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Showing posts from June, 2011

Brussels Eggs with Benedict Mobility Breakfast Series, June 30th

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Eggs with Benedict Brussels Another day and another city eating breakfasts (still without the promised eggs) and speaking on enterprise mobility and strategies.  We had a good group today in Brussels and we learned a lot from each other.  One of the companies in attendance has over 10,000 SAP users in EMEA alone.  Wow!  They were attending to learn more about putting together a global mobility strategy. Two members of the audience traveled from different countries just to attend our breakfast series on enterprise mobility. I learned from one of the attendees about a digital pen that they use in South Africa for "proof-of-delivery" applications.  It is called Anoto and enables the user to write on pre-formatted forms and the embedded scanner in the pen digitizes the data and the location it was written on the form.  This data is uploaded to the integrated enterprise system and is extremely accurate.  They have been using it in production for some time now with great re

Small Mobile Apps Prove Big on ROI - Guest Blogger

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Today we have an article contributed by my friend and guest blogger Andre Guillemin.   Andre has over ten years of experience working in health care, financial services and mobility.  He has spent the past three years focused on cross-industry solutions for mobile enterprise application development including line of business users in manufacturing, life sciences and wealth management.  Andre frequently contributes to industry publications, panels and other events.  He is available for consultation on both strategic and tactical use of mobile technologies in the enterprise. ****** We all know that mobile apps don’t need to do everything your desktop systems do – in fact, mobilizing everything on the desktop usually results in bulky, confusing apps that are difficult to use. Less is always more, and I bet you’ll be surprised at how much value you can get out of an app that’s simple, focused, and highly targeted to the needs of the user. While working on a project last year, one of o

Mobility News Weekly - Week of June 27, 2011

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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 Commerce News Weekly Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly The International Data Corporation recently came out with a smartphone market forecast report, which indicates that Apple's share in the global smartphone market could decline from 18.2 percent in 2011 to 16.9 percent in 2015.   Read Original Content Apple holds 40 percent of the smartphone market in Australia with Android in the second place with 30 percent of the market and Symbian coming in a distant third with only 22 percent of the market.   Read Original Content Have you been waiting for Google to come up with a social network that takes advantage of the opportunities a smartphone provides? Go

Frankfurt Eggs with Benedict Mobility Breakfast Series, June 29th

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Today, the folks from K2 Partnering and I had another very interesting breakfast meeting, this time in Frankfurt, Germany. The audience included representatives from SAP and SAP CPG customers. The folks from the CPG company had over 10 years worth of production mobility experience.  They shared information about their custom built mobility app that had retail, SFA and merchandizing features. It ran on the Windows Mobile OS, and has been in production for many years.  This mobile application was developed in the rich/thick client model and includes a mobile database, and is customized for every region based upon the products sold there.  Administrators custom configure each region's mobility applications using a purpose built configuration tool. The big problem with the CPG customer’s existing mobile application is that it requires Windows Mobile  6.5 and devices that use it OS.  Today, smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.5 are nearly impossible to find and the company must sc

Mobile Marketing News Weekly - Week of June 27, 2011

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The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing 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 Commerce News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly A new report from research firm Gartner predicts that driven by expanding consumer adoption of smartphones and tablet computers, global mobile ad revenue will reach $3.3 billion this year, up from $1.6 billion in 2010.   Read Original Content Digital coupon usage is on the rise and 88.2 million U.S. adults are expected to participate in coupon discounts this year.  By 2013 eMarketer expects 96.8 million Americans to participate.   Read Original Content The money spent on mobile advertising is expected to nearly quadruple to $7 billion in 2012 from less than $2 billion in 2010, according to ABI Resea

Geneva Eggs With Benedict Mobility Breakfast Meeting, June 27th

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Eggs With Benedict Geneva Today the folks from K2 Partnering and I were in Geneva, Switzerland for a mobility breakfast meeting.  It was a beautiful venue on the lake.  We met mobility experts from many different companies and had numerous discussions about interesting projects. Did you know that in some places in Africa medicine bottles have phone numbers on them so you can text to validate the medicine's authenticity?  Seems counterfeit medicine is a huge problem in Africa. Did you know some companies are wanting to capture and utilize the knowledge of their remote workers around the world by implementing social networking and knowledge management solutions?  Seems many remote workers do not even have computers.  Companies are considering supplying them with mobile phones with SMS capabilities to integrate with these solutions.  Very interesting! Another issue - It is often very difficult for a remote worker to find in-house experts in the same company in different part

Paris Eggs with Benedict Breakfast Meeting, June 26th

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We kicked off the Eggs with Benedict mobility series of breakfast meetings yesterday in sweltering Paris, France. Strangely there were no eggs at my breakfast, only croissants, esspresso and fruit.  We had an intimate group of attendees that were passionate about mobility and we explored some very interesting subjects related to the global challenges and demands on IT organizations for mobile solutions. One CTO from a global cement manufacturer shared that he had just returned from Zambia where he met with his African IT organization and mobility was a central discussion point. The challenges they have are often basic infrastructure issues, like how to connect to the internet. It was also interesting to learn that a global company was trying to figure out a way to connect with over half of their 78,000 employees who had no access to computers. They were looking at how mobility could solve this issue. I also heard about how valuable SMS (texting) is to companies in many less deve

Mobile Commerce News Weekly - Week of June 27, 2011

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The Mobile Commerce 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 Marketing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt predicts that by 2012 one-third of all restaurants and retail outlets will offer NFC payment options.   Read Original Content SmartSoft has announced a major breakthrough in NFC payments.  Together with partners Turkcell and Plastkart, the companies have unveiled Europe's first MNO (Mobile Network Operator) Trusted Service Manager mobile solution for NFC Payments approved by MasterCard.   Read Original Content Research conducted by Technavio reveals that the NFC payments market is expected to grow at a CAG

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of June 27, 2011

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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 AT&T has created a cloud system that allows physicians to upload and share medical images over a secure network. This will allow doctors to review patient images securely through their tablets and smartphones.   Read Original Content By using RFID tracking devices on valuable equipment, Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City was able to save thousands of dollars and can now operate with more assurance that their inventory is secure.   Read Original Content Traklok has created a new device that can communicate its location and status via Wi-Fi, satellite and cellular communications, and when used with cargo

M2M News Weekly - Week of June 20, 2011

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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 A study by The Electrical Power Research Institute estimates that smart grid projects in the United States will lead to $1.3 to $2 trillion in benefits by 2020.   Read Original Content Both SAP and General Electric have joined an alliance of companies in order to help create common standards within the smart meter market.   Read Original Content Ford recently announced that in select new models the vehicle communication and entertainment systems will be able to c

Mobile Expert Interview Series: VWFS's Carl Redman

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I was able to schedule and conduct an interview with Carl Redman, Head of IT Development and Business Analysis at Volkswagen Financial Serivces in the UK today.  He is a veteran mobility user with two enterprise mobility implementations under his belt, and that makes him an expert in my estimation. His first enterprise mobility implementation was a joint project between his developers and a team from Research In Motion.  The mobile solution was the Mobile Stock Audit app and was used on BlackBerry devices.  The app was integrated with SAP on the backend. It enabled his team of auditors to check on the status of over 20,000 vehicles distributed at auto dealerships around the UK.  Auditing is very important, because it can help detect dealerships that may be experiencing financial troubles. The Mobile Stock Audit app enabled auditors to have updated reports on their BlackBerrys and to closely monitor the workloads of their auditors. This first bespoke (customized) mobility app took

Mobile Field Services and Service Optimization - Not This Time

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Yesterday we called our lawn sprinkler company and requested service.  The service was on a section that had been repaired earlier.  I was calling them back to repair the same section. Here is what an optimzied service would have looked like: The mobile service ticket would have alerted the service technician that this was the second visit for the same issue. The service technician would call me and ask a few questions before driving all the way out to my house.  This would save time and money. The service technician would then bring the required parts with him, thus reducing time and fuel and allowing for more work to be done in a day. Instead, the service technician did not call, did not review the service ticket until arriving, did not look up my account details, and did not review my past service tickets and issues.  He drove all the way out, looked at the problem, realized he needed parts, drove all the way back to get the parts, and returned 30 minutes later.  A simple five

Mobility News Weekly - Week of June 20, 2011

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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 Commerce News Weekly Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Mobile app analytics firm Flurry is releasing a new report comparing the daily engagement of smartphone users on mobile apps vs. web browsing on the PC.  Games and social networking categories dominate, capturing 47 percent and 32 percent on consumer time spent daily, respectively. Combined, these two categories control 79 percent of consumers’ total app time.   Read Original Content HighPoint Solutions, a premier provider of specialized IT services dedicated to the life sciences and healthcare industries, has announced a strategic partnership with Pyxis Mobile, provider of the only cross-device mobile ap

Going to Australia to Speak on Mobility and Field Services - July 11-13th

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Manly, Australia I have been invited to speak at the ClickConnect APAC 2011 event in Manly, Sydney, Australia on the subjects of enterprise mobility and mobile field services July 11th-13th.  I was in Manly and Sydney in March speaking at the Mastering SAP Technologies conference and it was beautiful and an extraordinary place for a conference so was happy to accept.  This event is open to companies that are involved in field services, service optimization and/or are looking to implement enterprise mobility strategies and solutions. The focus of the event is on how service organisations can achieve high performance of their people, assets and overall service delivery by overcoming specific barriers that may stand in the way. Folks from SAP, Sybase, ClickSoftware and many other service companies that have already successfully implemented mobile and service optimization solutions will be speaking.  If you are interested in attending  click here for more information. I will b

Mobile Marketing News Weekly - Week of June 20, 2011

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The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing 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 Commerce News Weekly  00 Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly A recent study by InMobi reveals that African mobile web users prefer the mobile channel (46%) to their Desktop (10%) and even In-store (44%) when shopping for Apparel, Consumer Electronics and Entertainment Tickets.   Read Original Content A new report from research firm Gartner predicts that global mobile advertising revenue will reach $3.3 billion this year, up from $1.6 billion in 2010.   Read Original Content ABI Research reports that by 2016 there will be over 830 million enterprise smartphone and tablet apps, a growth rate of nearly 90 percent.   Read Original Content According to Cowen

Mobile Commerce If You Want My Business

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"They should have a mobile app if they want my business!"  That is what my wife said to me today.  She was referring to a particular business focused hotel chain without a mobile app.  "I use my mobile Amazon app constantly.  I want to do business with companies that have mobile apps," she added. Forrester Research reports that mobile commerce revenue is expected to reach $10 billion by the end of this year and will continue growing at an annual rate of 39 percent. I wonder how many other people feel the same as my wife. ************************************************************* 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.

Mobile Commerce News Weekly - Week of June 20, 2011

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The Mobile Commerce 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 Marketing News Weekly Also read Mobility News Weekly Also read M2M News Monthly Forrester Research reports that mobile commerce revenue is expected to reach $10 billion by the end of this year and will continue growing at an annual rate of 39 percent.   Read Original Content The Standard Bank of South Africa is recruiting customers by providing convenient mobile banking “shacks” in thousands of locations throughout the country.   Read Original Content The “electronic alternative payment” market, which largely includes mobile payments, is currently estimated to be worth $62 billion and by 2015 will reach $127 billion according

Mobility Insights for Tuesday

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Mobile technologies can be so clever and interesting.  They can provide so many useful tools.  Let me share a few recent examples and experiences. Example #1 - My good friend Jody Sedrick and his team here in Boise (home of the Boise State Bronco football team ) have a mobile application called Find Things Fast that enables you to organize and quickly find your stuff.  First you take a photo of your possessions, and then identify the storage container and location of each. The end result is that you can quickly find your favorite winter sweater by searching your application and seeing quickly which box it is in, and where the box is located in the garage. This is like a consumer version of an enterprise asset management system. Very cool!  Example #2 - Last week, while traveling, working and playing in Europe I used my iPhone (the WiFi connection) constantly for information, maps, looking up the history of a region and language translation. I also used skype on my iPhone to speak

Mobility Can Change the World and Healthcare

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Puneet Suppal My friend Puneet Suppal from SAP wrote a great article this week that emphasizes some of the ways mobile technologies can improve and revolutionize the healthcare industry.  It is motivating to read these kinds of stories.  There are so many different ways that mobile technologies can improve things.  Let me highlight just a few. When I want healthcare or medical answers I routinely look them up on my smartphone.  I simply enter http://www.webmd.com/ or any number of other quality sites to read up on the topic.  I found out recently that I am allergic to wheat.  I discovered this by looking up the symptoms and reading about it on my iPhone.  I then scheduled a blood test with my doctor to confirm.  The powerful part of this scenario is that mobile devices and smartphones can enable anyone, any place in the world that has access to the internet, the same capabilities for accessing information.  Smartphones and the internet can unlock the digitized knowledge of the w

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of June 20, 2011

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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 According to a report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc the global chipless RFID tag market will reach $2.0 billion by 2017.   Read Original Content Panasonic will release a 10 inch Android tablet during the fourth quarter of 2011.   Read Original Content Industrial giant Siemens is investing in smart grid start up Tendril and the two will market Tendril's home energy system to utilities.   Read Original Content General Dynamics is supplying the Air Force with 300 rugged and secure handheld computers to senior officers.   Read Original Content Through GIS and fleet management technology, Western Monmo

Philippe Winthrop and Steve Levy Webinar on Enabling the Agile Business through Mobile Strategy

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Philippe Winthroup Two smart mobility experts, Philippe Winthrop and Steve Levy, are presenting a webinar tomorrow that I believe will be very interesting.  I have presented with both several times and value their insights.  Philippe and Steve are mobility veterans with many opinion, some I even agree with!  Here is the webinar description: Businesses must be nimble and responsive to survive in today’s highly competitive global and local markets. Rapidly growing and increasingly complex demands for enterprise mobility solutions require a development strategy that has the flexibility to change and respond quickly. How do you build a mobile development strategy that has the Agility to meet changing needs while controlling costs? Please join Philippe Winthrop, Managing Director, Enterprise Mobility Foundation and Steve Levy, CEO, Pyxis Mobile for a discussion on the challenges of creating enterprise mobility strategies that can meet today’s rapidly changing business needs. Philip

Eggs with Benedict - European Enterprise Mobility Breakfast Meetings

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My breakfast was this big! Next week, the week of June 27th, I will be presenting a series of breakfast meetings on enterprise mobility in 5 different cities across Europe.  If you are in the neighborhood, I would love to invite you to breakfast with me.  I will be having breakfast in the following locations: Paris - 27th June - Park Hyatt Vendome Hotel - 5 Rue de la Paix Geneva - 28th June - Hotel Grand Kempinski - 19 Quai de Mont Blanc Frankfurt - 29th June - Marriott Hotel - 2 Hamburger Allee Brussels - 30th June - Radisson Blu - 35 Idaliestraat London -1st July - Park Hyatt The Churchill Hotel - Berkeley Mews Mayfair If you are interested in attending at any of these locations please email James Common .  James is organizing the event.  I would love to meet up and discuss enterprise mobility with you!  Here is the event description. K2 Partnering Solutions is proud to be hosting a Mobile Strategy presentation and question and answer breakfast session with Kevin Benedic