In the digital era we have access to information almost anywhere we go. It seems that every coffee shop, restaurant and even supermarket offers Wi-Fi, and with the rise of 4G internet speed, we have the whole world at our disposal at any given moment. This has allowed for the most businesses to go digital, and at the same time made the workforce more mobile.

Analysts of Forrester company have estimated that 29% of the global workforce was mobile. And those numbers keep growing with predictions that by 2020 up to 50 percent of business applications will be accessed via mobile devices. But in order to allow themselves to be part of the mobility trend, businesses have to successfully implement ERP systems, which are single databases that connect all the departments and workings in a single company. So what is so great about a mobile workforce? For one, it allows employees to work from anywhere.

Office environment can be stressful and many people prefer working from their home. Also, not having to commute to the office allows you to start earlier, as well as cut costs from both the commute and office space and miscellaneous. But main benefit would be the increased efficiency due to feeling of empowerment granted to the employee, and also due to the increase in productivity. Since work schedule is up to the employee, they are free to adapt it to themselves.

Not everyone prefers 9 to 5 working hours, and many people would opt for early morning work, or even working during night all dependent on the industry. It also makes easier to finish projects on a deadline or respond to emergencies. If an employee is on a vacation but gets an urgent call to make a report, a mobile workforce will respond to the task much better because they will be used to using different settings as their work environment. However, having mobile workforce raises concerns of slacking without a structured schedule.

Office setting is there for a reason, and many that are let loose of it can fall prey to multiple distractions such as TV or Internet surfing. But since with mobile workforce distance of the employees’ home and the office is of no concern, an employer has far more options in the hiring process. Seeing there is no need to be in the office every day, it is possible to acquire best talent regardless of their location. Also, one thing to take into account is that mobile workers will be aware of those perils and will want to prove to their employers that they can successfully accomplish their tasks.

In mobilizing you workforce it is important to keep the lines of communication open and, most of all, monitor their activities. But to do that, a company needs a reliable ERP system. In order to successfully cooperate without sharing a physical location employees need to stay connected via various devices such as smartphones or laptops. But to truly make their work come together it has to be shared on an ERP system that gives them access to all of the data of the company on hand at any time.

Our ERP system contain a variety of possibilities, from tracking sales and customer preferences all the way to predictive analysis. This is important also for short term mobility that is normal for the sales people within a company, especially because it is accessible via smartphones so work can be done even in waiting rooms and on bus rides.

Since with ERP systems everything is on a cloud and not on desktop computers, information is accessible from anywhere and from any device. This is a very important feature when we consider that average consumer owns 3.6 connected devices. So in order to successfully connect the whole office online it is important to make the system accessible via smaller devices such as smartphones and tablets.

These are the majority of all of the mobile devices and most people have them near all the time – even when sleeping. If the company’s data is available through these, employees can maintain their mobility and still be using the company’s resources in real time throughout the day.

Clearly, a mobile workforce is the future, with more and more companies building their ERP systems online to enable their employees’ access to their data from anywhere. Implementing an ERP system to your company can help usher it to the digital era of today.