The Benefits to Mobilizing Your Business
With the 2013 Bart Strike looming over the Bay Area, many of us have had PLENTY of time to ponder the current state of commuting and the effects is has on businesses. Whether sitting in horrendous traffic or sitting at home watching others endure, it seems that commuters and businesses alike are clearly not prepared for an event where nearly 400,000 people are forced to find alternative transportation, which in turn, has a ripple effect on the rest of the non-Bart commuters.
As I watched the Bart Strike cripple the Bay Area, I was surprised by how many people don’t have ability to work from remote locations – no doubt a contributing factor in the estimated $73 Million dollar loss in productivity the Bay Area experienced each day!
Even my colleagues and I had to alter our normal commutes or routines during this time, with some of us having to work from home. Luckily, Just Media, Inc is one of the early adopters of Cloud-based collaboration tools, which allowed all of us to work through the strike without interruption.
In this current age of mobile and cloud-based technology that enables employees to access company programs anywhere at any time, I suppose I thought more companies had adopted such tools into their business models, which prompted me to take a deeper look into the matter.
An interesting piece of research recently released sponsored by Citrix found that companies who mobilize their business have a competitive edge. The article, “Global Research Shows Mobilizing Your Small Business Creates Competitive Edge” , points out that this “competitive edge” lies in the increased productivity (over 30%) that is associated with the adoption of mobile work styles. As it stands, 1 in 5 businesses are currently using some form of mobile or cloud-based technology. Is your business one of them?
The Good News?
According to the research, the shift to mobilizing is on the rise – which will keep productivity from plummeting and keep companies from being immobilized by events such as the Bart Strike, or any other incident that may affect someone’s ability to perform their job.
Happy Mobilizing!
Nyla Murphy
Just Media, Inc
