Consistent observation:
If a person is idle for more than 5-10 seconds, the odds are very high that they will produce a mobile device of some kind and bury their attention in it. My point? Mobile devices are here to stay and growing ever more quickly. In fact, Flurry.com found that in June 2011, consumers spent 81 minutes per day on mobile apps compared to 74 minutes per day web surfing!
SharePoint content can also be served to mobile applications, and not just Windows Phone, but also on other mobile operating systems, such as Apple’s iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android. The said software provides the following mobile features:
- Data views which are optimized for viewing on mobile devices
- Ability to open Microsoft Office documents using Office Web Apps
- Mobile MySites
- Mobile Alerts (when list items change)
As with any system, getting value out of SP mobile features for your organization requires planning and forethought. Security planning and education is key. Professional security configuration will allow you to access your data, and proper education will empower your users to secure data, should their device be lost or stolen. You wouldn’t want your Personally Identifiable Information left unsecured someone else’s mobile device, would you?
Now is the time to get started with mobile, and actually if you haven’t you’re too late. Mobile capabilities are the future, and the next release of SharePoint will almost certainly promise even more capability. Perhaps even full blown mobile apps built on the Microsoft “Metro” user interface will be available, bringing the even more share point functionality to your mobile device.
Mobile devices are a great tool for productivity and communication from just about anywhere, add the power of Microsoft SharePoint to your mobile device and knock-out tasks anytime, anywhere!