Recruitment and Enterprise Mobility

I was surprised this past month, while participating in the SAP PCN Enterprise Mobility round tables at SAPPHIRENOW 2011, to hear from a number of very large SAP customers that recruiting is impacted by how much enterprise mobility is supported by a company.  I had just not connected the dots.

They said young talent just graduating from the university does not want to work for a company that is not able to support their favorite mobile devices.  Being told that a company will not support integration on their iPhone or iPad just does not seem right to them.  It seems old fashion and out of step with the times.

I had not thought of recruiting as a motivator for enterprise mobility.  I had not thought of mobility ROIs in terms of being able to recruit top talent.  After thinking about it though it makes sense to me.  My wife already looks unfavorably on companies that don't have a mobile app.  She feels they are not providing good customer service if they don't have an application.

Here is an example, we accumulate Marriott hotel award points.  My wife wanted a Marriott mobile app to check on awards points and to make reservations.  We could find no mobile app.  She was baffled that Marriott would not support a mobile application and thought it was a poor representation of their business for not having one.

In our house, Amazon.com's mobile application is used weekly to purchase household items and books.  Our purchases have gone up dramatically as a result of Amazon's mobile app.  We participate in Amazon.com's free shipping program and we know our FedEx and UPS drivers well.

Getting back on the subject of recruitment and mobile applications.  People are spending more time on mobile devices today than desktops.  People are spending more time on social networking applications on mobile devices than on desktops.  The mobile device is much more than just a business tool today.  It is a portal into a person's life.  People will not look favorably on a company that does not support this portal in the manner their accustomed to.

Do you agree or disagree?

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise:  The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of July 4, 2011

The Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

ReboundTAG, based in the United Kingdom, has created a new solution focused on preventing baggage theft or loss for airlines and individual business flyers through the use of RFID technology.  Read Original Content.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense recently ordered 12,500 rugged tablet PCs at a total cost of £30 million.  The tablets are for use by front line commands.  Read Original Content.

The total smart grid market in the Asia Pacific region is predicted to be worth $28.8 billion by 2017, up from $11.9 billion this year.  Cumulative smart grid investment in the region is expected to reach $171.3 billion by 2017.  Read Original Content.

Traffic jams and travel time will be reduced greatly after Mumbai India equips toll routes and commuter vehicles with RFID tags.   Read Original Content.

The Army Geospatial Center has recently awarded Technology Advancement Group a contract to build a rugged surveying tablet device.  Read Original Content.

FleetMatics has received praise for its new mobile app that allows fleet owners to track their vehicles through a mobile app.  Read Original Content.

SAP and the Enterprise Mobility Message

I had the opportunity over the past few weeks to meet with many SAP customers to discuss enterprise mobility.  I was surprised over the course of these weeks that none of the folks at the companies that I spoke with had attended SAPPHIRENOW 2010 or 2011.  As a result, most had very little knowledge of SAP's enterprise mobility plans, solutions or roadmaps.  Even less had knowledge of the Sybase Unwired Platform or Afaria.  In many cases it was as if I were the first to be sharing this information with them.

All of the companies that I met with were keenly interested in mobility and were working on mobility strategies and projects.  It is obvious to me, as a result of these meetings, that there is an entire community of SAP customers that have missed the enterprise mobility message.  I think it would be beneficial for SAP to develop additional marketing strategies to try to target this apparently large community of SAP users and decision makers that don't seem to currently be in the loop on SAP's mobility strategies and solutions.

I would encourage SAP to aggressively promote their mobility solutions and strategies into this community as all were in the process of developing or implementing mobility strategies.  Many of these companies were very large companies, and someone in the company may know all about SAP's mobility roadmap, but not the folks developing the strategy.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise:  The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

M2M News Weekly - Week of June 27, 2011

Welcome to M2M News Weekly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices.  I aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article.  I also search for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around the M2M market.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Juniper Research has released a new study that estimates there will be nearly 412 million global M2M connected devices by 2014.  Read Original Content.

Berg Insight reports that the market for home health monitoring devices was $10 billion in 2010, and patient monitoring is set to grow approximately 26 percent annually through 2014.  Read Original Content.

Pike Research forecasts that worldwide users of home energy management systems will reach 63 million by 2020, up from just over 1 million in 2011.  Read Original Content.

Sprint’s recently launched Mobile Command Center is targeted towards the healthcare industry and remote patient monitoring.  Read Original Content.

The Australian M2M market is worth about $300 million and analysts predict it will grow to $1 billion over the next four years.  Read Original Content.

London Eggs with Benedict Mobility Breakfast Series, July 1st

Eggs with Benedict London

Today we wrapped up the marathon Eggs with Benedict mobility series in sunny London.  Five countries in 5 days.  It is very hard to remember your hotel room number after 5 different hotels.  I was excited to address our biggest audience of the week and dive down into more enterprise mobility discussions.  Our audience included a large multinational company with over 80,000 employees and 40,000 supported IT users, SAP consultants, mobility consultants with a background in Syclo integrations and others with SAP financial backgrounds.

It is a joy to meet people who enjoy and appreciate the complexities of enterprise mobility.  We explored the following issues and topics today:

• Mobile security models
• Mobile app development strategies
• Change Management involving the mobile workforce
• SMS solutions
• Mobile BI
• Mobile UIs
• Rugged handhelds
• SAP Mobile Workflow apps
• SUP (Sybase Unwired Platform)
• Afaria
• ClickSoftware
• Syclo
• MEAPs
• M2M 

  Rob Fiddaman,
  K2 Partnering 

  



I also heard how difficult consultants have it when they need an SUP trial license for a client.  They phoned their client's SAP AE for a trial license, but no one at SAP seemed to know how to get a trial license of SUP.  There was a long drawn out process, before it was finally resolved.  The consultants say there are still many processes that need to be worked out between SAP and Sybase.

I learned from an attending large manufacturer of construction materials that they use M2M (machine to machine) technologies to monitor not just assets, but business processes.  They know, with M2M sensors, when a cement truck starts pouring cement and stops.  They said they use M2M technologies to gain visibility into processes.  I love it!  Very interesting!  They said the biggest challenges with M2M is the cost of building logic around how to best use this data from the field.  It needs to be consumed in a system that can benefit from it.

James Common
K2 Partnering

I am exhausted but happy.  I want to thank all those who joined us and shared their thoughts and experiences.  I also want to thank K2 Partnering's Rob Fiddaman and James Common who hosted the events, guided me along and who sponsored this educational tour and made it free for all attendees.  It was a pleasure to spend time with them this week.  They are talented folks with a passion for technology and providing talented resources to their clients.




Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise:  The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.