Mark Dye, FSN Contributing Editor reports.
When buying a laptop there is much to consider. It is not merely just a question of size, what purpose it will serve and where it will be used? A financial director (FD) also needs to think about processing power, security and perhaps some degree of futureproofing. With so many options on offer from a plethora of vendors it's little wonder many are left scratching their heads.
But the statistics speak for themselves. According to research from J. Gold Asociates, the majority of us are spending considerable amounts of time on the move away from the office, only 25% of those surveyed claimed to spend their days there. This means laptops or some kind of mobile solution are a necessity for most.
Of course, as Graham Walter, vice president UK , EMEA at Cognos, explains, those at the top need direct access to up-to-date information in order to make informed global decisions, even when not in the office.
"Being able to access up-to-date company revenues, profit and loss and sales figures by month, week, day or hour is important to make financial decisions about investment for the future," he says.
With PDFs being static and of limited functionality and spreadsheets, prone to error and not built for mobile devices, users often experience difficulties scrolling and cannot obtain the data required easily without a laptop.
So what should these laptops look like then? In the first instance it is important to remember that it is important to focus on core competencies, something that should rule out models with large power hungry screens and those with state of the art graphics cards. After all, is an FD looking to play games or watch DVDs?
"It's raw power for dealing with big spreadsheets that is needed, and connectivity to get back to the centre for access to SAP, email and so on," says Clive Longbottom, service director, Business Process Analysis at analysts Quocirca.
This means a clever FD might also dispense with a CD or DVD drive in a bid to reduce size as he looks more closely at its networking capabilities and things like WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth – key attributes for transporting data in its various forms.
Although most laptops ship with Wi-Fi as standard, James Walker, head of innovation at Telindus, says that potential buyers also need to be checking for in-built 3G capabilities or the ability to slot a 3G card into the device as well as the power of the device.
The new concept of dual cores is also excellent for mobility as processing power can be controlled depending on processes and activities helping extend battery life," he says.
'Core duo' represents the current benchmark in processing power and Longbottom believes that FDs should be looking at this to give themselves the best possible chance of harnessing and utilising that data on the move.
"This will allow Excel to run at high speed and for reporting to come back at a good rate," he adds.
But with PC processor suppliers rapidly ramping up production of dual-core processors, Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, Compute Platforms at iSuppli, reasons that buying the fastest chip available is not always necessary, unless you are a definite 'power user'.
A smart move, he says, is to consider the latest processor technology, but at a speed grade back 2 or 3 iterations from fastest available, allowing pricing curves to work in your favour.
"Processor pricing strategies will mean that the latest technology will be competitively priced with older products, as the likes of Intel and AMD use pricing as a method to drive product penetration," he says.
If a specific laptop specification is going to be purchased by a corporation for a specific length of time, also inquire about the availability of that specification from the supplier.
The other major issue to consider is security of data. Many argue that those carrying sensitive financial data should be protected using biometrics, an encrypted hard disk and solid Virtual Private Network capabilities.
"Those laptops that have built in security capabilities at the silicon level should be regarded as better than any 'standard' laptop," says Longbottom.
The capability to wipe the machine from afar, or 'bombing' as it is more commonly known, is also clever functionality to bear in mind. Simpler still and much further down the list is the use of an overlay to prevent screens being viewed from anywhere but straight on.
For any purchase in this arena, analysts are agreed in that you should be looking for a device with between four and six hours of battery life, 1Gb of memory as a minimum and a hard drive no smaller than 80Gb.
Using the above criteria will filter many players out of the market and should help allay any niggling doubts.
For his part Longbottom suggests that the likes of IBM/Lenovo, HP and Fujitsu are among the leading players right now, with the Lenovo IBM Thinkpad range still being a good bet for large corporates looking for suitable laptops.
Even so, take the time to really think about what it is you are trying to achieve from all this and don't be in a hurry to make a purchase. Prices tend to vary between £1000 to £1500 GBP from the leading players and while that may seem expensive to some, this is not an area you should be looking to cut corners in. Doing this could end up costing you a lot more than a few hundred pounds.
Key benefits of a mobile working environment:
- Reduced 'dead time' (when a user is unable to access information)
- Reduced cost – single infrastructure for voice, video and data
- Increased productivity of staff
- Increased revenue opportunities
- Access to information from anywhere at any time
- Increased security
- More flexible approach to working and the working environment
Source: Telindus
Profiting from a mobile working environment:
- Secure your network – encrypt data and use authentication protocols to protect corporate resources from unauthorised access (such as 802.11x standards). Also, ensure that workers look after hardware - laptops left on trains cost business dear each year.
- Educate users – don't assume that staff will know how to benefit from a mobile working environment. Talk to them about how to make the most of an open office structure, i.e. working from home, email on the move. This is critical when sensitive corporate data is being transmitted from outside the company.
- Establish guidelines – set rules for when staff can work at home etc. to ensure that the system is not abused. FDs need to be confident that when staff are working out of the office they are still being productive.
- Measure ROI – this is difficult to quantify, but investing in mobility is a costly affair. Organisations need to consistently evaluate whether the investment is delivering benefits.
- Be realistic – don't expect it to change your business overnight. Change will be gradual, but 'anywhere working' is evolving and the sooner you start to embrace the concept, the sooner you will reap the benefits across the organisation.
Source: Telindus
