| Palm Solutions Group, the sponsor of this white paper, was formed after Palm, Inc. separated into two companies in early 2002. Those two companies are Palm Solutions Group, a handheld solutions company and leading manufacturer of handhelds with over 18 million devices shipped to date and PalmSource, developer of the Palm OS® platform and licensor of the platform to makers of handheld devices.
The Palm Solutions Group enterprise initiatives (see www.palm.com/enterprise) are revolutionizing the way business is conducted, projects are managed, and problems are resolved in the field. The exploding mobile solution sector, Field Force Automation, at last brings companies an efficient, accurate and reliable business process between the field and central office. Through mobile solutions, enterprises achieve fluid field force communication, near real-time offsite project status, and prompt field problem response. The net benefit is increased revenues, reduced operations costs, and avoided expenditures. These benefits significantly overshadow the investment in the mobile solution itself typically recouped in the first months of deployment.
Palm Solutions Group engaged the Gantry Group to conduct an objective ROI study that would quantify the net results of deployed mobile solutions. Gantry Group has developed definitive ROI tools, each customized to specific application categories within major solution sectors This white paper explores experiences with Remote Audit applications within the Field Force Automation sector (Field Force: Remote Audit). Individual case studies profiling specific deployments of such Palm Solutions Group solutions were developed to further illustrate the ROI experience.
Using an interview-based approach with Palm Solutions Groups enterprise customers, the Gantry Group developed a realistic, payback-modeling tool that measures the ROI impact that a Palm Solutions Group mobile solution deployment has on key business metrics and cost drivers for the Field Force: Remote Audit applications. Three companies, representing different industries, contributed to the development of a quantitative tool that measures the costs and benefits associated with the deployment. Care was taken to identify and parameterize only those tangible costs and benefits that could directly be measured to ensure that the ROI model is conservative and credible. No estimate-based assumptions concerning intangible benefits were included in the model, which was thoroughly cross-checked to ensure against "double-counting" and inclusion of cost savings that were theoretical but not realized.
The companies profiled in this case study, on average, realized actual ROI of 1,000% or more over a three-year time period, with payback occurring in less than two months. These organizations shared a common set of challenges, which drove them to adopt a mobile solution:
Inconsistent, questionable data quality from the field
High incidence of audit repeats
Unreliable process to transport field data to the central office
Lengthy time-to-completion
Delays in action and problem resolution
Deployment of Palm Solutions Group mobile solutions for Field Force: Remote Audits resulted in direct, tangible benefits derived from:
Seamless field data workflow
(automated data transmission)
Improved data quality
Improved data processing efficiency
Shortened project cycles |
