A Q&A with Santa, and Fleet Manager Mrs Claus, of North Pole Inc
With smartphone adoption continuing to grow at a strong rate, mobile apps are now a fact of everyday life. Users all over the world, in diverse cultures and economies, make regular use of them. Indeed, one study forecasts that the global app economy could exceed $100bn by the end of the current decade. Of course, apps aren't just for shopping, sharing pictures of babies and dogs on skateboards, or gaming - they're also reshaping the way we do business with each other.
The proliferation of new mobile apps has, in turn, started to have a major impact on fleet management. Fleet tracking technology itself has changed the face of the way vehicles are managed by providing an extraordinary array of relevant data on how drivers and vehicles perform. What we're now seeing is that a new generation of mobile apps are making it possible to take fleet management out into the field.
Mobile enterprise management
Leading the transformation of fleet tracking is mobile enterprise management (MEM), widely hailed as a major step forward in fleet management. Fleet operators are always looking for more efficient and simpler ways to manage fleets, which is why the growth of MEM has been so rapid. In essence, MEM simplifies the two-way flow of information so that assets out in the field can be deployed more efficiently. It allows information to be supplied to the point of action helping to improve workflow, enhance customer service and create safer working environments for remote workers.
The key to MEM is the connectivity of technology. The objective is to bring together information from multiple platforms and make it quickly available to the people that need it. Technologies like our Drive application are enabling the field on office to connect by sharing job status information, simplifying vehicle compliance processes and streamlining communication.
Real-time insight when you’re in the field
Another reason for the quick take-up of MEM is that so many of us have smartphones. According to research from Deloitte, four out of five UK adults - 37 million people - have their own smartphone handset. One of the main advantages of MEM is therefore that it allows fleet managers to obtain relevant GPS fleet tracking insights while they're out in the field themselves. Fleet managers don't need to be stuck behind a desk to keep manage their assets. Instead, they can use mobile apps to gain a detailed overview of what's going on and where.
We expect mobile enterprise management to continue to grow as data connectivity continues to increase. It’s especially exciting to see the evolution of fleet tracking technology as it starts to make more data available to the people that need it most.