Observations from the Enterprise Mobility Exchange in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

I enjoy the enterprise mobility exchange events.  This is my third time being the chairman at these events, and I keep coming back because I learn a great deal.  It is an event dominated by end users, rather than vendors.  I have nothing against vendors, as they sponsor the events and lead some sessions, but the event is organized to give end users an opportunity to discuss their needs, network and learn from other end users and their experiences.

In addition to the keynote presentations, there are case studies, think tanks and a CIO session.  The CIO session was very interesting.  CIOs bring a list of topics important to them and submit this list to the other CIOs for discussion.  The subjects are all related to enterprise mobility in the real world and addressing the challenges that come along with it.  I learned.

I saw several celebrity sightings yesterday including Nicholas McQuire, Research Director, IDC Research and Daniel Faulk, SAP Mobility Product Manager.

Today we hear from Coco Cola Bottling Company, IDC Research, National Grid, TNT Express, Philips Healthcare, EPAL, R. Hoffmann-La Roche and many others.

I also saw booths from mobility vendors Syclo, SAP, Antenna, ClickSoftware, Verivo and many others here.  You can follow events on the Twitter feed #emeeu.

I learned that many of the companies here struggle with change management and different cultures around the world.  It appears that in many places around the world service engineers are not happy with change, process improvement or accountability.  In fact, in many cases there is an ongoing battle between management wanting to optimize their operations and processes, and service technicians that want no such thing.  I heard from three different organizations yesterdaythat are constantly dealing with a workforce that tries to sabotage field force automation and mobility projects.  Wow!  Those are challenges that go way beyond an enterprise mobility discussion.  Those are political, cultural, legal, ethical and societal.  Yikes!  I will stick with the HTML5 vs. Native, Buy vs. Build, MDM, MEAP, MADP and other acronym discussions.

Join me on this webinar!

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

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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.