Mobile Productivity
Demands Mobile Security

Job #1 for 2007:
Business Process Improvement

Customer Recap

AirClic Update

2006: Banner Year for AirClic AirClic closed out 2006 with a 150% growth in revenue, an expanded product portfolio, new global partnerships and major customer wins—successes that reflect the increasing adoption rates for mobile solutions.
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AirClic Secures $12.5 Million in Venture Capital
The investment—more than twice the average funding in the software sector in 2006—enables AirClic to further develop and deploy innovative solutions for companies with mobile operations.
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Business Fleet Magazine Features AirClic Customer Allen Concrete
Business Fleet Magazine reviews the latest in GPS fleet tracking technology, highlighting Allen Concrete's success with AirClic Time Management.
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Genz-Ryan Case Study
Since implementing AirClic's customized time tracking solution, Genz-Ryan, a plumbing, heating, cooling and air-quality company, has reduced time-and-labor processing by 80%.
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Royal Cabinets Case Study
West Coast cabinetry company Royal Cabinetry has minimized errors and gained six-figure cost savings by implementing the latest mobile process technology.
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Announcing the next version of mobilizing your business,
AirClic MP 5
Learn how you can empower your field staff. Read more

AirClic
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Mobile Productivity Demands Mobile Security

The advent of mobile computing has been a great boon to worker productivity, but the productivity gains have come with security risks.

SDA Asia magazine (Software Development and IT Architecture)* observed in its August 29, 2006 issue that "one of the most valuable ways to increase field employee productivity is to enable enterprise applications on mobile devices." That endorsement is followed, however, with a cautionary note: "What is more important is to enable IT professionals to implement and support security in their wireless networks on mobile devices."

Mobile security begins with the simple—but serious—problem of lost or stolen mobile devices. SDA Asia offered several basic tips for reducing the risk that if a device is lost or stolen, confidential information can not be accessed by unauthorized parties. These include:

• Make sure all company personnel are thoroughly trained to follow security protocols
• Remove data from any devices that aren't currently assigned to an employee
• Quickly disable remote access for any devices that are lost or stolen
• Centralize the management of mobile devices and maintain up-to-date inventory to track who is using what equipment

Aside from loss or theft, the potentially more dangerous risk comes from viruses, worms and other malicious software—the same threats that face virtually every networked computer. The job of protecting both the devices and the data they contain can involve a major cost and time commitment for an organization's IT staff. Fortunately, a hosted application provides an effective way to minimize the burden.

The AirClic MP solution, for example, addresses security threats in three specific areas:

• Physical security: the AirClic data center employs handprint and badge identification to prevent unauthorized access to the facility
• Network security: multiple firewalls ensure that every level of the architecture is secure
• Application security: users must accurately enter authentication credentials before gaining access to any data

The AirClic data center also includes failover and data redundancy through the use of fault-tolerant technology. Each part of the data center has a separate firewall, allowing information access only to users and applications with the appropriate authentication credentials.

Working with a technology partner with the resources to support both application performance and data security relieves internal IT staff from additional network concerns. In short, AirClic takes care of the technology so that companies can take care of business.

*Priya George, "Secure your Mobile Devices and Wireless Networks," SDA Asia, 29 August 2006

Job #1 for 2007: Business Process Improvement

Most organizations are continually looking for ways to streamline and simplify both the technical aspects of IT as well as the underlying business processes. Not surprisingly, CIO Insight magazine found that chief information officers from companies of all sizes ranked "business process improvement" as their top priority for 2007.

The magazine surveyed CIOs, CTOs and other high-level IT executives on their goals and the forces that drive process improvement. The top two responses were 1) increase productivity and 2) lower costs. According to the respondents, operations and service-related business processes offer the greatest potential for improvement. More than two-thirds believe that logistics/supply/purchasing could be "more automated" or "much more automated," and 79% report that their customer service departments could be "more automated" or "much more automated."

For companies in the service sector—and particularly for those serving customers out in the field—improving operational efficiency is critical to boosting profitability. Mobile solutions offer a way for companies to improve their business processes in the field while creating efficiencies back at the office. AirClic applications, for example, integrate seamlessly with existing back-end systems, enabling companies to radically reduce errors and time spent on data entry.

In explaining why process improvement is such a high priority for companies today, one IT expert put it this way: "How else could you increase revenue, reduce costs and improve productivity, all at the same time?"

WindowRama

In the fiercely competitive construction industry, few things are as important to busy builders and remodelers as having their materials delivered exactly as ordered: correct, complete, and on time, every time. WindowRama, a leading supplier of windows, doors, and skylights for the Northeast, understood that was the key to providing excellent service, building customer loyalty and growing the business.

To provide the highest quality customer service, WindowRama needed a mobile communications system that could accurately track its 24 drivers responsible for 200 stops each day throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The company had researched a number of mobile solutions, but all were either too expensive, too complex or both. However, after exploring AirClic's customized applications, rapid deployment, user-friendly technology and seamless integration into existing backend systems, WindowRama was sold. "AirClic MP5 was the obvious choice for us," said Al Altieri, Director of Distribution for WindowRama.

To ensure accuracy, accountability and efficiency, AirClic's solution includes automatic updates issued every three minutes and email alerts sent to the dispatch manager when a driver falls behind schedule. In addition, the technology helps drivers deliver the right materials in the right quantity to the right people. "We were averaging five to ten calls each week from customers who were either missing product or had been given the wrong quantity," recalled Altieri. "Now we have almost zero."

Perhaps most important, AirClic's simplicity and ease of use has made it a hit with the drivers who get trained on the system in just ten minutes. "It's so easy that our drivers take to it immediately—and I can train them in less than ten minutes!" he said.

Read more about WindowRama