With today being the opening salvo by Microsoft in its effort to reenter the mobile device market that has devoured many rivals and left only Apple with its iconic iPad and iPhone and Google with its supposedly open Android standing, we recruiters who hoped for at least some respite from constant change are once again having to reassess trends in mobile recruitment and remake purchasing plans for both devices and the infrastructure we need to bring it all together on the enterprise front.
As far as the devices go, expect more than Budweiser commercials during next Sunday’s NFL games. Microsoft’s new Windows 8 will no doubt spawn a whole new generation of tablets and other form factors. I’ve spent a lot of time previewing IE10 and its speed and ability to create impressively post-html like presentations and I’ll risk my anti-Microsoft badboy reputation by saying they make my iPad and Android look sad.
So if you’re into glitz and speed, hold off on your device purchases for a month or so and wait for some real competition. There’s a new girl in town, and she’s going to bring prices down across the board.
The real benefit though of Microsoft’s new product line will be integration with the enterprise. The reality is that Microsoft Exchange rules the enterprise, so if you’re looking for alignment between your enterprise and all the mobile devices your staff uses (and have been disgusted as I have with integration from the iPad and Android), then you’ll want to rethink the conventional wisdom that Microsoft has no play in tables or phones.
The most important trend in mobile recruitment – whether you’re a direct hire recruiter or a staffing company sales person – is to get your mobile device to play nice with your desktop and therefore your enterprise and in most cases that means getting it to synchronize seamlessly with Exchange.
