Paris Eggs with Benedict Breakfast Meeting, June 26th

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 developed countries. Basic mobile phones can support SMS, and many SMS solutions can provide incredible value. Banking, payments, notification of departure times for deliveries, etc., can all be done using SMS. One production text-based mobility solution discussed automatically notifying customers when their shipment left the depot. These were just a few of the many SMS based mobile solutions discussed over breakfast.

The discussion around SMS solutions helped me to better understand the value of Sybase’s 365 offerings to the overall mobility picture. Many of us who focus the majority of our time in the Western economies often forget there is much value outside of just expensive smartphones and tablets. We have yet to fully tap the power of SMS, but need motivates ingenuity.

The common thread with the meeting attendees was that enterprise mobility is a priority.  Now on to Geneva for the next Eggs with Benedict mobility breakfast meeting, perhaps there will be eggs.

Upcoming Events

Eggs with Benedict - European Tour - Mobility Strategies and More, June 27 – July 1, 2011
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
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.

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