility of information and the degree of
accessibility highly depends on the hardware used and the chosen communication medium. The
hardware and software used also have to consider the business needs. The technology provides a
broad range of alternatives that the workers can select and match to meet their individual needs.
Mobile computing applications allow information flow to and from the central information
system of an organization (Pejovic and Musolesi, 2015). The technology enables workers to
retrieve information easily and efficiently from the central information system. This allows for a
two-way communication between the workers and the operators of the central information
system. The improved accessibility of information makes it easy for workers to obtain the
relevant information they require to complete a given task in time. Mobile computing allows the
worker to end real-time data to the central information system. Once the data reaches the central
information system, it is processed and made available for the other workers to access the
information (Kao et al, 2017). This saves time unlike in the old business model where the
worker has to wait till the end of the day and to submit his information to the data entry officers
who then go and update the data accordingly. The technology eliminates the extra cost that could
have come due to unnecessary travelling of the worker.

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The sharing of information between workers encourage corporation among the workers of the
organization even though they are not necessarily in the same geographic location. The
computing system connects the workers and enables smooth flow of information between them
(Schoon et al, 2018). Mobile computing is very important to a business since it facilitates an
improved customer service, greater accuracy, fewer complaints, reduced cycle time and even a
reduction in the immediate support required. All these benefits are the common objectives of
business organizations and therefore the mobile computing helps the organizations to achieve
them.
Improved accessibility in one way or another eliminates the extra travelling cost and reduces the
selling times (Horvitz et al, 2016). This reduces the operating cost of a business organization
thus maximizing the sales and profit made.
Increased Operational Efficiency
Mobile computing improves the efficiency of the central information system and the
overall information management of an organization. The technology enables the information
within the system to work within the optimum workflow of the system. The worker can
efficiently work from any place since all they need is to carry the mobile computing gadget such
as the laptop and they can carry out their tasks and submit the information to the central
information system (Gai et al, 206). The several ways mobile computing improve the operational
efficiency include cutting the cycle times, saving time, reducing work, reducing waste products,
improve accuracy, enable the re-engineering of a process, reducing the time the workers spend
handling complaints and reduction of unnecessary travelling.
Let take for example the transportation and shipping business and see how mobile
computing is going to benefit such a business organization. In this such a business the

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technology would consist of the use of GIS or GPS systems that are integrated with the
information of the vehicle and these will facilitate the management of the entire fleet from the
organization. This will enable the operator to monitor and check the status of the vehicles and
estimate the fuel consumption based on the distance covered (Weigel et al, 2014). The
technology will also boost the security of the vehicles and goods since they can be tracked from
the central location. The mobile computing will enable the business to measure the time and
organize delivery priorities and make an appropriate estimate of fuel consumption.
Increased Management Effectiveness
Mobile computing boosts the effectiveness of the information system and the overall
information management of a business organization. The technology facilitates efficient
information flow and makes it possible to manage a mobile workforce. The real-time two-way
exchange of information greatly enables a business organization to monitor its workers and
respond to various situations that may come up in the operations (Wolf, 2014). Companies that
have embraced this technology have an improved management due to the smooth information
flow between the workers and the central information system.
Mobile Computing is Versatile
The mobile computing technology is versatile since it enables process reengineering, it
can reduce the administrative and operational staff, reducing manufacturing cost and it improves
communication. The technology is versatile since it has a variety of hardware and software that
can be matched to solve problems (Chintalapudi et al, 2016). The technology can be applied in a
wide range of environments from the harsh environment to the office environment. The
technology can be applied to so many businesses and it is being improved continuously with new
innovations coming up.

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Limitations of Mobile Computing
Mobile computing has so many benefits that it can offer in business but it also comes
with some few limitations. Range and bandwidth are one of the limitations where the
communication between the gadgets and the central information system occurs only within a
given range or bandwidth. Security standards is another limitation since the VPN used can be
attacked and unauthorized people may gain access to the central information system. This breach
of security can make an organization expose confidential data (Rahimi et al, 2014). Transmission
interferences is a limitation of mobile computing and it can be caused by weather conditions, the
terrain or the distance from the nearest signal point. The above limitations can be eliminated or
reduced to a negligible point.
Conclusion
Mobile computing is an important technology that is evolving and has the potential of
revolving the business sector. It enables mobile staff to effectually communicate and interact
with the immobile organizational information system even though remaining unimpeded by
physical location. The mobile computing technology comes with a wide range of applications
that can be used to match various business needs.

Opportunities of Making Business with Mobile Computing 10
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