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40 Part One Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise
what content is and isn’t being used whether they This application connects the corporate point-of-
are home, traveling, or at the office. sale system, inventory control and management
Sunbelt Rentals, based in Fort Mill, South system, and enterprise system, which integrates
Carolina, is one of the largest equipment rental data from many different business functions. Users
companies in the United States, with a $2 billion are able to share sales quotes based on the most
inventory of rental equipment. More than 1,200 up-to-date information on rental rates and equip-
company employees, including sales staff, field ment availability. With this application, Sunbelt’s
personnel, and executives, are equipped with sales team can respond immediately to customer
iPhones to interact with contacts and stay abreast requests while they are at a job site.
of calendar events. In addition to using iPhones
for e-mail, scheduling, and contact management, Sources: “Apple IPhone in Business” and “Apple iPad in Business,"
www.apple.com, accessed September 6, 2012; Erik Eckel, “What
Sunbelt deployed a custom application called the IPhone5 Will Offer Business Users,” TechRepublic, September
Mobile SalesPro, which ties multiple systems and 5, 2012; and Doug Henschen, “Mobilizing Enterprise Apps:
databases into a single package for the sales team. The Next Big Leap,” Information Week, February 12, 2011.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What kinds of applications are described here? 4. One company deploying iPhones has said: The
What business functions do they support? iPhone is not a game changer, it’s an industry
How do they improve operational efficiency and changer. It changes the way that you can interact
decision making? with your customers and with your suppliers.
2. Identify the problems that businesses in this case Discuss the implications of this statement.
study solved by using mobile digital devices.
3. What kinds of businesses are most likely to
benefit from equipping their employees with
mobile digital devices such as iPhones and iPads?
iPhone and iPad Whether it’s attending an
Business Applications: online meeting, checking
orders, working with files
1. Salesforce Mobile and documents, or obtaining
business intelligence, Apple’s
2. Cisco WebEx
iPhone and iPad offer
3. iSchedule unlimited possibilities for
business users. Both devices
4. iWork have a stunning multitouch
display, full Internet
5. Documents To Go
browsing, digital camera,
6. PDF Reader Pro and capabilities for messag-
ing, voice transmission, and
7. BizXpenseTracker document management.
These features make each an
8. Dropbox
all-purpose platform for
mobile computing.
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