Mobile control of business processes on the road

Web interfaces and apps fulfill more than just mobile working. In an interview on March 4, 2015, Christian Paucksch explains how customers can efficiently use business processes on the move.

Christian Paucksch is managing director of the Starnberg-based software manufacturer Sta*Ware GmbH, which provides a CRM and ERP solution with its InfoCenter solution that also maps business processes. With the development of the web interface and the Android and iOS app, the question arose as to which functions are required for which type of access, in order to take account of the business process and efficiency on the one hand, but also to ensure user-friendliness on the other.

Question: Having e-mails, appointments and contacts with you on the road has been common practice for years. What advantages do new apps and access via web interfaces to applications such as CRM and ERP bring?

Answer: A business process consists of more than e-mails, appointments and contacts. In our InfoCenter software solution, we have mapped workflows in addition to the usual CRM and ERP data. These workflows look different for each customer and reflect their working methods. Take, for example, a typical sales process that turns a prospect into a customer. In this case, the sales employee on site at the prospect’s location can record data and forward it to the account manager directly while on the road, without having to write an e-mail, since the data is transferred directly to the database. This not only reduces the flood of e-mails, but also saves time. Furthermore, the same data stock is available worldwide, which means an up-to-date overview of the correct data.

Question: There are various ways to realize this direct access to the company’s internal database. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?

Answer: We rely on access via web interface and have developed apps for Android and iOS. Both are based on a web service. The biggest difference is the screen size of the respective mobile devices. A smartphone does not allow to display a larger table as it is displayed via web interface. Therefore, as an app manufacturer you have to consider which functions are really necessary. We have decided to draw the line where the employee does most of his work. For us, these are, in addition to e-mail writing, appointment calendar and document view, the changing of tasks / processes in the area of status, resubmission and clerk. The creation of tasks and the uploading of documents, on the other hand, are additionally covered in the web interface.

Question: How do you ensure data security for mobile working?

Answer: One of the biggest dangers is the loss of a mobile device. On the one hand, the normal device protection must be given by password, but we have no influence on this. However, the affected employee can have the access of his device to the database blocked with a short call to his administrator, which can be done very quickly with one click for the administrator. For security during data transfer we use SSL / HTTPS encryption.