- While we're talking about business requirements,
I wanna make a special call out
regarding the mobile workforce.
Whether it's the salesman in the field,
the executive on the plane,
or the developer working from their home,
they're all enabled by mobile capabilities,
and they all have different needs for interactivity.
Understanding your mobile workforce
is critical in designing solutions that fit.
So, thing number one,
who are your mobile workers?
Try and define the different audiences.
Does your company let everyone work remotely,
or only some people?
Do you have people whose job
is actually in the field?
Start making a list of who these audiences are.
Once you've determined the who,
it's time to start thinking about the what.
What type of work do these people need to do
at their remote locations?
Do they only need to view the information,
or do they need to edit or create it?
Is it only specific information,
or specific applications?
And then, what about the hardware
they'll need to make this happen?
Are we talking about phones?
Tablets? Computers?
If all the software and application tools are online,
can we get away with Chromebook-type computers
that connect to the internet,
but don't have much in the way of
onboard processing or storage?
Those are a lot cheaper
if they will satisfy the needs.
Maybe some people require more robust equipment.
Who are they?
How powerful a machine do they need?
Do you see my point?
These are the types of questions
you should be asking,
and you need to bring other people
into the conversation too.
This is not the kind of work
that can be done in a vacuum.
You must be talking to the people affected
to validate your assumptions
and let them point out things you've missed,
because I guarantee you,
you won't think of everything.
I'm gonna say it again.
If you don't understand the work
and the requirements of the people doing the work,
you cannot effectively enable them
to get that work done.