Data Collection & Data Integrity

Paper based data collection processes have problems. One of the biggest is the inability of a paper process to ensure that the data collected is relevant, accurate and appropriate. Recently I spoke with a person involved in a data collection project that consisted of 17 data collectors. At the end of the project they reviewed the data on the paper forms and much of it was missing, inaccurate or irrelevant. The project was a complete failure.

The screen shot above shows an example of a data collection application with pick lists and database queries. The data collector is limited to selecting pre-designated service categories. Once the category is selected, then a database query is performed that presents only the services related to that category.

There are many techniques for ensuring the validity of the data collected, but this example shows how you can limit the selection to at least relevant answers.

The other problem the failed data collection project experienced was their inability to review the collected data on a timely basis. The project was over and the data collectors dismissed before the collected data was reviewed and analyzed for accuracy. With a data collection solution on a handheld computer that includes integration to a database server, the data can be reviewed as often as needed and with immediate visibility and analysis.

The Automobile Whisperer - Handheld PDAs Communicating with Vehicles

His name is Tom Booker. His voice can calm wild horses, his touch can heal broken spirits. That is from the back cover of the book, The Horse Whisperer. I can't do that, but we can talk to cars, trucks and vans and they can talk back to us.

We have had the opportunity to work with a company in Vancouver BC, that I have written about in an earlier blog article, that had a requirement to communicate with the vehicle's engine computer. The image to the right shows a cable connection, but we have also connected to the vehicle's engine via bluetooth.

What was the purpose of this project? Our customer was converting conventional delivery vans to "hybrid" vans. So during and following the conversion the company was using handheld computers to monitor the engine diagnostics. The mechanics and engineers now can walk up to a car and survey its vitals without lifting the hood. Analysis software on the handhelds can use the data to make recommendations to improve performance and/or configurations.

Think about all the mobile handheld computer applications that are now associated with automobiles:

• Engine analysis
• Automotive repair estimates
• Work orders for automotive repair
• Automobile tracking/Automated Vehicle Tracking using GPS
• Automobile Lease Returns

All of these mobile software applications for handheld computers used MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform for design, development and deployment.

Automobile Lease Return Applications on Handheld PDAs

MobileDataforce has become experts and authorities on the subject of mobile handheld computer solutions for the automotive industry over the last 2 years. In the past few months alone we have been contacted and contracted by numerous companies seeking our expertise to develop customized mobile solutions for the following solutions:

• Vehicle lease returns for commercial companies
• Vehicle lease returns for the military
• Mobile automobile repair services
• Automobile detailing and appearance work
• Mobile autobody repair shops
• Mobile bumper repair and replacement
• Mobile headlamp restoration businesses
• Mobile windshield repair

Let's discuss just one of these areas in this blog article - Automobile lease returns. What is required in these solutions?

• Barcode scanning of VINs (vehicle identification numbers) to uniquely identify the returned vehicles. The VIN is often found on the door jam or the dashboard. The handheld computer must be able to barcode scan these numbers, identify the vehicle and store the information on a mobile database on the handheld computer. The screen shot above shows a list of scanned VIN codes that were decoded and saved to a automobile inspection application that MobileDataforce designed, delivered and deployed.
• Database query using the VIN. The VIN is used to query the mobile database application on the handheld so the appropriate inspection questions for the appropriate make and model of automobile can be displayed and answered. I wrote more on how to develop customized inspection questions based upon collected data in this recent blog article.
• The handheld inspection application is used to identify any damage and maintenance work required to restore the vehicle to resale condition.
• The damage and repairs can be be added up on the handheld computer and the estimated costs can also be computed on the handheld.
• The completed inspections and repair estimates are then synchronized with a central database for all returned vehicles.

All of the automotive software applications MobileDataforce has designed and developed take advantage of the technology in the PointSync Mobility Software Platform.

Business Processes on Handheld PDAs for Automotive Services

I have written a number of times about the ability to automate business processes in mobile software applications. This screen shot demonstrates another simple example. In this screen, an estimate of the costs of detailing and repairing an automobile has been determined. The next step is the service provider's manager must approve and enter his/her initials, the technician that completed the estimate must enter his/her initials and then the auto dealer's manager must sign their name approving the services and cost. These 3 approvals complete the business process that is required in order to start the work and to get paid for the work.

This is a simple but important example. If you try to submit this work order without the proper authority, a warning message will pop-up asking for the handheld pc user to complete the business process before continueing. This is another method of helping new users remember how to appropriately complete their work. You can build guides, training help and instructions into the handheld pc application - paper forms can't do that.

It is very helpful, since much of the work completed on handheld pcs is done remotely, to have instructions, help messages and training pointers built into the mobile application.

Let's consider the following scenario - a new technician inspects a used vehicle and identifies damage to the front bumper. He correctly inputs this information into the automobile inspection software on his handheld PDA. Based on the identified damage to the front bumper, the inspection software brings up an additional set of questions:

1. location of damage on the bumper
2. type of damage (dent, scrape, bent, etc)
3. severity of damage
4. type of bumper (metal, plastic, rubber strip etc)
5. Color of bumper

For each of these questions an icon is available to "click-on" for more detailed instructions on how to answer each question. This is a great training tool and helps standardize all answers to ensure the most accurate job estimates possible.

Again, this is a simple example of how a mobile software application can be designed to automate business processes and help the user know what information is required, how to answer the questions correctly and consistently without missing data or forgetting important considerations.

This application was developed using MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform.

Automobile Work Order Solution for Handheld PDAs

My customer support team has been busily working with one of our customers, Teph Seal to mobilize and automate their business operations on auto dealers' car lots. The mobile application is very powerful and is being rolled out to auto dealerships in many locations across the USA at this time. It consists of both mobile applications and a website application that management uses.

The environment - mobile work stations on auto dealers' car lots.
The purpose - Teph Seal is contracted by the auto dealers to prepare new and used cars for the showroom floor. They detail and repair automobiles so they are ready to show.


•Mobile Form Factor: PDA
•Vehicle services operation
•Mobile Application: work orders, invoicing, mobile printing, time clock, HR module, remote synchronization
•Web Site: customer management, invoicing, employee management, services management, reporting
•Technologies: vehicle barcoding, Ethernet cradle, bluetooth printing, signature capture
•Products: MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform, PSIONTeklogix Workabout Pro, HP printers, .NET for web site development

This solution includes integration with a web application on a SQL database, plus integration with Great Plains accounting software.

If you would like to discuss the full range of automotive solutions for handheld computers from MobileDataforce, please contact us here.

Automobile Inspection Software for Handheld PDAs

My professional services (Mobile Application Developers) team has rapidly evolved into experts on mobile applications for the automotive services industry. They have developed and delivered a wide range of mobile applications for:

• Automobile lease return applications on handheld computers
• Automobile auction software for handheld PDAs- designed to estimate the value of a vehicle at an auction. Damage and repair costs can be estimated instantly on the handheld PDA
• Mobile automobile repair services - windshield repair, bumper repair, headlight restoration, dent repairs and much more all documented, managed and invoiced on handheld PDAs
• Automobile cleaning and detailing applications for handheld PDAs at auto dealerships
• Automobile vehicle location applications for large dealer lots

I have written in more detail about some of the specific applications we have delivered in this article. All of these mobile automobile services software applications were delivered using MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Software Platform.

Mobile Software Platform Thoughts

The above diagram represents a mobile software platform called PointSync from MobileDataforce. The concept of a software platform in this discussion means a software application that has many pre-built functions and supports many mobile project requirements out-of-the box.

Many components of a mobile software application should be provided in a mobile software platform, not as a custom development task. Components and functions such as:

• support for GPS
• support for multiple screen sizes
• support for digital images
• support for synchronization via wireless networks
• support for RFID
• support for various button configurations on handheld devices
• support for various security configurations
• support for bluetooth
• support for disconnected applications
• support for Tablet PCs, laptops, Windows CE.NET, Windows Mobile etc.
• support for audio memo capture
• support for various bar code scanners
• support for odbc database integration
• support for data validations
• support for various business logic

Again the above components and functions need not be developed new for every project. They should be provided for you at the platform level. They can be developed, debugged and tested, added to the platform library, improved over time and expanded so all developers can take advantage of them.

Many systems integrators and IT consultants have told me they can not profitably run a mobile application practice if they develop custom mobile applications from scratch. They require a mobile software platform like PointSync to make the projects profitable. No customer wants to pay for custom development, if the code is already available in a tool set at a fraction of the cost.

Managing Mobile Software Deployments

The screen shot above is from MobileDataforce's PointSync Manager. It is the administration screen for managing mobile users, mobile devices, mobile applications, integrated databases, database tables, mobile sycnhronizations and mobile software licenses.

Why am I discussing this today? Because an application like this can save huge amounts of money for a company. Think about it - if you develop your own custom mobile application using .NET it can be powerful, colorful and useful but how are you going to do the following:

1. Manage deployments
2. Manage mobile application versions
3. Manage synchronizations and synchronization errors
4. Manage different device requirements (i.e. screen sizes, Tablet PC, Laptop, PDA, Palm Treo, etc.)
5. Manage different user groups (i.e. managers, supervisors, field work crews, etc)
6. Manage multiple mobile applications on each device
7. Manage all the database integrations between mobile devices and enterprise databases
8. Review all successful and unsuccessful synchronizations based upon user group, applications etc, for rapid debugging

These are not the usual issues a .NET programmer thinks about when they raise their hand and volunteer to develop a mobile application. The common thought is that the development of the mobile device application is only about 30% of a mobile project. 70% is the synchronizaton, business logic, connectivity configurations, enterprise database application integration, deployment and testing. Often your .NET programmers will not volunteer for these tasks :-)

The value of using a mobile software platform like MobileDataforce's PointSync, is that these processes and tasks are already developed and available for configuration.

Inspections & Asset Management for Government Agencies

In the September/October edition of Public Roads magazine, a magazine published by the Federal Highway Administration, there is an article called High-Tech in the Far West. The article subtitle is - The Idaho Transportation Department taps into wireless technology for collecting and reporting data on maintenance at rest stops. This article describes in-depth the benefits the Idaho Transportation Department received from mobilizing their daily rest area inspection processes with MobileDataforce's mobile software platforms.

This article focuses mostly on the benefits of replacing a paper based inspection process with electronic inspection forms on handheld PDAs. I would invite you to read the quotes and comments from the ITD personnel involved in this project.

The Idaho Transportation Department mobilization project emphasizes a common theme. The majority of mobile software projects we do fall into one of the following areas:

• Inspections
• Asset Management
• Service Orders/Work Orders

Most often a project touches on all three of these areas. These processes have a few things in common - they often take place out-of-doors and a way from their desktop computer, involve data collecting and reporting in rugged environments.

The utility industry also involves the three processes listed above. In this article, I discuss a Power Pole Inspection project delivered to Sho-Me Power. In this article I discuss over 20 inspection applications we do for the electrical industry.

Windows Mobile 5.0 Phones Don't Work in the Ocean

I lost my T-Mobile MDA PDA phone last week in the Ocean. I was running along the shoreline with my daughter during lowtide and did not notice my phone was missing. After breakfast, I reached for my phone to feed my addiction to email and it was gone. The tide was now up and our shoreline path was under 4 feet of water. I miss that PDA phone and the gigabyte of files on the mini-SD card.

I was at the doorstep of the local T-Mobile store when they opened on Monday morning. My addiction is now fed. A few notes on the MDA. It has a slide out keyboard that is wide enough to comfortably type using your thumbs on the keyboard. When you slide the keyboard out the screen changes to a landscape view that makes it easy to read lengthy emails. It doesn't float, but serves its purpose well in normal conditions. I have used it throughout Europe and Australia when traveling and my email works seamlessly.

Maryland State Mobile Technology Seminar

I am sitting in the airport in Minneapolis as I write this blog. I am returning home from the Maryland State Mobile Technology Seminar where I was the MC for this event. It was great fun.

I had the opportunity to meet electrical utility companies interested in mobilizing many of their field service activities, systems integrators looking for a RADs-ME solution to simply and speed up the development of mobile applications, and government agencies looking to mobilize a wide variety of field operations. Specifically -

• Sewer system asset management and inspections
• Snow plow vehicle tracking systems
• Maintenance and operations processes
• Asset Management

We met with a company that repairs and installs ATMs. They want all of these processes to be mobilized on ruggedized handheld computers.

We learned from the ruggedized handheld computer manufacturer - Psion Teklogix, that there are many new and very useful develops coming out this quarter and next.

We heard from Verizon Wireless about their CDMA networks and the performance of their data networks.

iAnywhere/Sybase presented a great overview of mobile middleware and synchronization processes.

We met with a company that develops Asset Management software to monitor and care for trees on government property. They inventory all of these trees and shrubbery and then place them on maintenance and care schedules. VERY COOL! They use GPS, inspection, asset management, inventory and service order processes to accomplish this.

These educational conferences take place across the country, so if you would like to be notified of when they are coming to your region please email us.

Orcas Island - Association of City and County IS Professionals

I had the great pleasure of being the keynote speaker at the semi-annual conference for the Washington State Association of City and County IS professionals last week. The venue was amazing out on Orcas Island, and the audience was a lot of fun.

I spoke on the subject of Government Data Collection and Mobilization. We are working with many local government agencies to mobilize their inspections, compliance auditing, service order, maintenance systems and asset management operations.

I will be back in Washington State on December 1st speaking at the Washington State Mobile Technology Conference. This conference is an educational event designed to update government agencies, utilities and companies on the latest trends and technologies for mobilizing processes in the field.

Mobile Forms, Mobile Applications & Mobile Business Processes

Our customers often follow a learning path when it comes to mobilizing their business. Let me identify several steps on this path:

1. Mobile forms - replace paper forms with electronic forms on handheld computers, Tablet PCs or laptops.
2. Evolve the electronic form to become a full mobile database application on a mobile computer
3. Extend business processes out from the enterprise and into the mobile database applications.
4. Replace many traditional communication methods (phone calls, faxes, web queries) with real time enterprise database queries from mobile database applications.

Let me walk you through a scenario -

1. Step 1 - Company M wants to replace paper service orders with electronic service orders on a ruggedized handheld computer. In phase 1, they are content to pick up the handheld in the morning with pre-loaded service orders, and return the handheld device at night to synchronize the work they accomplished during the day. This saves a great deal of data input and mistakes by the office staff. It is a simple forms application.
2. Step 2 - Company M decides they would gain a great deal of efficiencies if they could dispatch service orders during the day directly to the handheld computers, and synchronize the completed or pending service orders throughout the day. This requires a database application to run on the handheld for data storage and database synchronization. It also requires a wireless network card so you can synchronize data over the mobile phone networks, and a synchronization server to keep all handhelds synchronized with your internal enterprise databases.
3. Step 3 - Extend business processes out to the mobile handheld device. Company M now wants to attach an inventory tracking process to their mobile service order application. When parts get used on a service call, they want the parts to be automatically removed from the inventory tracking software application in the office. This can easily be added to their mobile database application.
4. Step 4 - Digital signatures are added to the service order application on the mobile device. Scheduling additional service calls can be added to the mobile device. Querying customer history can be added to the mobile database application. Credit card processing can be added tot he mobile application....plus much more.

In summary, most companies don't jump in and do everything that is possible in the first deployment of a mobile solution. There are phases, and an evolution of a mobile solution. MobileDataforce's mobile software platform enables companies to evolve on their own schedule, budget and learning curve.

Business Processes and Mobile Handheld Solutions

A successful business is made up of successful business processes. In business terms, in order to be successful, the business processes in use must produce overall profits. With those assumptions in place - let's discuss the following scenario:

Company X is profitable, but wants to reduce the costs associated with their service order and dispatch processes. They want to reduce the time, paperwork and administration costs of dispatching, re-typing and processing field service orders.

Company X determines that mobilizing their service order processes by dispatching and closing service orders using mobile handheld computer solutions that synchronize remotely with a service order management system in the central office would dramatically reduce the costs and improve profitability.

The dilemma: Many off-the-shelf service order management systems don't currently have a mobile client that runs on a handheld computer, or the ones that do, don't support the "unique" business processes that Company X uses as competitive advantages. Let's discuss this in more detail by given some examples of business processes that might be competitive advantages:

1. Company X - inventories parts inside service vehicles to reduce driving time to and from the warehouse. This saves time, fuel costs and increases the number of customers serviced by each team on a daily basis.
2. Company X - has 1 vehicle in each region that carries special parts that are less common. This vehicle acts as a mobile warehouse for these parts. Other service teams can meet up with this mobile warehouse when they need special parts.
3. Company X - has a 1 business day guarantee on service for their clients. No one else can support this service, so it is a significant advantage.

Let's stop here and consider Company X's needs. They need to mobilize their service order processes, but they don't want an off-the-shelf solution that can not support their competitive advantages. What is the answer?

The answer of course, is to mobilize their service order processes in a manner that supports their competitive advantages. This is unlikely going to be with an off-the-shelf software product. It is much more likely that they need to find a mobile software platform that can support their unique processes, support the handheld computers they select, and can integrate with their existing service order management solution that is used in the central office. Bottom-line, they need a custom solution.

Custom solutions often carry large price tags that make them too expensive for the small to medium size service company. How to you solve this issue? You find a mobile software platform that can meet your requirements that is not too expensive.

Let's again review the identified competitive advantages in the 3 points above:

1. The service vehicles carry inventory to reduce driving time to and from the office. The problem - currently the paper based service order process forces the field service teams to drive back and forth to the office to pick up and deliver the paper service orders so this negates the fuel savings advantages. The solution - dispatch service orders via a wireless network providers' data services plan using GSM/GPRS (mobile phone network) to send service orders to the mobile service technician's handheld computer. In addition, completed service orders will also can be sent directly to the central office without the need to drive back to the office. This provides time saving, fuel saving and allows a field service team to complete more service orders in a day which saves on personnel costs.
2. Company X has 1 service vehicle in each region that carries special (meaning less common parts). Any service team requiring these special parts must locate this vehicle and meet up with it to get the parts. The current process requires service team 1 to call the central office, ask which service vehicle inventories the special part, find the location of that vehicle, and coordinate a meeting point. This is very time consuming. The solution - the handheld computers support an integrated GPS system that identifies their locations at all time. Any field service team can quickly query on their handheld computer for the closest service vehicle that inventories the required parts. A meeting place can be quickly coordinated, the part acquired and the service performed.

3. Company X has a 1 business day guarantee on their service. Mobilizing the dispatch of service orders, and optimizing the parts inventory retrieval process, plus the integrated GPS system in the handheld computers allow the central office to optimize the driving, dispatching and support of this unique business process.

There are many additional competitive advantages that clever business people can design. You do not want a mobile software platform that will limit your ability to be clever and make money. You need a mobile software platform that is powerful and flexible enough to support your unique business processes and is affordable.

Of course I have a recommendation - MobileDataforce's PointSync allows you to model and design the way you want to communicate and track your field services' business processes. It supports your mobile business processes in the manner that protects and promotes your competitive advantages.

Public Roads - September/October 2006 Issue

In the mail this morning I received the most recent issue of Public Roads from the TFHRC. The Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) is a federally owned and operated research facility in McLean, Virginia. TFHRC is the home of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. They also publish the journal Public Roads. In this journal there is a lengthy case study of how the Idaho Transportation Department uses MobileDataforce's inspection and asset management software for handheld computers.

Paul Ziman, operations, pavement, maintenance, and materials engineer with the Federal Highway Administration's Idaho Division Office is quoted as saying, "We are excited about the innovative use of PDA devices for maintenance acitivies... ITD (Idaho Transportation Department) has been pleased with the performance of the PDAs. Currently, the main use is as a platform for supporting electronic forms in the field. This method would be ideal for any personnel required to complete paperwork while operating away from their office. The form design software is easy to use, and the forms themselves operate smoothly and intuitively."

MobileDataforce's EMEA Partner Summit

This week we conducted our first European Partner Summit in Den Bosch, The Netherlands. We had 24 reseller and alliance partner organizations attend this event. I want to thank all of our partners for dedicating their time to this event. We appreciate it!

Many of the Benelux's largest systems integration companies are now MobileDataforce partners. We spent the day training our partners on how best to market, sell and implement mobility solutions. Many of our partners are building complete mobility practices around the PointSync Mobility Platform. PointSync is designed perfectly for the systems integrator. They can deliver just about any kind of mobility solution imaginable using PointSync. I wrote a detailed blog article the other day on the advantages of standardizing on a mobility platform.

Here is partial list of attending partners:

• Modatec
• Hewlett Packard
• Palm
• Symbol Technologies
• Intermec
• Sybase
• Gap Gemini

One of our partners is now working on 8 different mobility projects with one company. They are using PointSync to deliver each of them - even though each project involves a completely different business process.

Thanks again to all of our reseller and alliance partners for attending.

Sharing Information & Thoughts On Mobile Solutions

I believe that it is helpful and beneficial to share information on best practices for implementing enterprise mobile software solutions. I receive nearly daily feedback that this blog is useful and provides a valuable service. I also know our competition reads this blog so they also can learn how to run a software business. That is OK, I want their customers to benefit from MobileDataforce's shared knowledge.

MobileDataforce is happy to provide speakers and consultants to help companies and organizations learn more about implementing mobile solutions. If you would like to discuss your mobility projects please contact us.

Mobile Software Platforms and Standardization

I just returned from a meeting in Rotterdam, The Netherlands where Unilever, one of the largest consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in the world, has asked MobileDataforce to assist them on a 4th mobility project. This project involves laptops, handheld computers, desktop computers and hundreds of mobile users.

The Unilever project highlights an important consideration for companies interested in mobilizing multiple business processes – should a company select multiple mobile software applications or standardize on a single powerful and flexible enterprise mobility platform. Consider the following situation with me – Company X wants to mobilize the following processes:

1. Dispatching and retrieving work orders to and from their field services teams
2. Automating and mobilizing a parts inventory tracking system (parts used for repairs)
3. Employee time cards for the field service technicians
4. Vehicle tracking system – to see the location of all field services teams
5. New product sales system – if field services teams sell upgraded products or services

Let’s assume that the company already has database applications inside the office that manage these business processes. How are these 5 processes going to be mobilized? Does the company need to find 5 different mobile software solutions in order to mobilize each of these individual business processes? This is an important question. Can you image the amount of work to select, purchase, configure and deploy 5 different mobile software solutions. The time and work would be cost prohibitive!

The answer is to select a mobile software platform. A platform that the company can standardize on for the purpose of mobilizing all necessary business processes. A platform that once learned can be used to develop and support an unlimited number of different mobile solutions and where economies of scale can be gained.

The business values of standardizing on a mobile software platform are the following:

• IT developers get trained on one mobile solution, not many – saves time and money
• All mobile software solutions follow standardized synchronization methodologies – easy to learn and support.
• Network connectivity works the same across remote laptops, Tablet PCs, PDAs and ruggedized handhelds – saves deployment and support time.
• Helpdesk only needs to learn and support one system – saves time and money
• Database Administrators need only permit one mobile platform integration methodology – ensures data integrity.
• All mobile solutions including laptops, Tablet PCs, industrial grade handheld computers, Win CE and Windows Mobile PDAs use the same code base – just different screen layouts – easy to develop, deploy and support.
• All mobile applications get managed from one administrative dashboard – saves time and money supporting and deploying new applications and software updates.
• Experience has value - the more applications that are developed and deployed on a standardized platform, the larger your libraries of custom reusable code grows, and the more knowledge you have. This helps future projects become simpler, faster and easier to develop and support (economies of scale).
• You need call only one company – the author of the mobile software platform – to receive software support. Not multiple companies, multiple support systems, multiple update schedules and multiple support fees and programs.
• The more mobile users using one platform – the greater the price discounts for addition mobile users (again economies of scale).
• Companies deploying significant numbers of mobile users become more than just a customer to a manufacturer of a mobile software platform. They become a strategic partner that influences product design, product roadmaps and timeframes. The relationship becomes strategic to both parties. Each party interested in achieving the same supporting goals.
  
  Of course this means it is critically important for you to find the right mobile software platform and software manufacturer that can support your goals and solution requirements. A company that is proven and experienced - a company that even the world’s largest companies like Unilever trust as their mobile software platform. I would invite you to contact us at MobileDataforce to discuss your project requirements.

The Magic Quadrant for Handheld Computers

I was in Paris, France last week at Symbol's EMEA Partner Conference. While there I heard more evidence of a trend I have been watching for a while. The 2 largest ruggedized handheld computer manufacturers - Symbol and Intermec have both recently come out with small, ruggedized, full functional handheld computers. These handheld computers combine the ruggedness of larger handhelds, and include barcode scanners, GPS, phones, WiFi, bluetooth and more. Symbol says that their MC70, pictured above in PointSync Developer, has become one of their top sellers. It is especially appealing to the "field service" market. That is also the market MobileDataforce focuses on.

I have also recently seen a lot of very interesting looking small ruggedized handheld computers coming out of Korea and China. These are sub $1,000 USD devices that can reasonably be used as handheld computers, phones and barcode scanners. They are a little bulky for the suit coat, but work nicely attached to the belt.

MobileDataforce is a big fan of these smaller handheld computers. They carry a lot of power and allow us to provide software solutions to our customers for reduced overall project costs due to less expensive ruggedized hardware.

If you can get full functional, ruggedized handheld computer/phones for under $1,000 USD - there is very little business justification for buying consumer grade PDAs. Most consumer grade PDAs with business capabilities are priced at $500-$800, yet are not ruggedized.

Let's go back to the title of this blog - Where is the magic quadrant for handheld computers? It is handheld computers that are truly convergent. Convergent, meaning they combine the ruggedness and size that is easy to carry, plus they have the phone, Windows Mobile 5.0, GPS, barcode scanners, plus the industrial grade batteries to support a full day's work.

I love it!

More on Buy vs Building Mobile Solutions, Part 3

There are always reasons and/or business justifications for wanting to mobilize a business process. Something has motivated the individual or company to march down the path of mobilization. So when considering whether to buy or build a mobile solution these additional factors should be considered:

• Tolerance for risk
• Opportunity Costs
• Expected ROI
• Competitive Advantages

Let's briefly discuss each of these considerations.

Tolerance for risk - are you willing to risk attempting to develop an enterprise mobile solution for the first time (If your team is an experienced mobile development team, then you can ignore this point)? It can be done, but the first time requires a lot of thought, design meetings, trial and error, debugging and above all else - time. What if the design can not scale? What if the synchronization engine that your developer made is too slow? What if after 8 months the system is still only half complete and full of bugs?

Opportunity Costs - this is one of the most common issues that IT managers discuss with me. Most often IT departments are already over worked and behind schedules. The last thing they need is a another new project added to their list and schedule. IT managers are already annoyed at their current workload, and now the business unit is asking them to develop a completely new and unproven mobile solution? The IT manager is not happy. All they can think of is the headaches this will cause.

The questions the IT managers ask the business unit managers are:

1. What project should I delay in order to insert this new project into the schedule?
2. Who is going to support it?
3. Can I hire more developers to develop and support a mobile solution?

These questions then force the business unit manager to go back to senior management and ask them to re-prioritize other IT projects in favor of the mobile solution. So now all the business unit managers get involved and defend their particular interests.

The opportunity costs can be considerable if you want to code/program the complete mobile application yourself internally.

Expected ROI - if the business unit requesting the mobile solution expects to save $53,000/month by mobilizing their work order management system, then every month that passes without the mobile solution being deployed wastes $53,000. So if coding your own solution from scratch takes 3 months longer than using a RADs-ME tool like MobileDataforce's PointSync, you must consider the $159,000 you just wasted.

Competitive Advantages - we have developed many mobile solutions for companies that are considered competitive advantages. Solutions that provide new and unique revenue opportunities for our customer. We have seen this in the automotive industry, the beef industry, the concert and event promotion industry and many more.

If the business justification of the mobile solution is motivated by a competitive advantage, then the length of time it takes to code a mobile solution from scratch must be considered. What if the mobile solution takes 5 months to code from scratch, but only 5 weeks with a RADs-ME tool like PointSync? The associated competitive advantages and disadvantages must be considered in the equation.

More on Buy vs Building Mobile Solutions, Part 2

This seems to be the topic of the week this week - so let me add more thoughts to this topic.

If your organization has .NET programmers that are available now and they have a lot of time on their hands, then yes it is possible to develop your own enterprise mobile application. Here are a couple of questions before you start:

• Have your programmers completed successful mobile applications before? If this is their first time there is a steep learning curve that must be considered.
• Is the same programmer going to code the mobile application, code the security, code the synchronization logic, code the database integration and code the business logic? If there are multiple developers/programmers involved - ask question #1 about each of them.
• Are these programmers going to also write your user guide and document the solution?
• How long will your programmers stay with your organization? What if the programmer leaves? Who will support it and maintain it?

There are many parts to an enterprise mobile solution. It is rare for even an experienced .NET programmer to have experience in all of the components. Here are some good questions to ask a programmer before you start coding your mobile application:

• How do you plan to sync the data?
• What sync engine will you use and why?
• How will you connect to the enterprise database remotely from the field?
• How do you handle security?
• How will you integrate the data into existing database systems?
• How will you glue all these components together in your application so it all works?
• How will you support multiple mobile devices- Windows Mobile, WinCE, Tablet PC, Windows PC?

These are all questions that need to be answered before a programmer begins. Here is the problem - often a programmer views their component (the mobile application on the handheld PDA) as 90% of the project. Will that simply is not the case. The majority of the time and effort is in connecting all the different components together, integrating and testing.

I have often heard a comment from a programmer that the mobile application is done, although it takes another 8 weeks before it could be deployed. The mobile application is often the smallest part of the project. Many programmers can code a simple PDA application. However an enterprise mobile application needs much more than a simple, stand alone PDA application. It needs full synchronization, remote connectivity, device management, integration, security and more.

- the reason companies love MobileDataforce's PointSync Suite is that all of these components and features are already developed and available for you to configure. You are not required to figure out all of these issues and code them. PointSync is a RADs-ME tool - A rapid application development solution for mobile environments. It is designed for organizations without the desire or time to program all of these components.

So in summary - anyone with the time, interest, intellect and money to code a complete enterprise mobile solution can. PointSync is for those that need the mobile application without the time and money needed to code it from scratch.

More on Buy vs. Build

Even More on Buy vs. Build

You've got to be kidding - yet more on Buy vs. Build...

....more

Buy vs. Building an Enterprise Mobile Solution? Part 1

This is a good and fair question. Let's start our discussion with a scenario - You want to monitor assets for your government agency. That means you want to track all the street signs, sewer pipes, manhole covers, guard rails etc, that your organization owns using a mobile software application on a handheld computer. You also want to mobilize your inspection processes involving these assets. In addition, you would like to integrate a "work order" management system to dispatch repair technicians when work is needed. You would like all of these processes to be mobilized on a handheld computer that synchronizes with your central databases.

The problem - Often the above processes involve more than one desktop application and multiple backend databases. How would you mobilize all of these? You can't buy 1 mobile software package that will integrate with all of these desktop applications and databases. Why, some of your applications are home grown, undocumented and specific to your working environment. No one else knows your unique inventory of applications. Typically you will have 3 choices:

1. Buy pre-built mobile clients for each of your off-the-shelf desktop applications. So if you have 8 desktop applications that you use, you will need 8 different mobile software packages in order to mobilize these processes. This is very expensive, forces you to learn 8 different mobile applications, punch 8 different holes in your firewall, learn 8 different synchronization technologies, and 8 different configuration environments. In addition, this does not help you to mobilize your home grown custom applications. Another challenge, most of your 8 desktop applications will not have mobile client applications available.
2. Develop mobile software applications from scratch using .NET or other programming environments. This can be done, but you need a person with mobile programming experinece to develop a new and different mobile client application for each desktop application and database. There is little ability to reuse code so each of these mobilization projects will take considerable planning and lengthy development time.
3. Use a mobile software platform that is a rapid application development environment for mobile solutions. This allows you to quickly configure mobile client applications that can synchronize with multiple backend databases. You can standardize on one method of synchronization, learn one development environment, one integration methodology and have one company that can train and support you. You don't need to be a programmer, and you can edit and update your own mobile applications as often as you want. You maintain control of your own applications and you can easily support any of your custom home grown database applications. You can mobilize all 8 of your desktop applications using one mobile software platform. You don't have to pay someone else to develop mobile applications, your own IT team can support any of your mobile client application needs.

OK...so I am bias, but there is a lot of value to owning your own mobile RADs-ME tool (rapid application development environment for mobile solutions). You buy your RADs-ME tool once, and then you can develop an unlimited number of mobile applications. You control the cost, you control the updates, you customize to your requirements and you are not dependent on some outside software company's schedule and cost structure. Once you have been trained, you can develop mobile client applications internally for any desktop database application.

PMM Selects MobileDataforce Software for Handheld PDAs

Last week MobileDataforce was selected to provide mobile asset management/field inspection software for a large project in South Africa. It will be used by the South African government to assess property taxes.

Properties will be inspected, data will be collected on a mobile handheld device and the data will be synchronized to an enterprise database. The software application that will be used is MobileDataforce's PointSync. It will be integrated with GPS and mapping software so the exact location of all property assessments can be identified and documented.

Manitoba Hydro Selects MobileDataforce Software

We do a lot of business in the electrical utility industry. This previous blog article identified many of the mobile utility projects we have delivered. This week we gained a new customer in Canada called Manitoba Hydro. They selected MobileDataforce as their mobile software platform for field inspections. They listed over 17 inspections that they want to mobilize (convert from paper to mobile handheld data collection).

The solution will involve using rugged PDAs in the field, MobileDataforce software for the mobile inspection application and synchronization to an enterprise database.

Clinical Research Company Selects MobileDataforce

MobileDataforce just won the contract to develop a large clinical research solution for stroke victims. This project involves healthcare providers using handheld PDAs and PDA software from MobileDataforce to monitor treatment programs and the clinical results over a number of years.

MobileDataforce is becoming more and more involved in the healthcare field. We have recently delivered solutions for remotely monitoring young patients, mobile asset management in hospitals, safety inspections of hospitals and now clinical research.

The clinical research project involves using handheld pdas for data collection, software from MobileDataforce, and synchronization with an enterprise database.

Ease of use, flexibility, and quick application development were reasons given for MobileDataforce winning the award.