Until recently, organizations had compelling technology-related reasons for limiting remote work. Video solutions that would enable face-to-face communication were wonky; it was difficult to secure and update off-network employee devices; and workers needed to use often-clunky virtual private network (VPN) connections to access critical work applications. Today, all that has changed — or, at least,…

More than 83 percent of Americans now own a smartphone, up another 4.3 percent over the past year, and users have more than 7 million apps to choose from. All these numbers mean that when people need information, they’re far more likely to pull out their smartphones than fire up a PC. About the only…

A few years ago, regional and midsized financial institutions raced to deploy customer-facing mobile apps, afraid of being left behind. When the dust settled, managers at many banks took a look around and realized that their apps were near copies of their competitors’. This was because most financial institutions launched their apps through their core…

I’m currently working with a healthcare organization that is attempting to design the “hospital of the future.” It’s no surprise that this organization is adopting IT solutions to optimize patient care, but the hospital is spending just as much time and energy on improving the clinician experience. Why? For one, the hospital is trying to…

Recently, a Girl Scout asked me if I wanted to buy some cookies. I’m a sucker for Thin Mints, but I told the young fundraiser that I didn’t have any cash. No problem, she told me. She was accepting payments via a mobile app on her tablet. The point here isn’t that I bought a…

The benefits of deploying mobile technologies are undeniable. Workers who can get their jobs done from anywhere, at any time are more productive and efficient, delivering significant advantages to their employers. They also tend to be more satisfied with their jobs and value the flexibility that mobility provides. So if mobility benefits both employees and…