While no mobile operating system is perfect, there are three major considerations experts suggest for business owners choosing between Android, Windows, and iOS. “It depends on who is using it, how it’s being used and with what applications,” says Ira Grossman of Cleveland, OH-based MCPc, a technology products and solutions provider.
Segment Usage
Companies often segment users by function area, such as executive, warehouse, or marketing. A key question is, “Are they using the device as part of a main business function?” asks Grossman.
Look at how the devices will be used. Is it business critical as a mobile POS? If you regularly use video, which type of video are you displaying? There are different aspect ratios for entertainment and watching movies, to corporate training.
You also need to understand how users want to share or collaborate on their mobile devices. How connected do you want to be to your business? “Is the intent of the business owner acquiring a tablet so that if you’re at a son or daughter’s soccer game and need to send a document, it needs to be accessed on a mobile device?” asks Grossman.
Assess Compatibility
If your employees need certain applications in order to fulfill their responsibilities, are your applications compatible across the different operating systems involved? “What technology platforms have they invested in already?” asks Jason Harrison, president and owner of Nashville, NC-based Harrison Technology Consulting, LLC. “What will integrate well? Are the email services or collaboration platform in house or in the cloud?”
You will inevitably have to make trade offs. “The executive may not be doing mobile POS or accounts with a scanner,” says Grossman. “The operating system needed for that is not the same.”
Moreover, application compatibility extends to your company website, so make sure it’s optimized for IE on Windows, Chrome on Android, or Safari on iPhone. The more universal an application is, the less likely it will be based on a specific browser or dependent on a particular operating system.
“Maybe six months ago,” says Grossman, “if you were a heavy Excel user and have expectations to do this, then I would say choose a Microsoft 10 tablet. But now you can download MS office on Android and iPhone. Walls and barriers have recently been coming down.”
Secure Devices
A final consideration is mobile security. Mobile device management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) tools such as AirWatch and Mobile Iron can secure devices. “They allow the user to push policy to that mobile device that will allow or restrict or require user interaction,” says Grossman. “Most common is enforcing use with a simple or complex password.”
But before you can determine what to allow an operating system to permit, you need to know how you will secure it. “If the business is regulated by the FDA or HIPA or other regulatory compliance,” says Grossman, “you might find securing a Windows phone better than an Android phone. So in parallel with user segmentation and application compatibility, you want to explore how to secure it to meet regulatory compliance requirements.”
In a business vulnerable to higher turnover, for example, you’ll want extra security. “You want to ensure that the price list that the employees carry around on the iPad aren’t copied, pasted, forwarded. Enterprise file, share, and sync can restrict that type of behavior. If you had a corporate price list, you can ensure that a salesman can’t share or take a screen shot.”
So which mobile operating system—Windows, Android, iOS—is best for your business? As with any major technology purchase, Grossman recommends you try out different systems. “Just like any large deployment, do a prototype and proof of concept.” Figure out who will use the devices, how the devices will be used, and which applications are needed to perform major functions, and you’ve figured out which system is right for you.
SooJi Min is a freelance writer and nonprofit executive based in Ann Arbor, MI. She has written on small business topics for Crain’s, Imagination Publishing and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.