The use of iPhones and iPads in the business technology sector has become as second nature as email and think tank meetings. As the technology continues to evolve, more businesses are getting on the bandwagon and Apple's mobile devices are at the top of the list.
A recent CITEworld article featured a profile of The Mayo Clinic and its new mobile solutions. The facility uses several different applications that allow doctors to check medical records, find contact information and look up expert advice. To date, there are 15,000 devices in use.
According to Mark Henderson, Mayo's chair of IT who spoke with the news source, the move to mobile started back in 2009 and iOS devices were the clear favorite.
"We stopped the conversation pretty early," said Henderson. "We worked internally with the security group for a comfort level. At the time there were ways to manage the devices, and encryption was where we wanted it. It was the front leader."
While right now the system is only used by doctors, there are plans to expand the program to include the nursing staff. It will allow them to improve communication with staff and be alerted when test results become available.
Implementing mobile devices into daily business operation is more complicated than just buying the iPads and handing them out to employees. Companies need to ensure their infrastructure can support the devices and employees are trained on how to use them. This process can be sped up by partnering with an IT consulting company that is familiar with iPhone and iPad deployments and training.
