Cassini Cloud recently migrated an Australian public company to operating in the cloud. The company was running on a couple of on-premises Windows Servers. We migrated their email server to Exchange Online, moved Ostendo, MYOB and various document folders to a Cassini Cloud server.

Some of the drivers for the change were that the company has about 18 sales representatives in the field as well as offices around Australia and the on-premises servers were not delivering the performance, functionality and reliability required.

Once the company was running on Cassini Cloud, there was the option of using a variety of devices (such as iPads, Macs, Android tablets and PCs) to operate the various applications supporting the business. Since the laptops in the field were up for replacement, an evaluation was done of the alternatives and it was decided to implement iPads.

The key thinking behind the move to iPads was:

1) The iPads have instant on and the internet connection (delivered by mobile 3G/4G network) is also instantly on. The battery on the iPad is good enough to support the user all day.

2) The ERP application (called Ostendo) used by the sales force is delivered to the iPad using an app called Citrix Receiver. One of the features of this app is that it returns the user to the exact same point in Ostendo or Outlook that the user was last in.

3) The Mobile Device Management (MDM) service called AirWatch was implemented too. AirWatch enables the company to remotely manage the iPads and push out automatically, updates to all sales documents. The sales person therefore always has the correct / up-to-date sales material on the iPad. AirWatch has many more functions to allow central management of the remote iPads.

4) The iPad solution is cheaper than the replacement laptop with a lower cost to manage

The key benefits of the move to iPads are:

– improved productivity for the sales force through the technology supporting the user being instantly on and always up to date

– being able to prepare a quote and email it to a customer immediately after a meeting whilst sitting in the customer’s car park will improve sales close rates