It is easy to forget about the world beyond the pocket, but it remains out there. There is a large market for mobile devices that must survive the rigors of rain, sand, mud and daily impacts. In the field service automation space, these working environments are the norm. SAP mobility partner ClickSoftware focuses on this area of enterprise mobility, and this means they add features to their mobility suite that others don't.
I had the opportunity to interview Gil Bouhnick from ClickSoftware a few months ago, and he shared that one of their recent projects included building union regulations and rules into the mobile application. Before certain tasks could be requested or started the union rules were considered in the mobile application. How many iPhone and BlackBerry applications have these requirements?
Because ClickSoftware focuses on rugged environments where the field service technician, lineman, or inspector may be working in solitary and remote locations, features have been added to their solutions that would alert the office in case of an emergency. Again, not many BlackBerry or iPhone applications have that requirement.
I have worked on many mobile forms projects in my time, so I appreciate that ClickSoftware has the solution ClickMobile Forms Editor. Mobile forms may seem like a rather simple applications these days, but they can be of enormous value. Let me explain. Mobile forms applications can have branching workflows in them. If an inspection reveals a measurement is XYZ, then it automatically jumps to mobile form page 16 where additional questions are asked. If the measurement was ABC, then it automatically continues to form page 2. These types of automated mobile forms and their workflows can direct the mobile workforce to complete the field data collection task completely and accurately the first time. Enterprise asset management, field services and inspection services all require extensive field inspection work that can benefit from mobile forms that wireless synchronize with the office.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
Showing posts with label mobile applications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile applications. Show all posts
Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP VP of EcoHub, Usman Sheikh
Usman Sheikh is VP of SAP's EcoHub, and I had the opportunity at Sapphire this year to interview him about SAP's ecosystem of mobility partners. What is the SAP EcoHub? EcoHub is a website and a mobile application that accelerates the process of finding the right solution at the right time and provides a new means to address key questions including:
- Have I considered all relevant solutions?
- Is this applicable to my business?
- Are there success stories in my industry?
- Is this partner solution certified?
- What are my peers saying?
For more interviews in the Mobile Expert Video Series click here.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/ www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
Best Sources of Information on Enterprise Mobility
Outside of SAP's SDN site, the SAP Enterprise Mobility group on Linkedin has some of the smartest people in the world sharing their thoughts on enterprise mobility. The membership includes the thought leaders from just about all of the big enterprise mobility vendors.
I was reading through some of the discussions today and the comments included in-depth advice from SAP on architecting mobile applications and understanding what mobility platforms are needed in different situations.
If you or anyone in your company is interested in subjects related to enterprise mobility I would encourage you to join. Here is the link.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
I was reading through some of the discussions today and the comments included in-depth advice from SAP on architecting mobile applications and understanding what mobility platforms are needed in different situations.
If you or anyone in your company is interested in subjects related to enterprise mobility I would encourage you to join. Here is the link.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
Mobile Expert Video Series: Smartsoft Mobile's CEO Dan Homrich
Mobile B2E solutions are intended to address large markets. Insurance companies can provide mobile solutions to their customer bases. Banks and retail companies can provide mobile applications to their hundreds of thousands of customers. This is a very interesting target market. Watch the video interview that I recorded with Dan Homrich at Sapphire and learn about his strategies.
Related videos:
The video interviews listed below can all be found here :
Mobile Expert Video Series: Open Text's VP SAP Solutions Group Patrick Barnert
Mobile Expert Video Series: Leapfactor's Luis Cabrera
Mobile Expert Video Series: Sky Technologies President Bruce Johnson
Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP's VP of EcoHub, Usman Sheikh
Mobile Expert Video Series: Infologix's Senior VP Brian Thorn
Mobile Expert Video Series: Syclo's Founder Rich Padula
Mobile Expert Video Series: Vivido Labs' Founder Greg Tomb
Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP Senior VP of Enterprise Mobility, Kevin Nix
Mobile Expert Video Series: PriceWaterhouseCooper's Director of Mobility, Dr. Ahmend El Adl
Mobile Expert Video Series: DSI's VP of Sales, Mark Goode
Mobile Expert Video Series: Sky Technologies' CTO Steve Ware
Mobile Expert Video Series: Mellmo's Santiago Becerra
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
SAP to Acquire Sybase, Day 2 - Kevin Benedict's Thoughts and Analysis
I expect that events and presentations at Sapphire will bring clarity to this move, but in my current fog of confusion I give you my thoughts.
I have been recommending for some time that SAP should own the mobile integration layer. Variations of this have been called Gateway, DOE, NetWeaver Mobile, etc. I think this move will clarify in the future how mobile applications should integrate with SAP.
Let's take a look at some of the direct quotes from the SAP executive suite:
"We see a huge emerging market for the real-time, unwired enterprise. With this strategic move, SAP becomes the number one provider in this market, a significant first mover advantage for our strategic growth ambitions," SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott.
"This acquisition falls right in line with our three pillar strategy of on-premise, on-demand, and on-device software…Now, with the acquisition of Sybase, we will secure our leadership in on-device, further cementing our ability to bring information to users anytime, anywhere, and on any device. As mobile applications for consumers have changed the world, the way people live and communicate mobile applications for the enterprise will have an equal profound impact in the way they work. We want to make sure that SAP solutions can be accessed from all leading mobile devices," Jim Hagemann Snabe, SAP co-CEO.
"Mobile computing is an unmistakable and profound shift in the market. Sybase will be our platform to support all mobile devices, including Windows, Blackberry, Android, and others," said Vishal Sikka, SAP’s Chief Technology Officer.
Now let's take a look at a couple of statements from analysts and industry dignitaries:
Credit Suisse analyst Peter Goldmacher noted that SAP levered up to pay $5.8 billion for a $400 million business (Sybase’s mobile pieces). "While the dream around mobile is big and Sybase is the undisputed leader, it is going to take a long time before the mobile business can move the needle for SAP. There is a smaller near term opportunity within SAP to mobile-enable a portion of its existing ERP apps," says Goldmacher.
The problem with Goldmacher's comments on near term opportunities is that Sybase does not have many mobile ERP apps, SAP's mobility partners do. This will need to be worked out very fast.
Dennis Howlett in his article, "SAP acquires Sybase for $5.8 billion, but why?" echoed the questions I asked yesterday. On the subject of custom application development he asked, "Does SAP think that Sybase and in-memory gives them an entree to this massive market [Telcos and Financials]? If so how does it plan to manage all the integrations required? Where is the rapid apps development environment [for mobile applications] that would make SAP a natural choice?"
While this move by SAP may be a good long term move, it introduces a host of near-term problems for customers and partners.
- 2010 is the year of mobility at Sapphire. The exhibition floor is filled with innovative and powerful mobile application vendors that have invested in SAP partnerships. What does this move mean for them? They have powerful mobile applications today, where I see Sybase as a longer term play not a 2010 or even 2011 answer.
- SAP needs to immediately clarify their recommendations for what customers should do today to address their mobility needs or risk introducing sales and market paralysis.
- Sybase does not have a user friendly, graphically rich, template based rapid application development environment for enterprises or systems integrators to develop mobile enterprise applications. It requires deep programming skills and knowledge to utilize their mobile middleware. I know as I have used it. What does that mean? There are very few mobile enterprise applications available today from SAP/Sybase. The innovation in mobile applications is coming from the likes of Vivido Labs, Leapfactor, Sky Technologies, ClickSoftware and Syclo, all of which are SAP mobility partners and have booths at Sapphire this year.
- Syclo is a key co-innovation mobility partner with SAP. What does this announcement mean to them? Their Sapphire focus and messaging likely changed yesterday.
- SAP customers need mobile enterprise applications now. How does this acquisition help? It doesn't in the short term.
- You can bet that all SAP mobility partners are gathered in small rooms with whiteboards today. They are likely to be grumpy at Sapphire from lack of sleep.
- There is an ABSOLUTE need for rapid application development tools and environments to help design, development, test, deploy and support rich or thick client mobile applications without significant programming. These tools are available today from SAP mobility partners like Sky Technologies and Syclo. These tools will need to be expanded to incorporate some of the mobile middleware functionality that the Sybase acquisition will bring to the table.
Sybase is not known for their mobile applications. They primarily license mobile middleware and mobile databases to companies that develop mobile software applications. SAP users need mobile applications. Mobile applications, not mobile middleware, provide the ROIs customers seek.
Sybase/iAnywhere has been arguing for years internally on whether to develop their own SDK and enterprise mobile applications. In the past they have chosen not to so as not to anger their OEM clients. In fact, they only had a very small professional services team to deliver custom mobile applications. I don't see Sybase/iAnywhere suddenly being the mobile enterprise application company. They are very technical types who can ramble for days on the value of their synchronization, but have little insight into user interfaces, business processes and mobile applications. This can change, but this has been my experience.
Companies looking for mobile solutions should not expect to find them in the SAP/Sybase acquisition. The ready for market mobile enterprise applications will be available on the show floor at Sapphire next week.
SAP's mobility partners, those that develop thick or rich mobile client applications, may find value in aligning their future mobile middleware strategies to take advantage of the new SAP mobile middleware offerings. However, this will be an infrastructure alignment and the end customer should not see much of a difference.
SAP mobility partners, that offer mobile micro-applications with rich user interfaces and experiences, are unlikely to see much impact in the near term from this acquisition. I expect that SAP will provide a more standardized approach for integrating mobile applications and mobile device management into their ecosystem over time, but again this is not likely something that a customer will notice immediately. Changes like this are mostly done behind the scenes.
SAP has been pondering how to best monetize mobile applications that integrate with their ERP environment. Sybase has this down. They have been embedding mobile databases and mobile middleware and charging a per device fee for many years. They will likely be able to influence how SAP monetizes the mobile environment going forward.
There was a reason SAP had a partnership strategy for mobile applications. There are literally thousands of different mobile applications that different business applications, industries and markets require. SAP cannot possibly supply them all. They have the responsibility to standardize the way these mobile applications interface and interact with their ERP environment, but they must depend on the ecosystem to fulfill the demand. This has not changed. Sybase does not bring a large inventory of mobile applications. SAP's mobility partners will likely remain the source of tactical and industry specific mobile applications both in the near term and in the long term.
I look forward to your comments! We will figure this all out together :-)
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor,CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Mobile Industry Analyst, Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***************************************************
Sapphire and Enterprise Mobility
Bonnie was sharing the extensive list of presentations, demonstrations and sessions focused on enterprise mobility that will be available at Sapphire this year. The list is long! I am very excited about the focused efforts around enterprise mobility that I am seeing from SAP. I will be attending as many of these mobility related events as my schedule allows. Look for me in an SAP Mentor rugby shirt, #45, at these events and introduce yourself!
If you can't make Sapphire this year, but want a full recap of the developments in enterprise mobility after Sapphire, please contact me to schedule a time to discuss.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Mobile Industry Analyst, Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Jeff Kleban
I was able to track down Jeff Kleban EVP and co-founder of Syclo for a good talk this morning. He was kind enough to share his perspective on the world of enterprise mobility and the SAP ecosystem.
To start, Jeff carries a BlackBerry 9700 series, and his favorite mobile application on it is Google Maps. He has been with Syclo from the beginning when there were only four people. Today, Syclo has over 135 employees.
Syclo is one of three co-innovation partners of SAP in the world of enterprise mobility. The three are RIM, Sybase, and Syclo. SAP co-innovation partners share sales revenue, development efforts and product roadmaps with SAP. I wonder if the co-innovation partnership increases the prices of their solutions? I also wonder if having SAP define the roadmap will allow the co-innovation partners to innovate fast enough to keep up with the markets fast changing technologies?
Jeff shared that SAP has designated some mobility applications and business processes as strategic. The strategic ones he identified are:
1. CRM sales force automation [Sybase is the co-innovation partner for this category]
2. CRM field services/enterprise asset management [Syclo is the co-innovation partner for this category]
RIM is also a co-innovation partner, but I am not sure what it covers these days. I have always wondered how an ERP vendor could cozy up to a particular mobile device manufacturer? The next greatest mobile device is always just a press release away so how can you predict which vendor to bet on? Also, who wants to bet against Apple?
I asked Jeff who Syclo's biggest competitor is, and he said it varied since there are so many point solutions in the market but if a customer was looking for a MEAP that they tended to look at Syclo and Sybase who are the leaders. Interesting! OK, SAP's two co-innovation partners for mobility are each other's biggest competitors. That ought to make for some interesting business development and partner meetings. I can imagine the demarcation line between Sybase and Syclo's territories are being battled over daily in Waldorf.
Jeff reported that Sybase uses SAP's NetWeaver Mobile as their integration platform. Syclo, on the other hand, has its own integration technologies which pre-dated the co-innovation partnership. They are using these while they collaborate with SAP to leverage additional integration points.
A question that came to mind following my discussions with Jeff was how does SAP determine which vendor to recommend to a customer needing both mobile SFA and mobile FSA? In many cases CRMs encompass both categories. Does SAP really recommend that a customer select two separate mobility vendors to support one SAP CRM? I hope someone from SAP comments on this.
I asked, "Outside of the categories of mobile CRM SFA (sales force automation) and CRM FSA (field service automation), who should an SAP customer use for custom mobile applications?" "Syclo of course!" Jeff answered but then added, "There is still a lot of room for innovation and other SAP EcoHub partners in this mobility space." So outside of SFA and FSA the market is wide open for the rest of SAP's mobility partners. The challenge, of course, is getting mindshare. If Sybase and Syclo are being promoted in certain specific categories, then how does the best of breed from the rest of SAP's mobility partners capture a category and gain recognition and exposure?
I asked Jeff about Syclo's target markets and he answered, "Complex and strategic mobile applications for SAP users." He then explained that they like the big mobility projects with hundreds and thousands of users but will also entertain smaller mobility projects if there is a future potential for more mobile enterprise applications with the customer. "We like projects with hard ROIs (returns on investment)," he explained.
Jeff said that the enterprise mobile software market is still very fragmented, and no one really has a sizable market share. SAP reports around 90,000 customers, and Syclo has around 750 mobility customers but not all are SAP shops. The bottom line is there are a lot of opportunities available for mobility vendors in the SAP ecosystem.
Jeff added that in the mobile operating system market, there is increased fragmentation rather than decreased. It seems there is a lot of new innovation happening in the world of mobile operating systems.
I asked Jeff what he expects to see happen in the next few years in enterprise mobility. He said, "TCO (total cost of ownership) will drop dramatically as mobile application development tools become easier and MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) more mature. He already believes Syclo has a low TCO but believes there is much more that can be done. He then added that it will be very interesting to watch how companies manage important data on their employees' smartphones. He said perhaps companies will have "sandbox" locations on their employees' personal smartphones. These sandbox locations would be reserved for confidential company data and controlled and managed by the company. Interesting indeed!
I asked Jeff about the term MEAP. He said, "It is Gartner's term, and they defined the meaning." He then pointed out that Syclo is in the Leaders section of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for MEAPs. He believes a MEAP should be able to support many different kinds of mobile enterprise applications, include an SDK and be able to integrate with many different back-end ERPs, business applications and databases.
I asked Jeff for his opinion on mobile micro-applications. He said, "There is a lot of room for innovation! They have their role. Especially with consumers and reaching out to mobile employees." He added, "Companies are seeking mobile applications for a variety of reasons including branding and establishing a closer relationship with their customer base." Again, there is much room for innovation here!
Where does Jeff see the hottest markets for Syclo?
• Field services
• Utilities
• Oil and gas companies
• Oil and gas supply chains
• Life science companies that have FDA compliance requirements
• Government
Jeff said government has a couple of things going for it now:
1. Government economic stimulus money
2. Government's support for, and desire to use, technology to make things more efficient.
What business processes are they targeting?
• Work order/service tickets
• Plant maintenance
• Enterprise asset management
• Social workers/Case managers (and similar roles in other areas)
• Police incident reporting
• Replacing any paper-based processes used in the field
I asked what were some of the most interesting developments in mobility in the past 24 months for him. He said, "Apple iPhones, Apple iTunes and the explosion of smartphones used by consumers." He added that these developments have totally changed the game and has had a major impact on the enterprise. "IT cannot ignore the pressures to mobilize now," he said. In addition, he pointed out that it is surprising there has not seen more consolidation. Rather, there are even more new players and mobile operating systems entering the market today."
I asked Jeff what he thought about SAP's mobile strategy. He said, "SAP must own the roadmap for the most critical mobile applications and business processes." He likes their strategy.
What differentiates Syclo from other SAP mobility partners? Jeff answered:
• Lower TCO (total cost of ownership)
• Pre-packaged mobile applications are relatively inexpensive
• Co-innovation with SAP
• Syclo shares revenue with SAP
• SAP sales teams are incented to promote Syclo
• Syclo has an model-driven development approach which enables mobile applications to be developed without programming.
• IBM resells Syclo solutions
• Syclo integrates with Oracle
• Accenture and CSC are systems integrator partners (there must be a lot of money on the table for these SI companies to be involved).
What are some of the most interesting mobile applications that Syclo has developed? "We partnered with Motorola and IBM to help the Red Cross manage their supplies and logistics after hurricane Katrina," Jeff answered. "Twenty of our staff worked together to develop the mobile application in 14 days."
Thank you Jeff for sharing your insights as a Mobile Expert!
For more articles in this series please see:
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Leapfactor's Lionel Carrasco
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh
Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Gil Bouhnick
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Vivido Labs' Greg Tomb
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Troy O'Connor
Mobile Expert Interview Series: EntryPoint’s Pete Martin
Mobile Expert Interview Series: PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Ahmed El Adl, PhD
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Nokia's John Choate
Mobile Expert Interview Series: HotButtons' Jane and Keelin Glendon
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, Mobile Industry Analyst, Founder/CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
To start, Jeff carries a BlackBerry 9700 series, and his favorite mobile application on it is Google Maps. He has been with Syclo from the beginning when there were only four people. Today, Syclo has over 135 employees.
Syclo is one of three co-innovation partners of SAP in the world of enterprise mobility. The three are RIM, Sybase, and Syclo. SAP co-innovation partners share sales revenue, development efforts and product roadmaps with SAP. I wonder if the co-innovation partnership increases the prices of their solutions? I also wonder if having SAP define the roadmap will allow the co-innovation partners to innovate fast enough to keep up with the markets fast changing technologies?
Jeff shared that SAP has designated some mobility applications and business processes as strategic. The strategic ones he identified are:
1. CRM sales force automation [Sybase is the co-innovation partner for this category]
2. CRM field services/enterprise asset management [Syclo is the co-innovation partner for this category]
RIM is also a co-innovation partner, but I am not sure what it covers these days. I have always wondered how an ERP vendor could cozy up to a particular mobile device manufacturer? The next greatest mobile device is always just a press release away so how can you predict which vendor to bet on? Also, who wants to bet against Apple?
I asked Jeff who Syclo's biggest competitor is, and he said it varied since there are so many point solutions in the market but if a customer was looking for a MEAP that they tended to look at Syclo and Sybase who are the leaders. Interesting! OK, SAP's two co-innovation partners for mobility are each other's biggest competitors. That ought to make for some interesting business development and partner meetings. I can imagine the demarcation line between Sybase and Syclo's territories are being battled over daily in Waldorf.
Jeff reported that Sybase uses SAP's NetWeaver Mobile as their integration platform. Syclo, on the other hand, has its own integration technologies which pre-dated the co-innovation partnership. They are using these while they collaborate with SAP to leverage additional integration points.
A question that came to mind following my discussions with Jeff was how does SAP determine which vendor to recommend to a customer needing both mobile SFA and mobile FSA? In many cases CRMs encompass both categories. Does SAP really recommend that a customer select two separate mobility vendors to support one SAP CRM? I hope someone from SAP comments on this.
I asked, "Outside of the categories of mobile CRM SFA (sales force automation) and CRM FSA (field service automation), who should an SAP customer use for custom mobile applications?" "Syclo of course!" Jeff answered but then added, "There is still a lot of room for innovation and other SAP EcoHub partners in this mobility space." So outside of SFA and FSA the market is wide open for the rest of SAP's mobility partners. The challenge, of course, is getting mindshare. If Sybase and Syclo are being promoted in certain specific categories, then how does the best of breed from the rest of SAP's mobility partners capture a category and gain recognition and exposure?
I asked Jeff about Syclo's target markets and he answered, "Complex and strategic mobile applications for SAP users." He then explained that they like the big mobility projects with hundreds and thousands of users but will also entertain smaller mobility projects if there is a future potential for more mobile enterprise applications with the customer. "We like projects with hard ROIs (returns on investment)," he explained.
Jeff said that the enterprise mobile software market is still very fragmented, and no one really has a sizable market share. SAP reports around 90,000 customers, and Syclo has around 750 mobility customers but not all are SAP shops. The bottom line is there are a lot of opportunities available for mobility vendors in the SAP ecosystem.
Jeff added that in the mobile operating system market, there is increased fragmentation rather than decreased. It seems there is a lot of new innovation happening in the world of mobile operating systems.
I asked Jeff what he expects to see happen in the next few years in enterprise mobility. He said, "TCO (total cost of ownership) will drop dramatically as mobile application development tools become easier and MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) more mature. He already believes Syclo has a low TCO but believes there is much more that can be done. He then added that it will be very interesting to watch how companies manage important data on their employees' smartphones. He said perhaps companies will have "sandbox" locations on their employees' personal smartphones. These sandbox locations would be reserved for confidential company data and controlled and managed by the company. Interesting indeed!
I asked Jeff about the term MEAP. He said, "It is Gartner's term, and they defined the meaning." He then pointed out that Syclo is in the Leaders section of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for MEAPs. He believes a MEAP should be able to support many different kinds of mobile enterprise applications, include an SDK and be able to integrate with many different back-end ERPs, business applications and databases.
I asked Jeff for his opinion on mobile micro-applications. He said, "There is a lot of room for innovation! They have their role. Especially with consumers and reaching out to mobile employees." He added, "Companies are seeking mobile applications for a variety of reasons including branding and establishing a closer relationship with their customer base." Again, there is much room for innovation here!
Where does Jeff see the hottest markets for Syclo?
• Field services
• Utilities
• Oil and gas companies
• Oil and gas supply chains
• Life science companies that have FDA compliance requirements
• Government
Jeff said government has a couple of things going for it now:
1. Government economic stimulus money
2. Government's support for, and desire to use, technology to make things more efficient.
What business processes are they targeting?
• Work order/service tickets
• Plant maintenance
• Enterprise asset management
• Social workers/Case managers (and similar roles in other areas)
• Police incident reporting
• Replacing any paper-based processes used in the field
I asked what were some of the most interesting developments in mobility in the past 24 months for him. He said, "Apple iPhones, Apple iTunes and the explosion of smartphones used by consumers." He added that these developments have totally changed the game and has had a major impact on the enterprise. "IT cannot ignore the pressures to mobilize now," he said. In addition, he pointed out that it is surprising there has not seen more consolidation. Rather, there are even more new players and mobile operating systems entering the market today."
I asked Jeff what he thought about SAP's mobile strategy. He said, "SAP must own the roadmap for the most critical mobile applications and business processes." He likes their strategy.
What differentiates Syclo from other SAP mobility partners? Jeff answered:
• Lower TCO (total cost of ownership)
• Pre-packaged mobile applications are relatively inexpensive
• Co-innovation with SAP
• Syclo shares revenue with SAP
• SAP sales teams are incented to promote Syclo
• Syclo has an model-driven development approach which enables mobile applications to be developed without programming.
• IBM resells Syclo solutions
• Syclo integrates with Oracle
• Accenture and CSC are systems integrator partners (there must be a lot of money on the table for these SI companies to be involved).
What are some of the most interesting mobile applications that Syclo has developed? "We partnered with Motorola and IBM to help the Red Cross manage their supplies and logistics after hurricane Katrina," Jeff answered. "Twenty of our staff worked together to develop the mobile application in 14 days."
Thank you Jeff for sharing your insights as a Mobile Expert!
For more articles in this series please see:
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Leapfactor's Lionel Carrasco
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh
Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Gil Bouhnick
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Vivido Labs' Greg Tomb
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Troy O'Connor
Mobile Expert Interview Series: EntryPoint’s Pete Martin
Mobile Expert Interview Series: PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Ahmed El Adl, PhD
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Nokia's John Choate
Mobile Expert Interview Series: HotButtons' Jane and Keelin Glendon
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, Mobile Industry Analyst, Founder/CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
Mobile Solution Models, Part 2
Even the largest enterprises in the world may only have the need for 200 users of a particular custom mobile enterprise application. For example, I worked on an enterprise mobility project in China that was incredibly complex and expensive to develop and the maximum number of users was about 200.
The solution enabled a government agency to receive real-time quality inspection data on a massive bridge project. They wanted each section of steel to be uniquely identified for quality purposes and the data stored in an archive with the government agency.
The engineering firm requested that my team develop the mobile application on a MEAP. I sent my team to China to work on the requirements for a few weeks. The solution was incredibly challenging to develop, but the end product was a work of art.
Here is my point - this mobile enterprise solution was very expensive to develop, but worth every penny to the customer. The solution enabled the engineering firm to be compliant to government requirements on a project worth over $5 billion.
These types of customized mobile solutions, although very important, will never be developed for the masses. These types of development projects need a MEAP with a powerful SDK (software development kit) so that changes in requirements can easily be made in the future by the users or by other developers.
Custom mobile applications should be developed using a software development kit in a MEAP. MEAPs will help future proof the mobile application by keeping up with changes in mobile operating systems and standards, while providing a development methodology and tools to speed up and manage development efforts. In addition, integration, device management and production environments can all be managed using defined and documented processes.
See related article:
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, Mobile Industry Analyst, Founder/CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict twitter:
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
MEAPs, Thick Clients and Mobile Chain of Custody Applications
For people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries like Ethiopia, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, and Ghana, receiving AIDS mediation in a cost effective, secure and reliable manner is critical to saving the lives of millions. In addition to the health crisis, the geographical challenges of trying to care for patients that live in remote villages where access to medical facilities is minimal is a huge obstacle.
The challenge undertaken by global health organizations and companies funded by PEPFAR was to create a drug delivery system that would accomplish the following:
Prior to implementing mobile solutions, agencies were only able to track drugs to a warehouse located in the larger cities in many countries. Now delivery drivers are supplied with a mobile application that can track the delivery and re-ordering of ARV drugs from the warehouse, to regional distribution centers, to area regional centers and finally to the patient. Every time the ARV medications change hands, a digital record is made of the transaction. The information collected is synchronized back up the chain where program managers can actively manage the continual flow of mediations.
Since implementation this mobile solution has helped over 50,000 AIDS patients receive treatments in the Ivory Coast alone. This, coupled with the fact that the mobile solutions decreased the delivery cycle from three months to as little as three weeks, has caught the attention of many other countries and relief organizations around the world. These thick client mobile applications that operate in a connected and disconnected mode are critical to these kinds of environments. Many organizations are looking at using MEAPs and thick client applications to offer better and more timely treatment to those afflicted with AIDS.
In the SAP ecosystem Sky Technologies, Sybase, and Syclo are the SAP mobility partners that seem to focus on supporting custom mobile applications with MEAPs that operate in both connected and disconnected modes using a thick client architectures. By thick client I mean a mobile application that can operate with or without connectivity and that includes a mobile database for storing data on the device while waiting for synchronization.
In my opinion a good MEAP should have an SDK so that the IT department can utilize it to update and edit mobile applications and develop new ones. Without a good SDK that the IT department can learn, the enterprise is hostage to the vendor. The world of mobility is moving far too fast, and the IT department needs to be able to update and upgrade mobile applications on their schedule not the vendors.
Mobile micro-applications and mobile browser based applications are valuable and provide significant ROIs in many situations, but they cannot support the rugged environments described in this case study and would not have saved thousands of lives like the thick client mobile solution that was used.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, Mobile Industry Analyst, Founder/CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
The challenge undertaken by global health organizations and companies funded by PEPFAR was to create a drug delivery system that would accomplish the following:
- Expedite the delivery process.
- Ensure the secure transfer of drugs.
- Provide visibility and transparency to participating agencies.
- Ensure accurate deliveries.
- Automate ARV drug processes that provide a rapid, regular, reliable supply of medications to patients.
- Provide a transactional record of the ARV drugs and test kits at every key point in the distribution chain.
Prior to implementing mobile solutions, agencies were only able to track drugs to a warehouse located in the larger cities in many countries. Now delivery drivers are supplied with a mobile application that can track the delivery and re-ordering of ARV drugs from the warehouse, to regional distribution centers, to area regional centers and finally to the patient. Every time the ARV medications change hands, a digital record is made of the transaction. The information collected is synchronized back up the chain where program managers can actively manage the continual flow of mediations.
Since implementation this mobile solution has helped over 50,000 AIDS patients receive treatments in the Ivory Coast alone. This, coupled with the fact that the mobile solutions decreased the delivery cycle from three months to as little as three weeks, has caught the attention of many other countries and relief organizations around the world. These thick client mobile applications that operate in a connected and disconnected mode are critical to these kinds of environments. Many organizations are looking at using MEAPs and thick client applications to offer better and more timely treatment to those afflicted with AIDS.
In the SAP ecosystem Sky Technologies, Sybase, and Syclo are the SAP mobility partners that seem to focus on supporting custom mobile applications with MEAPs that operate in both connected and disconnected modes using a thick client architectures. By thick client I mean a mobile application that can operate with or without connectivity and that includes a mobile database for storing data on the device while waiting for synchronization.
In my opinion a good MEAP should have an SDK so that the IT department can utilize it to update and edit mobile applications and develop new ones. Without a good SDK that the IT department can learn, the enterprise is hostage to the vendor. The world of mobility is moving far too fast, and the IT department needs to be able to update and upgrade mobile applications on their schedule not the vendors.
Mobile micro-applications and mobile browser based applications are valuable and provide significant ROIs in many situations, but they cannot support the rugged environments described in this case study and would not have saved thousands of lives like the thick client mobile solution that was used.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
SAP Mentor, Mobile Industry Analyst, Founder/CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Leapfactor's Lionel Carrasco
I was in Miami, Florida a few weeks ago and was able to meet up with Lionel Carrasco and do some sailing. Lionel Carrasco is the CEO and founder of Leapfactor, an Enterprise mobility player and partner of SAP. Lionel shared his thoughts and insights while the sun was setting over Miami.I asked Lionel how he originally got into the mobility industry. He explained that he managed the development, as an SAP systems integrator CTO, of a number of large enterprise mobility projects in the Direct Store Delivery, Logistics Execution, and Sales Force Automation space. These projects were in the USA, Latin America, and Europe. In the course of designing, developing, deploying and supporting these applications, he learned much. He believes this experience will be invaluable to SAP and Leapfactor customers.
I asked Lionel how he would describe Leapfactor. He answered that Leapfactor understands that cloud computing and mobility should come together. This joining together will enable large enterprises to take advantage of mobility in ways similar to consumers. He believes enterprises should mobilize employees, partners, and consumers. He believes enterprises should consider mobilizing their entire ecosystem as there is value to be recognized in all areas of it.
What differentiates Leapfactor from other SAP mobility partners? Lionel answered that Leapfactor is a native cloud based mobile offering that can handle a large scale volume of users, even in on premises implementation models. They do their best to remove the complexity from a mobile enterprise, yet they offer the required enterprise class security and compliance capabilities. He added that Leapfactor does not think from the "inside out." “Looking from the inside out,” according to Lionel, “Makes you think like an ERP running on a desktop computer and simply extending features outside the four walls which limits you.”
"We are thinking of not just one mobile application but hundreds!" Lionel emphasized. "Developers can build them, customers can build them, our partners can build them, and we can build them on behalf of our customers as well."
Lionel emphasized again and again that the economics of mobile applications, the way they are developed, deployed and supported is completely different now than they were even a few months back. I interpreted that to mean not many mobility vendors have recognized or accepted the new paradigms and realities yet. He believes the new business models that Leapfactor is bringing to the SAP marketplace are significant, not only for customers but SAP and the partners ecosystem.
I asked Lionel about his target audiences. His answer was end users, end users, and end users. He believes that end users need to realize value with the very first click of a mobile application, and the enterprise should receive their value second. It is a view that suggests the end users are the secret to an enterprise's success. If the end user likes the mobile application, then the enterprise will realize the value.
Lionel said that Leapfactor is here to create value for the business. The winners will be those enterprises that create apps for the edges of the processes because the core is already taken care of and automated by ERPs. The edges are where the enterprise relates to customers and partners and where the opportunities for mobility lie. He then added that it is also very important to make the IT department the heroes, because they will be able to respond to business demands faster instead of managing the complexity and maintenance budgets.
I asked about Leapfactor's mobile applications. He listed them as follows:
- Business Indicators - Mobilized business intelligence for all types of users from the executives down to blue collar workers.
- Mobile Alerts - When action and acknowledge is required and email is not enough.
- Mobile Approvals - For any system and process that requires an approval.
I asked Lionel if he viewed Leapfactor as a development platform. He answered that it is a mobile deployment platform that can rapidly scale up and scale down depending on the customer's and software developer's needs. “We added some development accelerators and user interface libraries to increase productivity and reduce complexity for developers, but that does not make us a development platform. We rely on the native development tools of each mobile OS,” he said.
It is a deployment platform that mobile application developers can use to deploy the applications they have developed without the need to build a complete and expensive SaaS infrastructure themselves.
One of the most interesting thoughts that Lionel shared was this, "Applications and lines of code are increasingly disposable. The code is less and less important since mobile applications can be developed quickly and with relatively little investment." Hmmm . . . where is the value then? Lionel believes the value will be in the ability to economically and quickly deploy and support mobile applications – applications that offer immediate value to the end users and that are easily distributed. I think he was only half joking but he said, "Mobile applications can be easily thrown away as newer and better mobile applications are developed." It seems to be the personification of agile.
Lionel sees one of the key roles of Leapfactor is to help other mobile software developers manage deployments, compliance issues, and testing and then supporting their operational environments through the Leapfactor platform.
One of the key values in the Leapfactor platform is its ability to meter and measure the use of mobile applications. This information can be used for any number of emerging business models that may include charging the user based on transaction numbers, volume of data used, etc.
I asked Lionel for his opinion on the role of mobile micro-apps. He said mobile micro-apps are easy to maintain, easy to deploy, and easy to develop. This means developers can rapidly bring value and incremental improvements to users. He added that sharing the consumer approach to mobile applications with large enterprises also offers a lot of value.
Lionel refers to "thick client" mobile applications as "obese" mobile applications. He said it is wrong to include too many features in one code base for mobile devices. Obese applications are nightmares to maintain and take far too long to develop, test and deliver. He added, "Developers need to stop thinking like Windows Desktop application developers and change their paradigms to think like a mobile user."
In my past I have been involved in many "obese" mobile application development projects. I can share that the customer requirements always seemed to change faster than you could design, develop, test, and deploy them.
I asked Lionel for his opinions on MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms). He said there is still a need for MEAPs on some projects, but the development is very expensive. He believes MEAPs were mostly designed for older development paradigms, and they need to change to support a more consumer-oriented approach for enterprises of today.
I asked Lionel to look into the future and tell me what he sees. He offered that mobility is already pervasive. He said most less-developed nations have more mobile phones than landlines. He believes that soon all mobile phones will be smartphones.
He also believes that enterprises will begin building management functionality that enables a separation between work and play on the same mobile phone. Perhaps it is a work phone until 5:00 p.m. and then switches to personal settings with personal applications. I find this whole area of thinking very interesting.
What is SAP doing right? Lionel said SAP is focused on mobility in 2010, which is a very good thing. They are demonstrating that they believe it is important, and although they have been slow to embrace mobility and cloud computing, they seem to be picking up speed. They are rallying the SAP troops and the customer base which is all good. Lionel added, “I have had the chance to meet Kevin Nix, who now leads the SAP mobile strategy, and it was refreshing to hear his fresh ideas and real world experiences.”
Lionel believes that SAP's partner strategy for mobile applications is the right strategy. "They realize they cannot do it all and have invited partners to fill the gaps" he added. "Past failures that SAP experienced in mobility were due to SAP following old paradigms."
What can we expect from Leapfactor in 2010? Lionel provided the following list:
- Leapfactor will show the industry and customers more proof points that Leapfactor's model and technology is the right approach. It will be disruptive to current thinking, but it is the right approach.
- Leapfactor will deliver more killer apps, but more importantly, customers and partners will do the same.
- Leapfactor will be adding many customers, small and extra large ones.
- Leapfactor will publicly release a Developer Kit that has been limited to date to only a few partners.
- Additional RIM and Android apps will be released this year.
Read more interviews with mobile experts:
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Gil Bouhnick
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: Vivido Labs' Greg Tomb
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Troy O'Connor
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: EntryPoint’s Pete Martin
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Ahmed El Adl, PhD
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: Nokia's John Choate
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: HotButtons' Jane and Keelin Glendon
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************
Monetizing Mobile Applications in the SAP Ecosystem
SAP is trying to figure out the best way to monetize enterprise mobile applications and B2C mobile applications. These are complex issues. Extending the functionality of SAP to mobile users is a key goal for SAP. They want to enable many, many more users to benefit from SAP. The mobile workforce and consumers are both areas where SAP can extend value, but how do they charge for it?
I have had conversations this month with several SAP ecosystem veterans about this topic. They remembered conversations several years ago when SAP was quoting full PULs (platform user licenses) for each mobile user. That did not go over well. They have since revised that number down, down, down, but now you have mobile micro-applications that just expose little segments of value to users. How is this going to be monetized by SAP. There is value for micro-applications vendors and end users for using SAP functionality on an iPhone, but how should it be priced? How can it be monitored?
SAP's goals are also to extend SAP functionality to consumers' smart phones in a B2C model. An example would be an iPhone enabled catalog that is hosted on SAP. It may include inventory updates, shopping carts/order entry, shipment tracking, etc. How does SAP monetize consumer applications that are developed by mobile application vendors?
I would like to hear your thoughts, as this is an issue that is being worked through now.
*************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
I have had conversations this month with several SAP ecosystem veterans about this topic. They remembered conversations several years ago when SAP was quoting full PULs (platform user licenses) for each mobile user. That did not go over well. They have since revised that number down, down, down, but now you have mobile micro-applications that just expose little segments of value to users. How is this going to be monetized by SAP. There is value for micro-applications vendors and end users for using SAP functionality on an iPhone, but how should it be priced? How can it be monitored?
SAP's goals are also to extend SAP functionality to consumers' smart phones in a B2C model. An example would be an iPhone enabled catalog that is hosted on SAP. It may include inventory updates, shopping carts/order entry, shipment tracking, etc. How does SAP monetize consumer applications that are developed by mobile application vendors?
I would like to hear your thoughts, as this is an issue that is being worked through now.
*************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Mobile SAP Apps for Sales Order Capture and Delivery
Banks Holdings Limited (BHL), a SAP customer, is one of Barbados' most successful public companies and the island's largest beverage conglomerate. BHL has four subsidiaries comprising of two beverage manufacturers, a dairy processing plant and a distribution firm.
BHL has recently mobilized three key SAP business processes:
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
BHL has recently mobilized three key SAP business processes:
- Pre-Selling - The Pre-Selling scenario enabled the capture and confirmation of new orders by the mobile salesforce as they interacted with the end customers, giving them visibility into their individual orders and pricing structures. By delivering SAP pricing schemas to the mobile device, BHL's sales representatives now have the ability to highlight to customers any volume scale based price breaks and a potential for cross selling opportunities.
- Dispatch - Dispatch is responsible for managing the inventory required to fulfill the orders being delivered on a daily basis. Leveraging the SAP FIFO and guided picking processes, the mobile dispatch process ensures the correct stock is not only loaded into the correct delivery truck but also in the most efficient order for the actual deliveries being fulfilled.
- Delivery - The delivery process is responsible for the Proof of Delivery (POD) process to the end customers. The mobile component not only manages core delivery processes, but also allows for any last minute adjustments to a delivery requested by a customer and the corresponding downstream SAP pricing impacts these changes may have.
- The ability to work both online and offline when mobile staff is beyond mobile device coverage boundaries.
- Support for multiple device types such as Motorola’s hand-held devices and printers.
- Integration without the need for complex middleware.
- Flexibility of the GUI interface.
- In-depth SAP experience.
- The ability to extend SAP specific business processes to the point of activity (mobile)
- The ability to utilize existing SAP ABAP skills kept cost of enhancements low as any future changes and enhancements could be performed in-house.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Mobile Expert Interview Series: EntryPoint’s Pete Martin
Pete Martin, the founder of EntryPoint Consulting worked for SAP for over five years. He managed field operations in his region which included sales and pre-sales. His consulting company, which was founded in 2003, resells SAP solutions to US based middle market companies and business units of the Fortune 1000. They focus on SAP CRM, an area where they have a lot of experience. Today mobility is a big issue for his customers.
Pete was involved in one of the first mobile SAP CRM implementations. It did not go well. Why?
- SAP did not have a well defined interface for CRM at that time. There was about five different ways to interface with it and this caused confusion with all involved.
- SAP did not have a strong mobility roadmap or good guidance at the time.
- It was a case of you don't know what you don't know.
- Broadband internet was not widely available and connection and synchronization speeds were slow.
- The customer wanted to download huge price books and massive amounts of customer data which bogged down the system.
- The client wanted to replicate their ERP on the mobile devices – not good.
After this first painful experience, Pete and his team stepped back and studied the mobility space for about three years. However, in 2009 they lost two SAP CRM sales because they did not have a strong mobile SAP CRM offering. This pain motivated them to jump back into researching good mobile solutions for SAP CRM. Pete says that now 100% of SAP CRM sales prospects are requesting mobile extensions. It is no longer an option. A mobilized version of SAP CRM is a requirement.
They looked at a lot of different MEAPs that worked with SAP. There were several things they wanted from a mobility partner:
- EntryPoint sells to medium and large companies. They need a solution that can scale from a few dozen users to a few thousand. They needed a partner that could support both of these markets and be priced to work in both.
- They looked for a mobile provider that had already successfully implemented mobile SAP CRM solutions at a large company. They wanted to see a full production environment already in place. The partner they chose already had a successful mobile SAP CRM implementation with one of the largest global CPG companies.
- They wanted a mobile provider that was not overly complex. They were looking for a simple and elegant architecture that was easy to implement and support.
- They wanted to partner with and learn one mobile solution that could be broadly implemented across many different business processes.
- They wanted a mobile provider that "partnered" well. Some mobile providers are large and small partners get overlooked. EntryPoint wanted a mobile partner that wanted them.
The end result was that EntryPoint Consulting selected SAP Partner, Sky Technologies as their mobile SAP CRM partner. They are now confident in telling customers they can have a mobilized CRM in 90 days.
Mobility is a big focus for EntryPoint Consulting in 2010. Why?
- SAP customers are asking for mobile solutions and mobile extensions to their business processes.
- Sales prospects are all asking for mobile extensions.
- When EntryPoint Consulting promotes events around mobilizing SAP CRM they get BIG responses.
- They lost two SAP CRM sales last year because they did not have a good mobile solution provider and plan in place.
- SAP field sales is asking EntryPoint about their mobile solutions and plans. Pete wants a good answer.
I asked Pete what he thought about SAP's current mobility strategy and he said, "In markets where products and technologies are changing fast, it is hard for SAP to keep up. They are simply too big to be nimble. It is best for them to partner for mobile solutions today." In a follow up statement he added, "SAP's sales teams are still a bit confused by SAP's mobility strategy." It seems there is more to be done to evangelize SAP's mobility strategy and plans internally.
Pete also shared his thoughts on what SAP sales teams could learn from other CRM vendors. He said other vendors had learned how to sell to mid-level, line of business folks successfully. This according to Pete, is where CRM is sold. SAP sales teams are great at the C level sales process, but have historically been troubled when selling to the line of business. "If the VP of Sales can't connect to the CRM with his/her favorite mobile smartphone, the sale is lost," said Pete.
To read additional articles from the Mobile Expert Interview Series see below:
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Ahmed El Adl, PhD
- Mobile Expert Interview Series: Nokia's John Choate
- Mobile Expert Interview Series - Jane and Keelin Glendon of HotButtons
***********************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.utilizer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an indpedent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
***********************************************
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Nokia's John Choate
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nokia's John Choate last week. He is working in the Augmented Reality (AR) space for mobile applications at Nokia's office in San Francisco. Isn't that a cool area to focus on? John's title is PMO 2.0. (Program Management Organization), and he works with the hardware and software sides of the Nokia business to bring them together and to define new technologies and solutions.
A funny side note - Nokia's offices are so high in an office building that their phones have a difficult time getting good reception and Nokia employees only use mobile phones. As a result Nokia employees are running around the office trying to find good reception. I must add that any mobile phone at that altitude, at that location, is likely to have the same challenges. It was just a reminder that there is more work to be done and that disconnected mobile smartphone applications are still needed, even in downtown areas. Can you image a field service technician trying to enter his mobile work order on a smartphone application that is dependent on real-time connectivity in that office?
Let's get back to the interview about Augmented Reality with John. Augmented Reality is described as a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery or data. Nokia's Point and Find solution is one of those solutions. With Point and Find the user can point the camera phone at an object and snap a picture. The picture combined with GPS coordinates immediately identifies the object and displays information about it.
Point and Find is not just for buildings and landmarks. The user can snap a picture of a movie poster and information about the movie, nearby theaters and run times is presented. In addition, you can snap a photo of a 2D bar code and product information will appear. Nokia also supports video as well as digital photos with Point and Find.
AR is fascinating to me. Different movie posters can bring up different information. The posters are recognized and different data is found. For example, the same poster in London, because it is associated with a GPS coordinate, would bring up different information than the same poster in New York.
Slight graphical differences in a poster or sign could tell the Point and Find application to display different information. Your real-world reality can now be supplemented by historical facts, nearby businesses, crime statistics, favorite restaurants and anything else you can image. This is crazy powerful stuff to ponder.
I wrote an article last year called Network-Centric Field Force Automation on how the military is using similar technologies in their network-centric warfare strategies and how field services could learn from it.
John and his colleagues at Nokia have many amazing ideas on how this can add value to the hospitality, retail and travel industries to list a few. For example, a sports tourist spends five times more than a general tourist. It is a demographic that businesses would like to target. How can this be done using AR...use your imagination.
A Nordstrom shopper could simply snap a photo of a Nordstrom store and information about their favorite products, their locations and prices could pop up in AR. Perhaps the application could alert the Nordstrom attendants that a premium shopper had just arrived.
John used terms like "buying a world" in our discussions. A business could "buy a world" in the Point and Find solution and decide what to put in this AR world. Do they want to load this world with historical facts, crime statistics, tourist locations, hotels and restaurants? The owner of this "world" could add as many layers of information as they desired. They could identify the underground electrical lines, sewage systems, accident statistics, health inspection reports of nearby restaurants, tour packages or simply point to a Starbucks.
I appreciate John opening this AR "world" to us and introducing us to Nokia's Point and Find.
Related article:
Mobile Expert Interview Series - Jane and Keelin Glendon of HotButtons
If you are involved in or interested in SAP related enterprise mobility, then you are invited to join the Linkedin group SAP Enterprise Mobility.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report, Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
A funny side note - Nokia's offices are so high in an office building that their phones have a difficult time getting good reception and Nokia employees only use mobile phones. As a result Nokia employees are running around the office trying to find good reception. I must add that any mobile phone at that altitude, at that location, is likely to have the same challenges. It was just a reminder that there is more work to be done and that disconnected mobile smartphone applications are still needed, even in downtown areas. Can you image a field service technician trying to enter his mobile work order on a smartphone application that is dependent on real-time connectivity in that office?
Let's get back to the interview about Augmented Reality with John. Augmented Reality is described as a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery or data. Nokia's Point and Find solution is one of those solutions. With Point and Find the user can point the camera phone at an object and snap a picture. The picture combined with GPS coordinates immediately identifies the object and displays information about it.
Point and Find is not just for buildings and landmarks. The user can snap a picture of a movie poster and information about the movie, nearby theaters and run times is presented. In addition, you can snap a photo of a 2D bar code and product information will appear. Nokia also supports video as well as digital photos with Point and Find.
AR is fascinating to me. Different movie posters can bring up different information. The posters are recognized and different data is found. For example, the same poster in London, because it is associated with a GPS coordinate, would bring up different information than the same poster in New York.
Slight graphical differences in a poster or sign could tell the Point and Find application to display different information. Your real-world reality can now be supplemented by historical facts, nearby businesses, crime statistics, favorite restaurants and anything else you can image. This is crazy powerful stuff to ponder.
I wrote an article last year called Network-Centric Field Force Automation on how the military is using similar technologies in their network-centric warfare strategies and how field services could learn from it.
John and his colleagues at Nokia have many amazing ideas on how this can add value to the hospitality, retail and travel industries to list a few. For example, a sports tourist spends five times more than a general tourist. It is a demographic that businesses would like to target. How can this be done using AR...use your imagination.
A Nordstrom shopper could simply snap a photo of a Nordstrom store and information about their favorite products, their locations and prices could pop up in AR. Perhaps the application could alert the Nordstrom attendants that a premium shopper had just arrived.
John used terms like "buying a world" in our discussions. A business could "buy a world" in the Point and Find solution and decide what to put in this AR world. Do they want to load this world with historical facts, crime statistics, tourist locations, hotels and restaurants? The owner of this "world" could add as many layers of information as they desired. They could identify the underground electrical lines, sewage systems, accident statistics, health inspection reports of nearby restaurants, tour packages or simply point to a Starbucks.
I appreciate John opening this AR "world" to us and introducing us to Nokia's Point and Find.
Related article:
Mobile Expert Interview Series - Jane and Keelin Glendon of HotButtons
If you are involved in or interested in SAP related enterprise mobility, then you are invited to join the Linkedin group SAP Enterprise Mobility.
***************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Author of the report, Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Advice for Mobile Start-Ups - Article Series
A few months ago I started an article series called "Advice for Mobile Start-Ups." These articles are spread out over a couple of months and mixed in with several other series, so I have created this index to make them easier to find.
Advice for Mobile Start-Up Series:
***************************************************
Author Kevin Benedict
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Advice for Mobile Start-Up Series:
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Find Your Market Aggregation Points
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: You are a Publishing Company Like it or Not!
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Focus on Mobile Content, Mobile Business Processes, Integration and Workflow
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 1
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 2
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 3
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 4
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 5
If you haven't already joined, I would like to personally invite you to join the Linkedin Group called SAP Enterprise Mobility. It is for everyone involved in mobility projects and mobile solutions in and around SAP.
In addition, if you have an enterprise mobile software application or service that integrates with and supports SAP, please add your solution to the SAP Enterprise Mobility solution directory here so we can share your information with the group.
I provide executive and marketing workshops for mobile start-ups in the enterprise mobility industry. If you are interested in learning more please contact me.
***************************************************
Author Kevin Benedict
Mobile Strategy Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: http://twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Extracting More Value from SAP Solutions via Mobility
I was speaking to one of my friends at SAP this week who mentioned that only 5% of a typical SAP customers' workforce is "white collar." What is the significance? That same 5% also happens to be the SAP users in a company. SAP is looking for mobility partners to address the mobility needs of the 5%, but also to reach beyond to the 95% that are not currently SAP users.
I also spoke with the former CEO of SAP North America, Greg Tomb last week about his new mobility focus. His new venture, Vivido Labs has a mobility offering called the Mowego Suite that will target both the 5% and the 95%. Initially they will focus on the 5%, because although these users are benefiting from their SAP investment, they are just scraping the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the additional value they could be extracting from SAP. Tomb views providing additional value to SAP customers through mobility as a key goal for Vivido Labs. "They [SAP customers] all have smartphones and they have made significant investments in SAP," says Tomb. Mobile business applications can extend SAP solutions outside of the cubicles (where the 5% sit) into the warehouses, manufacturing floors, plant maintenance environments, field operations, job sites and customer locations where the additional 95% work.
Vivido Labs has ambitious plans to develop over 30 different mobile applications that will work in real time and be integrated with SAP environments. These mobile applications will be light weight applications that are focused on real-time connectivity and direct integration with SAP via webservices or other SAP centric approaches. This is different from some SAP partners that focus on mobilizing their own third-party business applications first and then integrating with SAP on the backend through a traditional integration scenario.
Vivido Labs has close relationships with many SAP systems integrators and they believe the Mowego suite will be a popular choice in this channel as an enterprise mobile business application platform.
***************************************************
Author Kevin Benedict
Mobility Consultant, Mobile Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert and as such I work with, and have worked with, many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Advice for Mobile Start-ups: Working with SAP, Part 5
Part 4 of this series may have demoralized some mobile start-ups hoping to work closely with SAP, but Part 5 in this series provides solutions to many of the challenges identified in Part 4. Let's now take a closer look at some of the comments I made in Part 4.
The SAP customer is simplifying their IT infrastructure to reduce complexity and no non-SAP technology will be added unless it is approved by 17 business and IT committees. Who has the time to fight this battle?
- Embed your solution in SAP so it becomes a part of SAP and avoids these issues (Sky Technologies, a Certified SAP Partner embeds their mobile solutions in SAP)
- Simply provide a mobile application or iPhone view of SAP's current applications (Mobile micro-apps)
The IT Managers only want to learn mobile technology that will add to their resume and help them get their next assignment. The cool mobile technology that they just witnessed does not have its own category on the IT recruiters' websites. They want NAME power on their resume.
- Show IT managers how to extend their current SAP infrastructure and code to mobile applications. This will accomplish their purposes.
- Show IT managers that your solution is from a Certified SAP Partner
The SAP system integrator does not support the mobile technology, so recommends some other mobile solution that they support and have trained experts on.
- Go directly to the end user with your message and evangelize and educate them. Build support internally for the "best" mobile technology. Close the deal first, then motivate the system integrator to be trained on your mobile technology and play a role in the implementation.
The SAP sales team does not get quota credit on it, but they do on another mobile solution. If the sales person does not make their numbers they are fired, so they do not care which mobile technology is better if it does not help keep their job.
- Find a way for your mobile technology to sell more SAP licenses and products. Perhaps the mobile workforce that is not currently using SAP licenses will need them if they are connected via mobile devices. This would encourage the SAP sales force to work with you to sell more SAP licenses. Think in terms of the SAP AE's interests as well as the customers.
SAP's Industry Principals and Solutions Managers also must be very selective as to the mobile technology they recommend. They would not want to recommend a product that was not on the SAP price list or Certified Partner list, unless there was no other viable choice or this product helped sell other SAP licenses that benefited the SAP sales team.
- SAP has only identified a few mobile categories for partnerships; field service automation, route/delivery and mobile CRM. I can tell you from personal experience that hundreds of mobile applications are needed in most large enterprises. Mobile applications that deal with security, asset management, inspections, compliance, job estimating, fleet management, engineering, construction, logistics, etc. There are massive opportunities to mobilize these business processes.
- Show the SAP user and the SAP sales team how you can help them.
SAP customers are often on 5 year plans. These plans include upgrades, roll-outs, add-ons, customization, old product sun setting, mergers and acquisitions, etc. What does this mean to the mobile entrepreneur? It means your product needs a 5 year road map that aligns with SAP and the SAP customer's. If it does not, you are unlikely to survive the first round.
- Be the thought leader and explain where mobility is going to be in 5 years. Tell them why your solution is better aligned with the direction of mobility than any.
The biggest project and highest priority in the company is around route delivery improvement, and your project is mobile SAP CRM. The route delivery mobility vendor agrees to extend their mobile solution into mobile CRM and since it is a higher priority, you lose.
- Understand the decision making process, organizational chart and budget limits within IT and the department you are targeting. Can you keep the project cost below the threshold that requires additional management approvals? Can you break down your project so that yearly costs keep it below the approval thresholds so you can simply focus on this one department until it is firmly established?
The CIO will never get invited to speak in front of thousands at Sapphire if they choose your solution. Your user conferences could be held at Denny's.
- Become a Certified SAP partner and attend Sapphire yourself. Be a mobile solution provider in a different category than other larger mobility vendors. Be the mobile application provider for; food processors, engineers, bridge inspections, healthcare, quality assurance, sustainability, etc., and then expand your mobile offerings. That is exactly what all the other mobile partners of SAP are doing.
If you would like to discuss these strategies and/or my consulting practice please contact me.
Related Articles:
- Advice for Mobile Start-ups: Working with SAP, Part 1
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 2
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 3
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 4
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Find Your Market Aggregation Points
- Advice to Mobile Start-Ups: You are a Publishing Company Like it or Not!
- Advice to Mobile Start-ups: Focus on Mobile Content, Mobile Business Processes, Integration and Workflow
____________________________
Author Kevin Benedict
Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert and as such I work with, and have worked with, many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 4
SAP can be like a giant aircraft carrier moving powerfully across the ocean. It is huge and heavy and if you are a swimmer in the ocean trying to make it change directions to suite your purposes, good luck. A more successful approach is to understand the direction the ship is going and jump on board. Sign on, offer them a hand and help them get there. Perhaps as you gain their confidence they will let you into the wheelhouse where you can learn about their intended strategies and influence future directions.
Mobile software companies and their entrepreneurs often feel their mobile technology and strategy is better than all others. They often feel driven by a messianic mission to carry their mobile technology message to the world, and then scream in frustration when others don't seem to "get it." I understand. I have screamed.
Mobility entrepreneurs are often focused on their specific mobile technology. Many have engineering backgrounds and believe they have solved a significant problem. The challenge they often face is not understanding the business of their potential partners, resellers and target customers. Let me provide the following scenario to demonstrate my point:
There is a large conference room with a long table. There are 2 mobility entrepreneurs, 12 IT managers for a large SAP customer, 4 sales and pre-sales folks from SAP, and 3 representatives from a large system integrator with a focused SAP practice in attendance. The mobility entrepreneurs stand up and present the "world's best" enterprise mobility technology to the attendees. When they are done presenting, lots of questions are asked; the entrepreneurs cover them all and leave to catch their flight home expecting a PO on the fax machine when they arrive. The PO never arrives. Why?
Here are some possible reasons:
- The SAP customer has a $14 million problem, and the mobile technology presented will solve only $675,000 of that problem. They need a complete solution, not a partial.
- The $14 million problem requires a full range of systems integration, business process design and SAP customization to fix. They want to fix this problem with one overall integrated solution, not many small solutions linked together. Complexity can kill.
- The SAP customer has three preferred SAP systems integrators – none have a practice around this particular mobile technology.
- The SAP customer is simplifying their IT infrastructure to reduce complexity and no non-SAP technology will be added unless it is approved by 17 business and IT committees. Who has the time to fight this battle?
- The IT Managers only want to learn mobile technology that will add to their resume and help them get their next assignment. The cool mobile technology that they just witnessed does not have its own category on the IT recruiters' websites. They want NAME power on their resume.
- The SAP system integrator does not support the mobile technology, so recommends some other mobile solution that they support and have trained experts on.
- The SAP sales team does not get quota credit on it, but they do on another mobile solution. If the sales person does not make their numbers they are fired, so they do not care which mobile technology is better if it does not help keep their job.
- SAP's Industry Principals and Solutions Managers also must be very selective as to the mobile technology they recommend. They would not want to recommend a product that was not on the SAP price list or Certified Partner list, unless there was no other viable choice or this product helped sell other SAP licenses that benefited the SAP sales team. Their priorities would be:
- SAP solution
- SAP price list solution (could be a partner's solution on the price list)
- SAP Certified or Innovation Partner
- Only in desperate times would a non-partner be recommended and then only if it helped sell more SAP products
- SAP pre-sales teams learn about many different technologies, but if it does not help their Account Executive make his/her quarterly numbers, it is unlikely to be introduced to the customer. However, there is an exception; if the solution, combined with an SAP solution helps close more revenue for the SAP Account Executive, then you have a winner.
- SAP customers are often on 5 year plans. These plans include upgrades, roll-outs, add-ons, customization, old product sun setting, mergers and acquisitions, etc. What does this mean to the mobile entrepreneur? It means your product needs a 5 year road map that aligns with SAP and the SAP customer's. If it does not, you are unlikely to survive the first round.
- Large software companies like SAP often consider potential partners as possible acquisition targets. Issues like are you private or public, customer base size, intellectual property ownership, market presence, etc, play into these considerations. If two partners have similar technologies, the one that is a better future acquisition target may be chosen for strategic reasons.
- The SAP customer may have outsourced their IT to a large service provider with their own recommended mobile solution.
- The SAP customer may have a large server deal with IBM, and IBM agrees to throw in a software solution for free if the annual support contracts are renewed...it happened to me :-(
- The biggest project and highest priority in the company is around route delivery improvement, and your project is mobile SAP CRM. The route delivery mobility vendor agrees to extend their mobile solution into mobile CRM and since it is a higher priority, you lose.
- The CIO will never get invited to speak in front of thousands at Sapphire if they choose your solution.
- Your user conferences could be held at Denny's.
In summary, a mobile solution needs to be viewed favorably by the SAP customer, SAP sales team and the SAP system integrator. Not always all of them, but most of them. It needs to align with most of their strategic visions, personal interests and compensation structures. The frustrating part of this list for many mobility entrepreneurs is that none of it has to do with "best" mobile technology. These are primarily business issues that relate to alliances, partnerships, self-interests, marketing, strategic directions and business models.
Since we live in the real world, not all of the players' motivations will be clear or have the same level of priority. Sometimes new technologies appear that do not fit these molds, but once you understand these underlying motivations it becomes more clear.
If you are interested in discussing these issues in more detail and/or learning more about my consulting practice please contact me.
Watch for Part 5 in this series - it gives hope back to the Mobile Start-Ups. You can follow-me on Twitter (see right sidebar) and by RSS.
Related Articles:
- Advice for Mobile Start-ups: Working with SAP, Part 1
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 2
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Working with SAP, Part 3
- Advice for Mobile Start-ups: Working with SAP, Part 5
- Advice for Mobile Start-Ups: Find Your Market Aggregation Points
- Advice to Mobile Start-Ups: You are a Publishing Company Like it or Not!
- Advice to Mobile Start-ups: Focus on Mobile Content, Mobile Business Processes, Integration and Workflow
***************************************************
Author Kevin Benedict
Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Web 2.0 Marketing Expert
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert and as such I work with, and have worked with, many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
**************************************************
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Futurist David Espindola’s new book has just been released, "Soulful: You in the Future of Artificial Intelligence." Alex Whittin...
-
I had a great time participating in the filming and development of a 10 minute film on digital twins recently. Last week was its premier at...
-
In this deep dive with Munich Re (Groups) cybersecurity expert Bob Parisi, we learn how the insurance and reinsurance industry develops poli...
