Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

I want to highlight an article that I recently wrote that was published in FierceMobileIT today called, " Crowd Sourcing to Become More Relevant in Enterprise Mobility ."  I am intrigued by the idea of connecting geographically disperse minds together to help accomplish the greater good.  Mobile technologies and crowd sourcing concepts can help in all kinds of interesting ways. In this article I write about SAP's Streamwork, Salesforce.com's Chatter, online forums and using tweets to understand traffic conditions. Whitepapers of Note The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution Networked Field Services Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business Webinars of Note Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility - 10 Lessons Learned Barcode Scanning in Mobile Apps Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent

I read an article by Todd Morrison, News and Features Editor at SearchSAP this morning on mobile device management and specifically Sybase's Afaria.  I knew it was coming as he had interviewed me for it.  In this article I share my perspective on Afaria and the MDM market.  In summary, MDM (mobile device management) was a nice to have in the past, but is now required by large enterprises.  Read the complete article here to find out why. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money 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 artic

Andrew Borg I have the unique opportunity of joining Andrew Borg, Senior Research Analyst, Wireless and Mobility with the Aberdeen Group to present a webinar next week.  I invite you all to attend as Andrew will be giving a full report on the current state of enterprise mobility. Register Here Webinar Description: The competitive pressures of the increasingly global market reward the Real-Time Enterprise (RTE), defined as the organization focused on market and customer responsiveness, swift and agile decision-making, and transparency and immediacy of information shared among internal groups. Enterprise mobile applications have evolved as an essential enabler of the RTE, delivering business-critical information when and where it’s needed. The basic framework is now in place for a virtual renaissance in enterprise mobile applications. New application development frameworks optimized for enterprise data integration have emerged that offer rapid and cost-effective prototyping, de

This is Part 2 of my podcast interview with Webalo's Founder/CEO Peter Price.  We talk about the different mobility models and architectures for implementing enterprise mobility solutions.  Part 1 is here. If you have an interesting mobile implementation story, mobile solution or would simply like to contact me to discuss your mobility project please email me  here . *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money 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.

The Mobile Money News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Google Inc. is teaming up with MasterCard Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to embed technology in Android mobile devices that would allow consumers to make purchases by waving their smartphones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703576204576226722412152678.html ******** Mobile commerce, in all its forms, is growing exponentially.  U.S. consumers of all ages are using their mobile devices for shopping on the go, making more frequent mobile payments, and using their mobile devices as a connector of

I read some interesting news today that Smartsoft Mobile has released a mobile application on the Windows Phone operating system that provides access to real-time Inventory Inquiry and Purchase Order Approvals in both Oracle and SAP. In addition, the user receives alerts about pending Purchase Orders to be approved.  The mobile application is now available for download on the Microsoft Marketplace. Not many enterprise mobility vendors have released mobile solutions for the Windows Phone operating system to date, but I know from past interviews with Ed Krufka at Smartsoft Mobile that he is a fan of the Windows Phone operating system. You can read more about this application on the Smartsoft Mobile blog . *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailin

ClickSoftware , the developer of the SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization solution, announced today that they have closed one of their largest contracts ever.  It is with DIRECTV, the world's most popular video service.  DIRECTV selected ClickSoftware's workforce management and optimization solutions  to help it improve the management and efficiency of its field service technicians and customer service.  Here is a quote from DIRECTV's senior vice president, IT Strategy and Innovation, " We are trying to match the business value proposition of providing exceptional service to our customers for installation and service calls with a technology solution.  We feel ClickSoftware is the technology choice to deliver this value to our customers ." ClickSoftware has nearly 25 years of experience developing sophisticated workforce scheduling solutions that were first deployed in the military.  Today all of these solutions are supported by ClickSoftware's ClickM

In Part 1 of this audio podcast I interview  Webalo's Founder and CEO Peter Price about different business models for delivering enterprise mobility solutions and the pros and cons of each.  Webalo has a unique, cloud based approach to enterprise mobility that you may find interesting.  You can listen to Part 2 here. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money 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.

The Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile NFC News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly While Apple's iPhone has traditionally been the target for brands running mobile marketing campaigns, more and more research is suggesting that Android's share of the market is set to increase substantially. http://www.dma.org.uk/news/nws-dmitem.asp?id=6512&t=Mobile+marketing%3A+Android+to+boost+smartphone+market ******** Professional sporting events and concert promoters are pushing mobile marketing to new levels with iVisionMobile.com’s real time text to screen at live events.  Sports teams are now embracin

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 Money News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile NFC News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly As companies continue to make businesses more fuel-efficient, European and North American markets for fleet telematics could jump to $700 million in 2015 from $80 million in 2008. http://sdbj.com/news/2011/mar/21/rising-fuel-prices-pump-fleet-management-businesse/ ******** A Norwegian organization that manages nationwide pallet leasing for retailers and manufacturers, is trying out RFID technology in a pilot project to see how effective the tags are for tracking plastic pallets. http://www.rfidworld.ca/pilot-project-rfid-pallet-tracking-for-food-industry/301 ******** St

 Reducing Options One of my criticisms of Sybase in the past was that they gave customers too many options for designing, developing and deploying enterprise mobility solutions.  What is wrong with a plethora of options?  It can lead to indecision and paralysis.  That does not benefit Sybase or the customer. In my opinion, much of Apple's success can be attributed to their lack of options.  They tell developers how they should develop mobile applications, what devices they can use, they then review them for compliance to their standards, and tell them how they can be uploaded and sold on the one Apple App Store.  Limiting options may frustrate some, but it provides a very well defined path for their customers and development partners.  Over the past 9 years I have spoken often to Sybase and iAnywhere staff about mobile development projects, and nearly always left these conversations with more questions than answers.  That was rarely useful.  I think that the faster custome

The Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile NFC News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly The mobile retail market will exceed $12 billion by 2014 due to one-to-one marketing and smartphone adoption, Juniper Research reports. http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/the-diversification-of-mobile-media-into-product-media-019270 ******** Brands significantly increased their UK mobile marketing spend last year, as part of their efforts to capitalize on the growth of smartphone use. http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1061104/Brands-ramp-spend-mobile-ad-platforms/ ******** Mobile penetration in the

John Moy works for the Australian Post , an SAP customer, and he is an enthusiastic student of mobility.  He was kind enough to grant me a video interview this week in Sydney.  The Australian Post currently has a handful of customer facing mobile applications , and they are looking to expand.  Here is a current list of what they have available on mobile applications: calculate postage costs via the postage assessment calculator tool search for a postcode view and track parcel items locate any Australia Post retail outlet find a nearby street posting box pay a variety of bills online. I spoke to one of the mobility guys at SAP recently, and he shared that there are potentially thousands of valuable mobile applications that can and should be integrated with SAP systems.  I believe there are many uses for mobile applications, but I may want to argue about whether they all deserve stand alone mobile applications.  It seems to me that many of these mobile "apps" could reall

This week in Sydney, Australia I taught a class on Network Centric Operations.  I covered the convergence of enterprise mobility, GIS (global information systems), business intelligence and M2M (machine to machine) technologies in ways that helps field service managers have real-time visibility into their field service operations.  This convergence requires news ways of thinking, managing, process re-engineering and news ways of integrating these solutions into a unified view. The recent announcement by Syclo about their integration and partnership with GIS software ESRI fits right into vision. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money News Weekly Read The M2M News Month

Learn about the latest in mobile innovations! SAP has put together an enterprise mobility webinar series that I look forward to watching.  For the first webinar they have lined up an interesting line up consisting of SAP, Sybase, Aberdeen and SAP customer Tellabs: Praveen Gautam, Director, Enterprise Technical Services, Tellabs Kathy Murino, Director Information Technology SAP Applications, Tellabs Andrew Borg, Sr. Research Analyst, Wireless & Mobility, Aberdeen Group Dan Ortega, Sr. Director, Product Marketing, Sybase, an SAP Company This is a joint effort by both SCN (SAP Community Network) and the SAP EcoHub.  I am anxious to learn about actual customer implementations, so am excited about the role Tellabs will play in this webinar.  I spent some time with the folks from Tellabs in Santa Clara, California at the SAP Influencer Summit in December.  Here are some of the notes I took at that time: Tellabs CIO thinks soon all apps will first be developed mobile, and the

The Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobile NFC News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Screens 4-inches and larger sell better that those 3.5-inches and smaller, according to research firm NPD Group, as consumers seek a richer media experience from their smartphones. http://www.mobiledia.com/news/84782.html ******** Amazon.com has opened its Amazon Appstore for Android, offering free and paid applications based on the open-source operating system, albeit with some features that differentiate it from Google's competing Android Market. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Amazon-Appstore-Opens-to-Challenge-Googles-Android-Market-176567/ *

The Mobile Money News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Also read Mobility NFC News Weekly The global value of mobile payments reached an estimated $170 billion last year and could grow to $630 billion by 2014 as new phones are designed to bypass the Internet to directly charge or debit an account. http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/canada/archives/2011/03/20110322-174208.html ******** Consumers are quickly turning to their mobile devices to comparison shop, seek product ratings, and search for coupons.  Forty-eight percent of consumers use their mobile devices to research or browse products and servi

Jason Lante is a hands on IT guy that has a great deal of experiences rolling out successful enterprise mobility projects that included implementing software from SAP mobility partner, ClickSoftware and integrating it with SAP in the outback of Australia.  This is a video interview that I recorded at the Mastering SAP Technologies conference with Jason. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money 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.

Welcome to the first edition of the  Mobile NFC News Weekly.   In our daily research on the mobility market, we are finding more and more information on the subject of mobile NFC (near field communications).  Why is NFC interesting?  It is one of the key components of mobile money, which has the possibility of changing the way banking, business and consumer transactions are made globally. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly In an example of the battles erupting as smartphones evolve into electronic wallets, Research In Motion Ltd. is locking horns with wireless carriers over control of mobile payment data. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704360404576206412989185134.html ******** Google is reportedly testing a mobile payment trial at stores in New York and San Francisco. http://hothardware.com/News/Google-Purportedly-Testing-N

 Kevin Benedict and Australian Post's John Moy (on the right). I spoke to John Moy from the Australian Post about his many mobility projects this week.  They have all kinds of interesting mobility applications that are customer facing apps.  I recorded a video interview with John that I will publish here as soon as I get a good high speed Internet connection.  The mobile applications he mentioned were the following: Postage calculator Package tracking Locations of post offices During our discussions John asked a very good question.  He asked, "Does SAP/Sybase have a mobility platform for customer facing applications?"  I thought about this and said, "Good question!"  There are certainly ways to connect customer facing mobile applications with SAP data and processes, but is there a true platform for customer facing applications?  How would you have answered that question?  I would tell you if I knew.  Customer facing mobile applications need to

Geeks/SAP Mentors Migrating South About ten SAP Mentors spoke at this year's Mastering SAP Technologies event in Sydney.  I presented one of the opening keynote presentations on Monday, and lead a session called Network Centric Operations in the SAP Environment this afternoon.  It was a packed house, but there was a noted absence of any Sybase folks.  I met several companies currently interested in purchasing mobile solutions.  The strange thing is that Sybase has a sales office in Sydney, but still did not attend.  It seems there are still some coordination issues to work out. There were 4 sessions that focused on enterprise mobility this year, and the Demo Jam winner was also a mobile solution.  The Demo Jam winners had the following components and features: Remote controlled helicopter Barcode scanner on the helicopter Wireless remote control of the helicopter using an Android device The barcode was capture and wirelessly integrated with SAP's SCM (supply chain ma

I am speaking this week at the Mastering SAP Technologies conference in Sydney, Australia.  Following my presentation this morning on enterprise mobility, I spoke with attendees from MIT's Lincoln Labs and Boeing.  Both of these individuals shared that their companies had many requests for enterprise mobility solutions, but security concerns have prevented any from being deployed.  This sounds like a real problem! A 2011 study by Kelton Research found that security fears had caused 75 percent of enterprises to delay rolling out mobile apps at one time or another.  Yikes!  This is not good for business if you are an enterprise mobility vendor.  This subject deserves more discussion, but I am working in an outdoor cafe and a tropical storm is about to open up on me and my laptop, so we will pick up this discussion again in the future. Cheers! Whitepapers of Note The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solutio

Kevin’s 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 Money News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly The U.S. Army will soon evaluate prototypes of wearable mobile handheld computers running battle command capability.  New applications will provide dismounted soldiers with network connectivity, command, control and situational awareness. http://defense-update.com/wp/20110318_jbc-p_wearable_pc.html ******** The medical device industry is worth $400 billion in annual sales.  Vante, a medical equipment company is restructuring itself to enter the emerging market.  The company, formerly known as SEBRA, is retooling itself as a market leader in supplying machines to make medical catheters and seal sterile tub

First Solar and Mobility I came across this mobility webinar announcement and wanted to share it with you.  Nothing beats learning directly from the end user.  First Solar has just implemented an enterprise mobility solution and Jay White, Mobility Architect (cool title!) from First Solar will share his experiences. Here is the webinar description: Hear first-hand about First Solar’s road to mobility, the critical decisions they faced and the benefits they’re reaping as a result of successfully implementing an enterprise-grade mobility strategy that is able to scale with their needs. In this informative webinar, Jay White, Mobility Architect at First Solar, will share his insights into enterprise architecture, system integration, and multi-device support and the crucial role they play in successfully and cost-effectively developing enterprise-grade mobile applications. March 23 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET Register Here! *************************************************** K

This is Part 2 ( see Part 1 ) of an indepth interview that I recorded with mobility expert Neil McHugh.  We talk about all kinds of strategies that companies must consider when preparing to implement enterprise mobility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1vibltMryY&feature=youtube_gdata Whitepapers of Note The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution Networked Field Services Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business Webinars of Note Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility in Fortune 500 Companies - 10 Lessons Learned  Barcode Scanning In Mobile Applications SAP Mobilization - What You Need to Know *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly

The Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly It's almost too cool to believe.  Simply wave a piece of American currency in front of your iPhone's camera and LookTel, created by software company Ipplex, will tell you the denomination without even having to access the internet. http://www.good.is/post/video-possibly-the-best-iphone-app-yet-sees-money-for-the-blind/ ******** Apple, Nokia and Research in Motion together have generated 64 percent of the revenue in the popular and ever growing smartphone market. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/03/15/apple-nokia-and-rim-tops-in.html ******** Verizon Wireless is the last operator

I was able to track down Neil McHugh, VP of Sales and Business Development with Sky Technologies today and record his thoughts on a variety of subjects related to enterprise mobility and strategy.  This is a very interesting discussion.  The link below takes you to Part 1 ( see Part 2 ) of the interview on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38TMW2ysQGY&feature=youtube_gdata Listen to Part 2 of this interview here. Webinars of Note: Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility in Fortune 500 Companies - 10 Lessons Learned (with Kevin Benedict) Barcode Scanning In Mobile Applications SAP Mobilization - What You Need to Know *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read

The Mobile Money News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Google is trying to beat Apple to the punch when it comes to making Near Field Communication technology popular in the U.S.  Google is about to begin testing mobile NFC payments and plans to do so by installing "thousands" of VeriFone NFC readers at merchants in New York and San Francisco. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/03/google-reportedly-testing-phone-payments-in-nyc-san-francisco.ars ******** Recent reports have projected mobile payments would grow to a $680 billion market by 2016.  Juniper Research has valued the mobile paym

This is a great interview that I conducted with SAP's Dr. Ahmed El Adl last week.  He discusses his new role at SAP working on enterprise mobility projects and strategy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZva1Y6KqF0 *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin Read The Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly Read The Field Mobility News Weekly Read The Mobile Money 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.

The Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Also read Field Mobility News Weekly Also read Mobile Money News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was € 1.72 billion in 2009.  Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent, the mobile ad market is forecasted to be worth € 13.5 billion in 2015. http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/sbwire-82016.htm ******** While today mobile represents 15 percent of online advertising, by 2015 it will represent 64 percent of all digital ads. http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/9264.html ******** Recent reports show the total download app market