Success Stories — MFS Ltd
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MFS Ltd takes care of business with the Palm Treo 650 smartphone
MFS Ltd is an investment company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange that currently manages approximately $4 billion of investments and funds. MFS' business centres around innovative investment in the areas of property; retirement and aged care; hotel, tourism and leisure; fixed income; and alternative investments.
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"Our executives have described the Treo 650 smartphone as 'highly addictive' - it's something they just couldn't live without."
Jason Gouws, infrastructure manager
MFS LtdThe Challenge
MFS executives are constantly on the road meeting with clients, shareholders and investors. MFS needed a way to provide its executives with a mobile office that would let them check emails, coordinate appointments and transfer sensitive information. In the past, the mobile devices deployed by MFS were unstable and therefore unreliable. MFS were also conscious of the costs and time involved in administration and deploying the software.MFS infrastructure manager Jason Gouws explains, "We were looking for a secure and reliable solution that allowed us to electronically transfer sensitive information to our team. We also needed a system that would reduce administration time by remotely updating changes to an inbox and calendar, such as email read/unread status and deletions, or rescheduled appointments."
The Solution
After attending a solution developer conference, Jason found the solutions he was looking for. The Palm® Treo™ 650 smartphone in conjunction with Good™ Mobile Messaging software from Good Technology would provide MFS with the stability, features and functions its executives needed. MFS called upon integration technology specialist Starcom to set up a four-week trial with the Treo 650 smartphone.MFS found the Treo 650 to be a solid, reliable business tool that had all the features MFS executives needed while on the road Gouws said, "The partnership between Palm and Good Technology is what makes this solution truly successful. They have set a new benchmark for all hardware and software developers to aim for."
The Treo 650 combined with Good Technology software enables centralised device management, including security features such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock. "This type of security is critical because we need to ensure that sensitive customer and company data is not jeopardised," says Gouws.
"Using the Treo 650 with Good Messaging, calendars can be kept up to date remotely, users can send, receive and delete email in synchronisation with their office computers while also having the convenience of a mobile phone attheir finger tips.1 What’s more, as the Good Messaging software allows for real-time adjustments, there is no lag in information updates, lowering the total cost of ownership."
"In fact, our executives have described the Treo 650 smartphone as ‘highly addictive’ – it’s something they just couldn’t live without," says Gouws.
The Outcome
To date, MFS has deployed more than 50 Palm Treo 650 smartphones and hopes to double this amount in the upcoming months. MFS has been able to equip a truly mobile team of executives, maximising communication for those out on the road."Rolling out the devices has been so easy. The Treo 650 smartphone is a secure, reliable tool that has become pivotal to our business. The support that Palm has given us throughout has been invaluable. The Treo 650’s intuitive design and simple, easy-to-use features has meant the transition and implementation across the organisation was hassle-free. Many of our executives didn’t even require training – they just picked it up and started using it," says Gouws.
With the Treo 650 smartphone, MFS executives can stay on top of important issues while they are out of the office and be more responsive to client and shareholder needs. Users can be assured that information will be transmitted encrypted end-toend using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) built right into the Good Mobile Messaging solution. In addition, productivity has increased because executives are able to respond to their clients faster and complete transactions promptly.
Another key benefit of the Treo 650 is that executives can now stay on the road longer because they do not have to come into the office to check their emails. Administration time has been reduced because the email status is updated between both the Treo 650 and the user’s PC. There are also fewer discrepancies with calendar entries as appointments can be updated remotely.
"The Treo 650 smartphone coupled with the real-time synchronisation solution from Good Technology has given us a wireless communication system that has improved communication efficiencies throughout the organisation," concludes Gouws.