Filemaker Survey: Custom Business Solutions For Ipad and Iphone Are Not Just For Road Warriors Anymore; Companies Now
Mobilising In-house Business Operations
Replacement of paper-based processes also a common trend
AUCKLAND, New Zealand. – April 29, 2013 – Move over, road warriors, and enter the new era of productivity warriors. Many businesses are now using mobile devices
to automate inside their building or company campus, according to a recent survey by FileMaker, Inc. Further, businesses are building custom solutions to automate and “mobilise” processes in nearly every department.
Database software maker FileMaker – with millions of deployments, including more than 500,000 downloads of FileMaker Go, a free app for accessing FileMaker databases from iPad and iPhone – polled customers on their use of mobile devices to
boost business productivity. The research included a survey of 499 customers who have deployed FileMaker solutions on
iOS devices as well as an analysis of 102 mobility case studies.
“The next wave of business mobility, fuelled by iPad and iPhone-equipped ‘productivity warriors,’ is delivering real ROI
by automating processes in the building and on the company campus,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and
services for FileMaker, Inc. “Of course we see many traditional road warriors using FileMaker, but we were surprised to
find how much use was actually occurring inside the building. We were also impressed at how frequently businesses are
replacing paper-based processes with iPads and iPhones, thus automating areas of their business not practical before.”
Automating from within the building
The survey and research revealed that FileMaker mobile customers use many ways to connect workers to their servers, but
the most common method, occurring 59% of the time, was direct connection over local wireless network to an on-premise
server. This means workers using an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch are operating within a building or at least on a campus
with an integrated wireless network.
For example, the Austin Convention Center equipped its maintenance and technical service teams with iPads running a custom FileMaker business solution on iPad
and desktops. The solution saves endless steps for workers in the six-block-long facility, eliminates a paper-based work
order system and improves customer service.
The survey found organisations also are creating solutions that connect workers to FileMaker servers when out of the
office. Popular methods include remote connections via the Internet (35%) and connections via a VPN (21%). Some
organisations use multiple ways to connect depending on where a worker is located at a particular time.
Getting Rid of Paper-based processes
More than half (51%) of the mobility case studies involved replacing paper-based processes.
Boston University’s Center for English Language and Orientation Programs (CELOP), one of the leading intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) schools with 1,700 students per year, replaced
its cumbersome, paper-based admissions processes – which occur 10 or more times a year – with a new, automated document
management system on the FileMaker Platform. The system includes a custom solution running on iPads and desktops. The
new system has replaced photocopiers with iPads, slashed up-front document collection time by more than 50%, and reduced
wait times for students.
Traditional Business Tasks Go Mobile
The survey found that organisations are “mobilising” many traditional business tasks, not just “mobile” tasks. The top
10 tasks automated with FileMaker are: 1) contact and customer management; 2) inventory; 3)
invoicing/quotes/orders/estimates; 4) field data collection and field surveys; 5) project management; 6) general data
tracking and logging; 7) timesheets; 8) reports and analysis; 9) work tickets and scheduling; and 10) medical records.
But it does not stop there — a wide range of business functions are being improved using custom iPad and iPhone
solutions.
West Paw Design of Bozeman, Montana, a manufacturer of ecofriendly pet toys, beds and apparel, runs its entire business on FileMaker
software. Its custom manufacturing and inventory automation solution — which uses iPads and FileMaker Go to automate the
manufacturing process — has helped the company save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually; maintain sustainable
manufacturing; keep manufacturing jobs local; and support 10% annual growth and exports to 28 countries.
Impacting Every Department
The FileMaker survey also found that mobile deployments of FileMaker are found in virtually every key area business area
within organisations, including operations (31%), information systems (28%), sales (23%), customer service (21%),
finance/accounting (17%); product development (12%), human resources (10%), procurement (8%) and legal (2%).
Sea Breeze Farm is a grass-based animal farm known for its world-class winery, restaurant, charcuterie, butcher and cheese shops.
Business owner George Page used the FileMaker Platform with FileMaker Go for iPad to create custom mobile solutions that
manage production and sales across his collection of small businesses — starting with helping him and his staff
understand the production levels of the dairy cows on the farm.
More customer stories are available here.
ENDS