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Mobile Alternatives

When AgStar Financial Services employees are out in the field (literally, in some cases), they stay connected to headquarters using their company-issued BlackBerries. These days, though, the rural lender is wondering whether its workers might be better off carrying around a new crop of mobile devices instead. Vice President of Information Technology Paul Zyla says that as iPhones and Android devices grow in popularity, he’s seeing more requests from employees who want to check their work e-mail and calendar on these devices. Employee demand, along with major developments in the enterprise mobile market, has Zyla and many of his peers reevaluating the types of mobile devices their departments support. Should the company stick with BlackBerry, or give employees the choice of an iPhone or Android? Should the business own the device, or offer network access from personal devices? Should the IT department continue to manage the devices, or outsource the hassle to someone else? “This is probably one of the most complicated business cases that I’ve been involved in,” Zyla says. As of mid-February, he hadn’t come to a conclusion. The company was testing some of the alternatives, handing out a few iPads, iPhones, and Android devices to various employees to get their feedback on how they work. He’s looking for a long-term solution, but the challenge of that is that “the market is changing so fast,” he says. “When you feel like you have a solid foundation, something new comes along and throws a curve ball at you.”

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