How To Manage Today's Mobile Device Lifecycle

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies

Mobile device lifecycles have accelerated dramatically. How can a field service company keep up?

With the shift from exclusively using rugged, purpose-built devices to semi-rugged or consumer-grade devices (like tablets and smartphones), field service companies often face a much shorter mobile device lifecycle than in the past. Rugged devices were typically designed to be in use for three to five years (and in many cases stayed in service for much longer than that). Modern smartphone models can be obsolete in 18 to 24 months and often have multiple operating system upgrades during that timeframe.

“The software and hardware leapfrog cycle of development has accelerated dramatically in recent years as processing capabilities continue to advance and grow, and software development progresses to take advantage of these improvements,” says Brian Adamson, senior solutions consultant at Peak-Ryzex.