Using smartphones and cloud computing setup supplied by Antenna Software Coca Cola Enterprises' 12,000 store merchandisers are able to be in constant touch with their managers and with the company's information storehouse. Earlier, these store merchandisers used to pick up instructions at a warehouse in the morning, did their rounds of stores, and checked in again with the supervisor at the end of the day. Today in the new setup, at the end of each stop the store merchandisers complete online surveys that give the company information regarding sales trends and relationships with store managers. Using the survey information and GPS, managers can watch store merchandisers' movements on maps and change their schedules on the fly, depending on the situation. The total driving time of merchandisers has been reduced by 75% since they now drive to the head office once a month rather than daily.
Source: Hamm, S. "Cloud computing's big bang for business," BusinessWeek, June 15, 2009, pp. 42-48.