I have a few extra hours… April 4, 2007
Posted by Esa Tihilä in : eBusiness , trackback
My weeks are filled with meetings and discussions with customers, partners and colleagues. I often feel there aren’t enough hours in the day!
This week something positive happened - I got a few extra hours. Thanks to a new application for handling purchase requisitions, invoice reviews and approvals with a mobile device.
You may think ‘okay he is a BasWarean and is only promoting a new BasWare gadget’.
Yes but… And a big but.
I’m an experienced technology user and it is quite easy to see what technologies are beneficial and which are not. This time I feel strongly, because this application is great for people who are mobile. I have been a mobile worker since 1996 – my office is wherever my PC and phone are. Most people say my communications device is part of me!
For more than a decade I have worked in international business, developing digital / e-business solutions and services for different types of corporations and in different industries. I was involved in developing the first e-commerce sites in the world, first community solutions, first intranets and extranets, first marketplaces for SME businesses, first web and mobile banking services etc. I have completed more than 1,500 projects.
I’m not a technology person at heart, but my teams and I have found many ways to use technology to help daily processes. Technology innovations are helping people to improve their productivity and efficiency, because they are operational in any location.
So what about mobile applications?
Finally we can access operational applications on the move. I can access key applications including email, the Internet, P2P software, and office tools (my CRM isn’t far behind!) wherever, whenever, by web or mobile. Most mobile devices can now handle applications properly - they are easy to use and don’t require a rocket scientist to implement them on a device.
When working days are fragmented, access to business applications via mobile devices makes the day more efficient. I fill gaps between sessions by updating information in financial systems, review financials or do my admin tasks - all the things I have to do anyway sooner or later or by a given deadline. Like now, I’m sitting at airport waiting for my plane departure. Within 30 minutes I have been able to read and reply to emails (20), I reviewed and approved daily invoices and purchase requisitions (20 as well), reviewed the latest estimates of business units and wrote this blog entry.
Once I land in Helsinki this evening I won’t have any jobs to do, and I have done everything for today. I start tomorrow with a clean sheet, with new challenges and opportunities.
And it feels good.