Purchase mobile computers wisely to maintain productivityHigher productivity, increased labour costs and a strong trends towards true mobility in the work place are all factors that have put the spotlight firmly on 'total costs of ownership' for computers and devices. Organisations will have to start spending more on durable and reliable mobile computers rather than looking for bargains, if they want to avoid losing valuable productive time. 20 years ago, a laptop could cost the equivalent of a month's salary for the employee who was supposed to use it. Since then, prices of mobile computers have been slashed. Great news, isn't it? Let us just continue to buy the cheapest computers available. They are so cheap to replace! Maintaining productivity comes firstAnother strong development has been the steady rise in wages and productivity for e.g. professional field workers. A tablet or a smartphone now costs the equivalent of maybe only a few hours' salary for an employee. In the old days it was important to get the best possible price for mobile devices. Today it is more important not to lose productivity. A field worker who sits idly for four hours because his or her computer is malfunctioning, has wasted the entire cost of the computer in lost productivity. In addition, everything is connected these days - one broken computer can affect the work of many people. The overlooked costs...Often overlooked are the subsequent operating expenses during the lifespan of the computers. They are usually much higher than the purchase costs and include downtime, outage and failure expenses, backup and recovery process, and replacement costs. Downtime is the most serious, and costly, of these expenses. TCO studies show that over a 3-5 year period of use, the more rugged devices will carry a lower total cost of ownership, meaning that over that period they are actually cheaper than the less rugged devices, even though they are usually more expensive to purchase. About Jerker HellströmJerker Hellström, CEO of the Handheld Group, is a pioneer and industry veteran in the mobile rugged computer industry. In both entrepreneurial and managerial positions, he has 25 years of experience from developing, designing, manufacturing and marketing rugged computers globally.
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