It's been said that a craftsman, in the end, can only be as good as the tools said craftsman uses. While there are some who have made amazing things despite low-end tools, and the best tools can only do so much without talent, having the right tool for the right job goes a long way. Good Technology, meanwhile, looks to offer up some major new tools in mobile business, and with these tools comes a set of new options for businesses that can yield some substantial bottom-line results.
Out of the gate, the company brought out its new Good secure mobile collaboration app. This does about what it says on the box—allowing users to securely collaborate while not necessarily in the same room—but even here, the name hides a host of tools geared toward providing that collaboration. With the Good secure mobile collaboration app comes calendar systems, a document management and browsing system, secure email and messaging tools, and contacts management mechanisms to help make working on the road as smooth and productive as being in the office.
Those businesses that turn to Salesforce1, meanwhile, also get some extra punch from Good Technology with the Good for Salesforce1 app. This combination allows for a top-notch customer relationship management (CRM) tool to be used alongside a major name in secure container systems, helping to ensure that valuable proprietary data about customers and the contact information for same isn't lost if the mobile device being used is lost or stolen.
Good Technology also brought out information about several partners turning to the Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform, including Infraware Polaris Office, CellTrust, and AirPatrol, companies who are bringing out new features and capabilities thanks to a basis in Good Technology. The company also announced the Good Trusted Authentication Framework for better mobile security, as well as commercial availability on secure cloud-based messaging app Good Pro, which got its first introduction earlier in the year. The company also brought out BoardPad, a tool for both meetings and document collaboration that can update live with the availability status of other users, using information from both Microsoft Lync and Good Connect.
That's a lot of new tools for business right there, and said tools cover a wide variety of new possibilities. But the key thing to bear in mind here is that all these new tools are going to work in concert to provide one key goal: making business productive regardless of where it takes place. There's a lot of value in the mobile workforce; it's flexible, it can respond to issues outside of time of day—opening up the potential to do business in other time zones—and in many cases its practitioners are happier and better focused because its practitioners aren't forced to lose out on the rest of life. Remote talent can also be brought in, boosting the chances of finding just the right people. Especially considering the biggest problem with the mobile workforce: keeping its members on task despite geographic diffusion. It's hard to glare at someone who's a hundred miles or more away and get more work out of that person, but with mobile collaboration tools, the distance, at least metaphorically, is greatly reduced.
Tools like those from Good Technology can mean all the difference between a mobile workforce that works and one that's merely mobile. Offering better security and better collaboration, such tools allow workers to stay connected regardless of location, and that opens up major new possibilities in the field.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle 
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