New HTML5 IDE for Microsoft Visual Studio Environments

I am closely following developments in the HTML5 arena as it relates to mobility, so was interested to see this announcement from Gizmox this week.

Tel Aviv, 14 April 2011, Gizmox, the developer of the award-winning Visual WebGui (VWG) cloud and mobile platform, announced today the launch of ProStudio .NETHTML5 beta, the only HTML5 dedicated development tool for Microsoft .NET developers. ProStudio .NETHTML5 enables fast and secure development of graphic-rich data-centric .NET apps for all platforms without plug-ins and resolves the data-binding, session management and Ajax complexities for data-centric applications by using simple .NET tools. With this offering Gizmox offers .NET developers a way into the new Web standard, HTML5.

To download the Free beta http://www.visualwebgui.com/download.aspx

ProStudio .NETHTML5 is designed for building data-centric HTML5 applications within Microsoft Visual Studio. This empowers all web developers (including those who seek an alternative to propriety Silverlight which currently does not support the popular iOS and Android platforms for tablets and mobile) to use simple .NET development practices and for jQuery developers to deal with the data-binding , Ajax and session management challenges by using straightforward .NET framework.

This version adds the complete jQuery extension and animation capabilities into Visual WebGui which allows developers to build rich, customer facing HTML5 UIs with animation and media streaming and also provides mobile & tablet support and cross-browser performance. Other benefits include enhanced data management features and more effective debugging capabilities.

"Visual WebGui gained its fame for its classic .NET simplicity and time-saving that lets core Microsoft developers, develop rich ASP.NET Ajax based Web, Cloud or Mobile applications, just the way they are used to developing desktop .NET applications”, commented Navot Peled, President of Gizmox. “ProStudio .NETHTML5 is the only framework in Microsoft’s stack that allows cross-web/mobile platform and cross-browser accessibility to applications developed in .NET and jQuery for rich engaging HTML5 UIs and enables developers to leverage their .NET skills but deploy applications that comply with open web standards."

For more information please see http://www.visualwebgui.com/

.

***************************************************
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.

B2M mProdigy and Mobile Application Analytics

mProdigy from B2M

I had an interesting discussion last week with Padraig Regan the CTO of B2M Solutions.  B2M focuses on two key areas:

1. Mobile Device Management
2. Mobile Intelligence

The area of particular interest to me was mobile intelligence.  B2M has a solution called mProdigy that can be embedded in mobile applications to report on all device and application related information.  Specifically, it can monitor all activities in the mobile application and business process, so it can be used to analyze mobile device, application processes and human performance.

One simple example is battery life analysis.  You can view when a mobile device is charged and how much it is charged when it is removed from the charger. You can monitor the average battery charge your team starts with each morning and each time a critical battery level occurs?  You can evaluate which devices have the best battery life and which have the worst?  You can see when batteries are bad and which groups are simply not following correct battery charging processes? 

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Bill Moylan, Part 2

Bill Moylan, EVP of Sales Syclo

This is the second part of this interview with Syclo's Bill Moylan.

Kevin:  What advice do you give companies that are just looking to get into mobility?

Bill:  Let me start out by giving some advice as to what companies should not do.  I have seen many companies that try to build a strategy around what smartphones they happen to have in their pocket. Some companies say to me, “We use BlackBerrys, so we need a mobile application for a BlackBerry.”  That is a wrong strategy, as mobile devices will change, but you want your enterprise mobility strategy to be long lasting.  That is not a good strategic view.

Companies have key business objectives; they are usually around reducing costs and increasing revenue. Companies should look at their objectives and then hunt for areas in the various operational areas where mobility can help the company accomplish them.  We work with a lot of life science companies.  They may be looking for ways they can improve the efficiencies of their 1,500 sales reps. Walk around the entire organization, look for people not chained to their desk and look for ways to improve their operations business, ignore the devices.

Kevin:  Do you see executives and board members starting to use iPads?  Are iPad users more interested in funding mobile projects?

Bill:  I see far more executives using BlackBerrys.  Since they use BlackBerrys they are always asking what they can do with them.  Often they are looking for approval management and things like that on BlackBerrys. I do see iPhones, but they are usually rogue iPhones.

Kevin:  How does a company prepare for mobility?

Bill:  The first step is that you need to understand your current processes.  Where are you today?  What are your current processes?

• Measure the current processes. 
• How much time do all your processes take? 
• How long are you traveling? 
• How long does it take to complete the work order? 
• How often are your service technicians completing a repair on the first visit, and how many times do they have to come back for a second and/or third visit?
• Are your service technicians bringing the right tools for the job? 
• Do they have the right parts for the job?  
• How long does it take to fix that particular piece of equipment?  
• How much overtime am I paying? 
• Can they move to a more planned maintenance model?  CMMS really help! 

I spoke to a company two months ago about problems or failures in their processes.  They said the two biggest problems were service technicians entering the categories of “other” and under this answer; they would add the second “other.” How can you use “other” to improve planning and processes?  How can you use “other” to improve predictability?  You need to require real answers that are useful answers.

“Be a work order.”  Pin a work order to your shirt and walk the process.  Understand all the hands that touch it, and all the steps.  No cheating!

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Bill Moylan, Part 1
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Bill Moylan, Part 3
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Bill Moylan, Part 4

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Ventureforth Delivers Mobile Enterprise Solutions for Oracle PeopleSoft Using Syclo's Agentry Platform

Ventureforth, a Syclo Independent Software Vendor, licenses and develops off-the-shelf mobile solutions for Oracle, PeopleSoft and Indus (Ventyx) with the configurable mobile platform architecture from Syclo’s Agentry platform.  This is interesting for two reasons:

What Percent of the U.S. Workforce is Mobile?

"The United States has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce," says the IDC 2009-2013 forecast.  "With 72.2 percent of the workforce mobile in 2008.  The U.S. will remain the most highly concentrated market for mobile workers with 75.5 percent of the workforce, or 119.7 million workers, being mobile in 2013."

Those numbers represent enormous opportunities for enterprise mobility vendors.  The first question that came to my mind when I read that quote was, "What kind of mobile applications are they going to need?"  I think the answer is thousands of different kinds. 

I assume that others including SAP's co-Innovation partner Syclo also believe that.  Sylco has spent the last ten years investing in their Agentry Mobile Platform and Smart Mobile Suite to make them flexible enough to serve a broad market.  Here is how they describe themselves, "We offer fully configurable, rapidly deployed mobile applications that run on a variety of devices and support real time wireless and offline computing."  They don't know what mobile applications all of their customers will want, so they have invested years worth of effort developing capabilities that will enable it to be useful for a broad audience.  That is something I learned as CEO of a mobile application company.  The more flexible the platform, the more investment in time and money it took to develop.  Simple mobile micro-apps can be developed quickly that just connect point A to point B.  However, it you want point A to connect to point C, D, E and X then you have an expoentially larger task.

The point is that MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) that are flexible enough to handle a broad range of mobile applications are extremely challenging to develop.  However, they offer enormous value, and the price is likely going to reflect the investment.

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.