Mobile computing can be defined as the use of portable devices like laptops and smartphones to access information or do business transactions and enable people who are doing business to maintain the consistency of doing business day and night. This means that business transactions have become omnipresent. Mobile computing is achieved through the used hardware like smart phones, laptops or palmtops, software that makes the hardware function properly and communication protocols like TCP/IP, which is the short form of transmission communication protocol internet protocol. Communication protocols at this point determine how devices communicate. There are several benefits that accrue from the use of mobile computing, e.g. enhanced information access. This enables businesspeople to access information about competitors and also the demand for goods and services. Customers access information about the prices of goods and services and therefore make good decisions regarding where to buy their products at low prices.
The other advantage of mobile computing is the storage of information in a place where business partners can access it. Business partners are suppliers, customers, financiers and government. By creating an extranet, it becomes possible for specific people to communicate with a particular firm. This means that you can access a private network of a specific firm. This kind of technology comes with disadvantages to the firm, and one of the disadvantages is the initial cost of setting up the devices, which is high but not as much as it used to be with setting up the traditional networks. The other disadvantage is exposure to internet attacks. This means that unauthorized people can access your private network and get private information about your company, and this includes trade secrets, among other things. It is therefore important to consider things like infrastructure, initial cost, data insecurity or internet attacks and emerging technologies before switching to mobile computing.