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Showing posts from March, 2013

How Do You Make Money in Enterprise Mobility? A Prediction

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For the past six months I have been pondering how does a MADP (mobile application development platform) company make money in enterprise mobility?  I talk to literally thousands of people a year who are involved in enterprise mobility, and it seems many in the enterprise mobility vendor world continue to struggle to make sustainable profits. I spent many years as the CEO of a mobile platform and mobile app development company.   I can tell you from personal experience that it is incredibly hard to maintain an R&D funding pace that keeps up with, let alone surpasses, the pace of innovation in the market.  It seems like every time you identify a new set of features for a new version of your mobile platform, it is already obsolete and you are playing catch up. Most traditional mobile platform companies I think are struggling with the challenge of keeping up with the rapidly evolving mobility market.  They have a business model based on the assumption they can achieve economies o

My YouTube Video Channel on Enterprise Mobility

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I checked my YouTube channel ,  http://www.youtube.com/user/kevinrbenedict/videos , this morning and there are now 245 video interviews with mobility experts published there.  Did you know you can subscribe and be notified each time a new interview with a mobility expert is uploaded?  Among those interviewed are dozens from SAP, many mobile platform and MDM vendors, industry analysts and yours truly pontificating about mobile strategies. I like to encourage you to enjoy yourself while watching these, but if that is not possible, at least grab some popcorn. ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Predicting the Future of Enterprise Mobility

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Figure 1 - Smartphones as Internet of Things Hubs How many advertisements for automobiles today promote the fact their cars are horseless carriages?  None! Why?  It is an assumption that your automobile will be horseless.  The same is happening today with mobile apps.  Who would develop a work order management or scheduling system today that does not support mobile?  Who would create business intelligence dashboards for executives that were not mobile? Today it is a mobile first world.  Our first considerations for software app designs are: What mobile devices will be used? How do I integrate wirelessly with my back-end data sources and systems? What onboard and remote sensors can I integrate into the app? How do I secure it? If all software apps are soon to be mobile, where will we find the next wave of innovation beyond traditional mobile apps and enterprise mobility platforms?  I believe it will come from sensors and integrating the physical world with the digital. I

Mobile Strategies Top 55 Articles

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For those of you who are employed, and perhaps actually have a family and social life, you will have purposely avoided reading many of the articles I have written over the past 24 months.  That is to be celebrated!  However, some of the articles you missed may actually be worth a read so I have compiled a list of the top 55.  Enjoy! The Best of Mobile Strategies: Thoughts on Mobile Strategies and Social Collaboration Time-Space Compression Speed, Mobility and Online Sales Connecting the Strategic to the Tactical - Enterprise Mobility Mobility, Business Transformation and the 5th Dimension Infonomics and Enterprise Mobility M2M, Enterprise Mobility and Healthcare M2M and Enterprise Mobility - The Convergence M2M, SAP and Enterprise Mobility SAP's Mobility Vision - Any Way You Want It SAP's Sanjay Poonen Discusses Mobile Strategies with Kevin Benedict Learning about the Real World of Enterprise Mobility in Scotland Avengers, Enterprise Mobility and Network

Swarming, Mobility, Speed and Digital Disruptions

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Digital disruptors like social media, mobile communications, analytics and cloud services are introducing crazy new dynamics into our world.  These dynamics are impacting our industries, markets, businesses, management disciplines, politics and even our culture today.  I believe we have only just begun to recognize some of the impacts of these disruptions.    We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate and YouTube to tell the world. ~ Egyptian Activist One of the impacts of digital disruptors is the increasing emergence of swarming or swarm intelligence. Here is a definition, “Swarming involves the use of decentralized forces against an object or opponent, in a manner that emphasizes mobility, communication, autonomy and coordination or synchronization.” ~ Wikipedia Swarming, although perhaps unrecognized, is precisely what the Egyptian Activist was referring to in the above quote.  The ability for autonomous or semi-autonomous groups to

Digital Disruption and Enterprise Mobility

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This week in the March 18, 2013, edition of The Wall Street Journal was an article titled Built Not to Las t by Alan Murray.  This article reviewed the book Digital Disruption by Forrester executive James McQuivey.  I loved the article and have now downloaded the book to read in its entirety.  I guess it is true that people like to hear what they already believe.  McQuivey identifies many of the trends I am also seeing in the market today. In his book McQuivey argues that technology has made it possible to launch companies without large amounts of capital, proprietary labor pools or vast swaths of intellectual property. Increasingly, anyone with a powerful idea can assemble the tools to make his idea a reality. Here are some of my favorite excerpts from Murray's article: "The only defense to this massive attack [from digital disruption competitors], Mr. McQuivey says, is to mimic the enemy.   The consequences for existing companies, if you believe Mr. McQuivey, are e

GIS Data and Modern Mobility Solutions

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I found this quote in an article titled " ESRI Takes Its Deep Mapping Software Online To Help Developers Become More Like Geographers " over the weekend, "The future is that developers will become more and more like geographers and cartographers as they increasingly work with real-world data.” ~Amber Case, ESRI. I found that quote to be particularly enlightening as the more developers work with The Internet of Things, the more they must know about the physical world.  This has not always been the trend.  For  years developers seemed to be developing a different world, a virtual world far removed from dirty dishes, oil changes, child care and landscaping.  However, today, our virtual and physical worlds are quickly merging and developers are back into getting their hands dirty. The rapid expansion of The Internet of Things or M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions mean many different kinds of sensors are being attached and embedded in equipment all around us.  This effo

Google X, Hyper Spectral Remote Sensing - It's All About Sensors, Mobile Technologies and Big Data

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Did you sign up to beta test Google Glasses?  Have you ridden in Google's driverless cars?  Your answer to both questions is likely not yet, but these are two very interesting innovations coming out of Google X (Google X is a secret facility run by Google thought to be located somewhere in the Bay Area of Northern California) that have been widely covered by the media. These two innovations demonstrate the combination of mobile communications, the Internet, mobile software apps, all kinds of sensors, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and real time analytics.  I think the coolest components of these innovations are rarely highlighted - the integrated sensors that make them possible. Sensors measure and collect data and can be connected to just about any piece of equipment.  Satellite cameras are sensors.  There are audio and visual sensors.  There are pressure and heat sensors.  There are all kinds of sensors.  One of the most interesting sensor technologies I have be

Pondering BYOD - Is it Really Viable?

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I have been involved in enterprise mobility for many years, and have watched enthusiastically as mobility has evolved into a massive technological, societal and cultural force.  I have witnessed mobility changing entire industries and driving growth.  I have studied the impact of mobility on companies and productivity.  I now wonder at what point are mobile solutions so important to a business that companies cannot afford to support a BYOD strategy. This morning I was reading a new detailed whitepaper on BYOD titled " Making BYOD Work for Your Organization ."  The paper is very thorough and identifies what companies should be considering, but I can't help thinking BYOD is complex, difficult to management and expensive to support.  I wonder if BYOD is really as beneficial as many claim.  I wonder if all the added complexity, governance and risk is actually factored into ROIs around BYOD.  I read one report last year that claimed BYOD was much more expensive to support th

All MWC2013 Video Interviews with Mobile Experts

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If you missed any of my recent Mobile World Congress 2013 interviews with mobility experts, here is your chance to watch them all in one place.  Grab some popcorn! Let's Talk about Social and Mobile Integration with SAP! http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/03/lets-talk-about-social-and-mobile.html Kevin Benedict MWC2013 Interviews: SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan , Part 1 http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/03/kevin-benedict-mwc2013-interviews-saps.html Kevin Benedict Interviews SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan at MWC2013 , Part 2 http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/03/kevin-benedict-interviews-saps-vishy.html Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: Florian Ganz , Part 1 http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/03/kevin-benedicts-mobile-world-congress_6.html Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress Interviews: Florian Ganz, Part 2 http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/03/ke

Kevin Benedict Interviews SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan at MWC2013

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This is Part 3 of an interview I recorded with SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan at the Mobile World Congress 2013.  In this segment we discuss how to select the appropriate mobile platform and development environment for your project.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link: http://youtu.be/1swa68hPpO8 ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Let's Talk about Social and Mobile Integration with SAP!

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In this interview from my Mobile World Congress 2013 Interview series with SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan, Vice President, Global Center of Excellence - Mobile Solutions, we discuss the integration of social with mobile, enterprise systems and processes.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link:  http://youtu.be/GQg43tAI4ic ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin Benedict MWC2013 Interviews: SAP's Vishy Gopalakrishnan

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This mobile expert interview recorded in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress 2013 is particularly insightful.  SAP's VP Global Center of Excellence - Mobile Solutions, Vishy Gopalakrishnan shares his views on enterprise mobility trends in this segment.  There will be several more segments with Vishy to follow.  Grab some popcorn! P.S. Here is a new whitepaper that our team at Cognizant just published titled, Making BYOD Work for Your Organization . Video Link:  http://youtu.be/29XKOJbhrdk ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress Interviews: Florian Ganz, Part 2

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In Part 2 of this segment I have the privilege of interviewing mobility expert Florian Ganz on enterprise mobility trends and developments around the SAP Mobile Platform..  I have known Florian for many years and he has implemented many large enterprise mobility solutions, and as a result, has much wisdom to share.  Grab some popcorn! ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: Fred Yentz, Part 2

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M2M and the Internet of Things were central topics at the Mobile World Congress 2013.  SAP was showing off several demonstrations on how machine data, wirelessly sent to SAP, could be analyzed in real-time using SAP Hana.  In this interview, M2M expert and ILS Technology CEO Fred Yentz discusses the concept of "Sensor-to-CIO."  Grab some popcorn! Video Link: http://youtu.be/cZOCxiUkViQ ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I wo

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: Florian Ganz

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Have you ever wished that you didn't get so many emails?  If email wasn't used, then how would you communicate?  In this interview with mobility expert Florian Ganz, he describes how his company transitioned to an email-less company.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link: http://youtu.be/gWEMAGsLlLo  ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: James Naftel, Part 2

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Forgive me for the opening section of this video.  My fantasy life has spilled over. This is Part 2 of my interview with SAP's Director of Product Management, Mobile Security, James Naftel.  In this interview we discuss what to expect in 2013 from SAP's Afaria, and current pricing models that SAP is offering for this MDM solution.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link:  http://youtu.be/VBcaeuRw4QY  ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant an

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: Ron Hassanwalia

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If you are interested in learning more about mobile device management and mobile security this short video is for you.  I filmed this in Barcelona, Spain at the Mobile World Congress 2013.  The first minute is a bit blurry, but then clears up.  My iPhone must not have been paying attention to where I was filming.  In this interview Ron Hassanwalia from www.Soti.net  explains many features in an MDM.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-vNkHG8NM&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These ar

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: James Naftel

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In this interview recorded in Barcelona, Spain, I ask about SAP's answer to Dropbox - SAP Mobile Documents.  James Naftel, Director of Product Management, Mobile Security, explains how it works and why it is an interesting new development.  Grab the popcorn! Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOqSFP8LKy8&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict , Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant View Linkedin Profile Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with man