Meeting the needs of the modern worker

We talk to Hewlett Packard Enterprise to find out how Windows 10 mobile apps are making employees more productive and efficient, wherever they are

By Rebecca Gibson on 23 February 2017

This article first appeared in the Winter issue of The Record.

Joining a conference call from his car on the way to a client meeting, Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) Henk Hoevelaken epitomises the modern worker.

“Previously I’d have missed the call, but now my mobile device allows me to accept conference calls and access corporate systems anywhere, so I’m productive wherever I am,” says Hoevelaken, EMEA practice lead of Mobile Advisory and Mobile Application Services at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). “Mobile apps are redefining the workplace, making people more efficient and reducing operational costs. They could transform individual processes, or entire operating models.”

Extending the corporate workplace to the mobile world is easy now that Microsoft has launched Windows 10. According to Enda Curran, HPE’s offering manager for Windows 10, this is because the operating system offers the same functionality and user experience on any device, enabling enterprises to do more than just migrate their existing business apps.

“Rather than ‘lifting and shifting’ business apps to Windows 10, companies can use Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform to transform existing business processes so their employees and customers can access apps and data on any device,” Curran explains. “The real game changers are Windows 10’s advanced security features and the Microsoft Azure Apps Service integration.”

HPE provides an ecosystem of mobility-as-a-service solutions to help enterprises rethink operational processes using Windows 10.

“We use our technical expertise and industry knowledge to help clients evaluate their current business processes and understand how mobile apps can transform these operations,” says Hoevelaken. “We provide an end-to-end service by supplying devices, developing and deploying apps, and then managing both the components on an ongoing basis.”

To date, HPE has developed and implemented Windows 10-based mobile apps for multiple industries. One fast food company, for example, used HPE’s mobile ordering app to reduce waiting times and increase revenue in 3,200 fast food restaurants in China. In Europe, HPE’s Connected Traveller app has helped an airport to avoid congestion by using beacons to provide passengers with personalised directions to their departure gate and help airport authorities optimise traffic flow. The same app also delivers customised discounts to boost sales across stores and restaurants in the airport.

“HPE’s mobile apps are helping companies to drive innovative ways of engaging customers, taking new services to the marketplace, and become faster and more agile in how they drive new revenue opportunities,” says Danny Brandt, EMEA Mobility lead in the Mobility and Workplace practice at HPE. “We’re the ideal partner to help customers understand how mobilising their business processes will make employees more efficient and improve the customer experience.”