Know Your Customers, Know Your Notebooks

Within the past few years, mobile computers such as laptops and tablet PCs have bridged the performance gap between them and desktop PCs. “In 2005, notebook sales surpassed desktop PC sales,” says Craig Marking, senior product marketing manager at Toshiba. “The PC is following the same mobility path as the phone, which has evolved from tethered to cordless to cellular.”

There are a lot of opportunities for VARs to make money selling mobile PCs. To increase your chances of success, industry experts from HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba offer their insight on the key advancements in mobile PC technology as well as advice on how you can boost your profits with custom apps and services.

1 — Security Is On Every Customer’s Mind
Understanding the latest mobile PC features is the first step to your success. And, the first area that’s on your customer’s mind is mobile security. What makes security tricky is that it covers multiple areas ranging from physical theft to Internet threats. This is all the more reason end users rely on VARs’ expertise.

“Biometric fingerprint readers are becoming a standard feature with many mobile PCs,” says Stephen Mungall, VP, channel strategy, Lenovo Americas. The benefit of this security feature is that it enables mobile PCs to be equipped with deeper levels of encryption. For example, some manufacturers are enabling user passwords on the BIOS, hard drive, and operating system — each one requiring a different password and each one associated with the user’s fingerprint pattern. “This security feature makes access easy for the authorized user but difficult for a thief,” says Mungall.

In the past, laptop thieves would get around laptop security by removing the hard drive and installing it in another device. “Lenovo and several other notebook vendors embed a TPM [trusted platform module] hardware security chip in their notebook, which protects against hard drive theft,” says Mungall. The chip uses a root key protected in silicon that makes the hard drive inaccessible if removed from the native device.

VARs can add extra security features to notebooks by adding third party subscription-based software such as CompuTrace. “If a laptop is stolen, the end user notifies CompuTrace,” says Marking. “Then, the next time the thief uses the laptop to access the Internet, the notebook pings CompuTrace’s server, announcing its presence. The CompuTrace server can then delete the hard drive and/or permanently shut down the computer.”

Before overwhelming customers with all the security features mentioned above, VARs should first understand what kind of security their customers require. For example, maybe your customer operates in a server-based IT environment where all the sensitive data resides on a centralized server and not on the laptop/tablet PC. In that case, you don’t need to spend much time talking about TPM and CompuTrace as much as the other security features. Also, during your discussion with the customer, find out what kind of edge security is in place. This is a serious problem for many companies that protect their LANs from outsiders but fail to protect themselves from mobile devices. Mobile devices can become infected outside the office and then pass the infection to the LAN after the mobile worker returns to the office and logs in. Edge security software ensures your customers’ mobile devices are scanned for the latest software patches and are free from viruses, spyware, and other malware before granting access to the LAN.

2 — Wireless Complements Mobility
After tackling your customers’ security requirements, you need to discuss wireless connectivity. For the past few years wireless LAN (WLAN) radios have been embedded in mobile PCs as a standard feature. “But, hot spots just don’t cut it for many field workers’ needs,” says Sarah Bussell, worldwide product manager for Tablet PC strategy at HP. “And, that’s why embedded WWAN [wireless WAN] radios are becoming more prevalent. VARs can assist their customers by helping them select devices with the best wireless carriers.” For example, if Verizon Wireless has the strongest coverage in the customer’s area, the VAR should make sure it selects a mobile PC with a built-in WWAN radio from Verizon Wireless.

Another way VARs can address connectivity problems is by selling software that detects wireless network availability and automatically connects to the Internet or to the corporate office wirelessly. The software should be able to seamlessly switch from a WLAN to a WWAN and vice versa when the signal strength of one network becomes weak. VARs should become knowledgeable about their vendor’s connectivity software and know how it compares to third party software.

Once a customer’s connectivity needs are met, VARs should think about providing custom apps that enhance wireless connectivity and are geared toward specific vertical markets. For example, a VAR that sells mobile devices to the utilities market could offer a software application that enables meter readers to wirelessly upload data to a centralized repository. Providing custom apps is a good way to show your customers you understand their business and are the go-to VAR to improve their mobile workers’ productivity. Because of the plethora of mobile apps available, however, make sure to verify with your laptop/table PC vendor that a particular application is certified to operate on their devices prior to recommending the software.

3 — Protect Your Customers’ Mobile PCs From Downtime
Laptops and tablet PCs have significantly improved in reliability over the past year and a half. Previously, there was a large gap between a standard mobile computer and a rugged mobile computer. Mobile PC vendors have taken several steps to shorten that gap. First, most manufactures have devices that are made with magnesium alloy, which is light like plastic, but several times stronger. “Also, the four corners of some Toshiba mobile PCs are designed to function like the bumper on an automobile,” says Marking. “If the device is dropped, the corner will act as a shock absorber and reduce the jolt to the computer.”

Accelerometers are another feature vendors include with their devices to protect them during a fall. “This feature detects movement and protects the device during a drop by parking the hard drive heads,” says Bussell.

Additional features include shock-resistant hard drives, electrostatic protection, splash-resistant keyboards, protective display covers, and built-in vibration dampeners. Like the other two categories, VARs should first understand their customer’s reliability needs before launching into a spiel on features. Also, VARs should consider adding services such as replacement devices and/or extended warranties.

No matter what kind of mobile PCs you sell, understanding your customers’ needs is the first step to success. Only then will it become clear which mobile PCs, custom apps, and services you should recommend.