Granted, its all in perspective. The CEO/CFO type is only thinking "email, calendar, contacts, and web browsing". The sysadmin thinks "functionality". But its the sysadmin/CTO type that should be making the corporate decisions on devices such as these. As a sysadmin I know all the smart phones can be phones, email devices, and browse the web. However, I also know that Palm devices have a greater ability to be used for other purposes which increases their potential, if not actual, ROI.
When I tell my CEO that we can give Treo 650's to our five sales people for approximately $500 each upfront, plus approximately $150 a month in charges:
$60/month for 500 to 750-some minutes
$60/month for an unlimited data plan
$30/month for GoodLink [$330 per user per year averages to $27.5/month]
he thinks "that's $2500 upfront and $9000/year ($750 total per month for 5 users).
Let's apply this scenario to myself:
For approximately $500 upfront and $1800 ($150/month * 12 months) a year I can have all the productivity defined above (realtime sync with Exchange via GoodLink, a cellular phone, web browsing,). But I can also know on Sunday morning one of our servers crashed and have it fixed before everyone arrives Monday (which increases everyone's productivity).. I can know that power was dropped to us on Friday night at 2am and drive to the office and perform graceful shutdowns before the UPS runs out (which reduces risk of corrupt data, and subsequent downtime; again, increasing everyone's productivity).
But for an extra $120 of add-on Palm software for VPN, SSH, and Terminal Services (assuming I don't get free versions of these), I can also manage my Linux and Windows systems from home, from the airport, from the East Coast, or from the beach in Hawaii without needing a laptop, broadband, or dial-up. And when John Doe locks his account out after typing his password incorrectly too many times, and I happen to be downtown at a training class, I can remote my Windows 2000 server, reset his account, and have him working again. And with a bluetooth headset (the new Treo 650 supports bluetooth), I can do this while I'm talking to him at the same time and have him test his re-enabled access right then and there. And, since I'm already paying $60/month for unlimited data services, I can do all this with no extra charges or fees. So now, I have increased productivity and so does John Doe because he doesn't have to twiddle his thumbs waiting for me to drive back to the office while I miss my training class. And I don't have to risk security by calling a trusted person to give them the admin password (over a phone, in public) and walk them through an account reset. Imagine sitting at dinner with your family and not having to rush out or leave early to fix a crisis. Imagine not having to leave the movie theatre for a problem. Instead, just pull out your Treo with these additional softwares and in a few seconds you have the issues resolved and you're back to what you'd rather be doing.
So now, with the ability to work on my systems from anywhere, I'm driving into the office less for emergencies and I have more time at home with my family. I can now expense less mileage for those after hour emergencies, and no longer need to expense my home DSL connection. So of that $150/month, we can subtract $40 a month for my DSL and $20 a month in mileage, bringing the total cost down to $90/month. And none of this accounts for the time savings of not needing to stop what I'm doing, turn on my laptop, and find a dial-up line or broadband connection. Nor does this factor in the additional productivity of an SDIO combo card that has 256Mb of storage and 802.11b wireless.
This whole solution also means I can sit in my conference room with all these same abilities and NOT need to bring my laptop or run back to my desk for something I forgot. And when my managers are in their weekly management meeting and one guy has the latest sales forecast Excel spreadsheet, does he have to email it to everyone? No. Treo's have IR. He simply *beems* the file to the other managers and they all have it immediately. No need to sync. No need to turn on the laptops. No need to even check their email.
From a business perspective, the Palm devices are simply more usable, more expandable, and offer more productivity due to the available add-on softwares for the PalmOS compared to the alternatives. When applied to my Sales team, there is GPS software, itinerary planning software, etc for PalmOS. There's map softwares. There's AvantGo. The options are almost unlimited. And, as is the case with Windows, almost all PDA-type softwares are always built for PalmOS. Just like every piece of PC hardware has a Windows driver, but may lack a Mac or Linux driver, almost every PDA-type software is made for the PalmOS and many times not made for Windows Mobile or Symbian based devices.
In summary, I have nothing against the Symbian OS, Windows Mobile Edition, or the devices that use them. However, from an ROI and available software perspective, PalmOS-based devices are a better choice.
About the Author:
In simple terms, I'm a Sr Level SysAdmin with 10+ years of experience, on a path to CTO (hint, hint to any readers). I've worked in many different sectors, consulted, and watched the dot-com rise and subsequent implosion. I have experience with everything from Novell to Windows to Solaris to Linux to HA Clustering to end-user desktop support and all the networks, routers, firewalls, etc that connect them. I am neither pro- Windows, nor pro-Linux. I believe each OS has its place and purpose, though where either can do the job, I'll go with Linux. Presently I work for a biotech in the Carlsbad, CA area. We have a diverse mix of Windows-based systems for our office (2000/2003 Server, Exchange, XP, etc) and a host of RedHat Linux based clusters for our production environment. Our sales team is spread throughout the US and UK. Personally, I'm a geek at heart. I like toys. I was one of the first to get the LaCie 1TB Bigger Disk just so I could say I have a terabyte of storage under my desk. I have an order in for the new OQO despite some not very good reviews. I was one of the first to get the original Apple Titanium G4 notebook. And I recall dropping somewhere in the $500 range for a Handspring Visor Edge when they first came out. I get new cell phones annually, and more often than not, get the greater than $400 ones.
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- "Smart Phones vs. The Others, Page 1/2"
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