Ruggedized Computers Mean Lower TCO
A colleague of mine recently shared a story about how he inadvertently sat on and broke his wife's Palm PDA (personal digital assistant). In one instant, the database of contacts and calendar events she worked so hard to create was gone. Even though she could have backed up her data to her PC, this story still illustrates a point that VARs shouldn't overlook: Well drillers and construction workers aren't the only ones that need ruggedized mobile computing devices. Even mobile workers who are less likely to introduce their computing devices to dust, vibrations, and water (and squashing) are candidates for ruggedized computing devices. Beware, however, because these clients are going to try to convince you otherwise. My advice to you is to figure out a way to show these customers that, as in the case of my colleague's wife, it takes only a moment for disaster to strike. When this scenario is translated to the business world, it isn't just personal contact information, family pictures, and MP3 music files that are lost. Your customers' devices will have important information that is necessary to close a sale or, perhaps, time-sensitive order information.
Don't let your customers off the hook too easily only to have them say to themselves later, "I shoulda paid a little more for a tougher computer." By that time, they're scrambling to recover their data, they're calling you to solve the problem right away, and there's even a good chance they'll be looking at your competitor for a quote on ruggedized computers. Why, you ask? The weak effort you made in the past to convince your customer to go with ruggedized computers will be replaced with your competitor's smug, "Yes, sir, we always insist our customers use ruggedized mobile computing devices." It's just the way the world works.
Don't Forget The Cost Of Indirect Expenses
Overall, ruggedized computer sales are on the rise. However, there are still plenty of prospects you are going to encounter who live under the illusion that their field workers will treat their handhelds with kid gloves. As a result, they will be confident they can equip their field workers with mobile devices at 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of their ruggedized counterparts. There is an important myth you need to debunk for these deluded customers. Failing to do so will cost you excessive complaint calls in the near future and will cost the customer lost data down the road ... and may even cost you the customer.
Your customers may cling to the misperception that a consumer-grade mobile computing device would have to break down 5 to 10 times before a ruggedized device could be cost justified. Not true. Analyst group Technology Business Research's findings revealed that only 28% of the costs associated with owning mobile computing devices is due to parts and labor. The bigger costs come from the time spent by the end user trying to recover or redo lost work. There are also significant costs associated with the time IT spends interfacing with the user to effect the repair. These findings are confirmed by Venture Development Corp.'s latest study showing companies that deployed ruggedized mobile computing solutions for their field workers realized a 17% lower TCO (total cost of ownership) than their competitors who opted to not deploy ruggedized solutions. The difference was even greater for companies deploying supply chain applications: The TCO of ruggedized units was 32% less than their non-ruggedized counterparts.
Companies may not consider the indirect expenses associated with mobile computer breakdowns. You need to remind your customers about the facts and help them recognize how much it costs not to have access to their data.
As for my colleague's wife, after a year of grieving over her broken PDA, she got a new one. Because the data on her device isn't mission critical, a consumer-grade device was a fine choice. For your customers, however, it's not. And, if you can find a situation that proves otherwise, I'd love to hear about it. But, whatever you do, don't e-mail it to me. Our spam filter is set up to screen any far-fetched stories.