Comparing Netbooks, Mini-Notebooks, PDAs and Handhelds in Field Services

I am a big fan of Netbooks and Mini-Notebooks. These are lightweight portable computers generally with 7-inch to 11-inch screen sizes optimized for internet connectivity. They often have exceptional battery life and can be used as a truly convergent device. Often they are optimized to run the complete Microsoft Office Suite. This article discusses them in more details.

The term Netbook refers to the fact that they are optimized to work on the internet. They are mobile internet devices that also have the power to run your standard office software applications. Doesn't most mobile handheld devices and PDAs that run Windows Mobile already provide these functions? Yes, but the 7"-11" screen is a vast improvement, especially for people needing to do real work, process and read large amounts of data and read diagrams, maps and drawings.

The Netbook, as a mobile internet device, should be set-up to access online documents, manuals and work order applications through simple internet logins. These devices can be generic enough to be shared by a complete workforce. In the morning the user can simply check out a Netbook, login and have access to all the information they need in the field.

Let's take the example of a service technician in the field. A small mobile phone is just not a good option for comprehensive work order management. It will quickly kill the eyes of the user. You need a bigger screen to work with any kind of data intensive work orders or parts catalogs. At the same time, you do not want the bulk and weight of a full size laptop. A small Netbook with a 7 inch screen can fit in the pocket or in a padded pouch easily. The screen size is big enough to show a lot of information and data fields without constant scrolling.

In situations where internet connections will be intermittent you may want to consider a work order management system that can function equally well connected or disconnected and use database synchronization in the background. Vendors like MobileDataforce specialize in these areas.

SAP, Landis+Gyr, Electrical Utilities and Mobile Handheld PDAs

SAP, the world's leading provider of business software, announced yesterday a new partnership with Landis+Gyr, a leading provider of integrated energy management solutions. This partnership includes a software development agreement for the integration of Landis+Gyr's advanced metering infrastructure with the SAP® for Utilities solution portfolio using enterprise services.

You are seeing SAP recognize that there are many specialized business processes that are needed beyond their core ERP solutions, and outside the four walls of the office in mobile environments. SAP has been seeking partnerships that address the industry specific business process needs of companies with mobile workforces.

So far, SAP has seemed willing to give up the mobile applications market for PDAs, handhelds and rugged mobile computers to third parties, and restrict themselves to developing APIs and enterprise service integration repositories for specialized third party mobile application companies like MobileDataforce and others.

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SAP Business Suite 7.0, iPhones, Blackberrys and Mobile Handheld Applications

Today SAP announced the release of Business Suite 7. Reuters reports the following mobile application news concerning SAP's Business Suite 7.0:

Unlike previous SAP products, all programs in the suite will have a common interface, making them easier to use and less cumbersome for IT staff to implement, the sources said.
It is designed to easily work on mobile devices such as the BlackBerry and iPhone, they said.
SAP already offers mobile features in a few packages, such as programs that companies use to manage sales, but has yet to offer those functions across its full line of applications.

SAP's answer to supporting mobile applications is to develop a common interface, web based, and let mobile devices access it via the web. This may work for mobile workers with 100% access to the Internet, but what about mobile workers that travel to remote locations or anywhere with intermittent connections? I have not seen SAP address this issue with an online/offline version of their applications. They seem content to leave the offline/online enablement task to third party mobile application companies like MobileDataforce.

Mobile Handheld PDAs and Mobile Software Application Resources

If you are interested in information related to mobile computing, mobile handheld PDAs and mobile software strategies for your business, you may find this Knol (Google's name for a unity of knowledge) called Mobile Software & Handheld PDA Business Strategies valuable. It contains many useful articles on mobile computing, selecting the best mobile handhelds and advice on developing mobile software applications. Here is the table of contents for your reference:

The ROI in Mobile Applications
What ROI Can I Expect?
10 Steps to Implementing a Successful Enterprise Mobile Solution
Mobilizing and Automating Business Processses During a Down Economy
Mobilized Work Orders
Designing a Mobile Solution to Automate Business Processes
Learning from Mobile Solution Deployments
The Evolution of a Mobile Solution
Buying vs. Building Mobile Applications
Supporting a Customized Mobile Software Application

Mobile Software, PDAs, Rugged Handhelds and SAP

SAP is one of the largest software company in the world, and yet, SAP cannot easily process a simple work order or field service ticket. Think about it! Millions of people use SAP and it has difficulty processing an invoice from a plumber that fixed your office toilet. Let's explore this more.

The poor plumber completes his work, pulls out his rugged handheld PDA and fills out the electronic work order. Once it is completed he has the customer sign the screen and prints an invoice on his mobile printer. The customer (SAP user) takes the invoice and gives it to the Accounts Payable department. The Accounts Payable department looks to see what purchase order the invoice is associated with and finds none. There is now an invoice dispute.

I see this challenge with companies receiving invoices from law firms and in the Oil industry (Upstream). Both industries submit many invoices to firms using SAP and these invoices are rarely associated with a PO. What's the answer? I invite your thoughts.

Even though the world of mobile applications and rugged handheld computers may permit faster invoicing for services, there still needs to be business process improve on the customer side in order for efficiencies to be realized.

New Trimble Nomad 800 Handheld PDA

Timble announced today the release of three new models of their rugged handheld PDA called the Nomad™ 800X Series. It is designed for use in the rain, snow and mud. It would be nice if all of us worked in comfortable, safe and warm environments, but that just doesn't happen in the real world. Construction projects, law enforcement, inspections, engineering and maintenance and many service industries spend nearly all of their time in the wilds.

These rugged handhelds are larger than a consumer grade handheld PDA or smartphone, but are the perfect size for an industrial use where the ruggedized protection is required.

Why are Mobile Applications for Handheld PDAs So Hard to Develop?

Mobile software applications for businesses are getting better and more advanced today, but they are still very difficult and expensive to develop on your own. Why? Let's talk about some of the challenges.

The mobile handheld PDA industry is divided up among, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Apple iPhones, Palm, RIM Blackberry and many other unique operating systems. This means that a software developer must either invest in many different development tools and training classes, or choose to be only a niche player.

If a developer chooses to be a niche player and develop only for Windows Mobile or the iPhone, they are reducing their overall use potential and betting that the devices supported by these operating system will continue to be popular long enough to deliver a positive ROI for the original development effort.

Once a developer chooses the operating system they will support, they have the next challenge which is how to decide how to support the specific features in many different kinds of mobile handheld devices and PDAs. Many devices have different buttons, screen sizes, operating speeds, memory, and other add-on accessories. The developer must decide which subset of features and hardware configurations they will support.

If you are a software developer in a large enterprise that had thousands of employees and a global distribution, then how do you get a consensus on which mobile handheld devices and smart phones you will support? This is a big challenge.

So far we have just listed a few of the challenges related to the mobile software application. These applications have very little value unless they can synchronize and share data with the enterprise database applications in the office. Each operating system and database vendor will have their own kind of synchronization technologies. What mobile database will you develop on? How does it synchronize with your specific office database application?

Does the software in your office have a mobile client, or do you have to develop a custom mobile application? How do you synchronize and share data between your mobile device and your office software if it is not defined by your vendor?

Who will update the software everytime there is a new mobile operating system released? Windows Mobile seems to come up with a new version every year, and Apple about every 3-6 months. Once new OS versions are released, it is very difficult to find mobile handhelds that support the older versions. Therefore to keep your mobile application useful and relevant you must either stockpile lots of mobile devices that support the older versions, or keep you mobile application updated to the latest OS. It is not easy to convince your business manager to support the current development project plus all future update projects. They want to pay once and be done with it. Mobile technology changes to quickly to support this model. Often mobile application development projects are not completed before the next mobile OS is released. Ouch!

These are just some of the challenges IT developers face on a daily basis when working with mobile applications. The right strategy for many of these issues is to find a good RAD (rapid application development) environment for developing a wide range of mobile applications. Many of these issues have been resolved by these vendors. It would rarely make sense for an IT developer to try to figure out all of these issues on their own as IT budgets would rarely afford the time and resources to get through the learning curve.

MobileDataforce is one of many vendors that help developers and businesses work with these issues.

Custom Mobile Software Applications for Handheld PDAs - Don't Start from Scratch

As fun as it may sound to build a custom mobile software application from scratch, I would invite you to consider the merits of using a mobile application development tool kit before you start.

The concept of a mobile application development tool kit, for developing mobile software for handheld PDAs, in this discussion means a software application that has many pre-built functions and supports many mobile project requirements out-of-the box. Many components of a mobile software application should be provided pre-developed in a tool kit, so you can configure not develop them from scratch. Components and functions such as:

• support for GPS
• support for multiple screen sizes
• support for storing and synchronizing digital images
  support for synchronization of data between a mobile device and an enterprise database
• support for RFID
• support for various button configurations on different models of handheld devices and Smart phones
• support for various security configurations
• support for bluetooth
• support for disconnected applications
• support for a wide range of Tablet PCs, laptops, Windows CE.NET, Windows Mobile etc.
• support for audio memo capture
• support for various bar code scanners
• support for new versions of popular operating systems and their new features
• support for odbc database integration
• support for data validations on the mobile devices
• support for various business logic and business rules requirements
• Mobile screen design tools
• much more...

Again the above components and functions need not be developed new for every project. They should be provided pre-developed by your mobile software development tool kit vendor. They are pre-developed, assumed-to-be debugged and tested, added to the tool kit library, improved over time and expanded so all developers can take advantage of them. There is no value added by your internal software development team building what is already available and market tested for less costs than developing in-house.

Many systems integrators and IT consultants have told me they can not profitably run a mobile application practice if they develop custom mobile applications from scratch. They want to configure mobile solutions, not design and program every possible custom scenario.

MobileDataforce is the developer of a mobile software development tool kit called PointSync.

Inspection Software for Handheld PDAs in Mobile Environments

Many inspection services companies work in mobile and rugged environments. They invest time and money into traveling to the point of work. The more time traveling, the less time providing inspection services. In this blog article we will discuss some strategies for saving time, reducing expenses and providing more services using mobile handheld PDA and mobile software technologies.

Many inspections are follow-up inspections or reoccurring inspections on a schedule. In these kinds of inspections the inspector must reference previous inspection data. If the previous inspections were conducted on paper, then the inspector must acquire a copy of these previous inspections to take with them on the next visit. This often requires extra costs associated with driving time, gas and missed opportunity costs (less time inspecting and getting paid).

I remember working with a state agency responsible for inspecting professional licenses and premises. In order to perform their tasks, they were required to drive into the main office, rummage through paper files, remove these paper files and load them into a box to take with them to the inspection sites. They would use a carriage with wheels to transport this box to their automobiles. Let's pause a moment to think of the costs and inefficiencies of these task. They did the following:

• Drove to the main office where previous inspections were stored
• Sorted through file cabinets for previous inspection results
• Read through these files to determine any previous non-compliance or failed inspection issues.
• Recorded issues and highlighted them for review at the site
• Loaded these files into a box and carried them out to their vehicles
• Re-inspected the site and recorded more information on new forms
• Added new paper forms to the files
• Drove back to the main office
• Administration staff typed all the information from the new forms into a database system on a desktop computer

A simple database synchronization with a handheld PDA, laptop or Tablet PC from the field could have completed most of the above tasks in seconds. The inefficiencies listed above are not uncommon. Inspection software applications can be developed that synchronize directly to the central database. Queries on past inspections can quickly provide historic inspection data at the point of work without all the extra expense of driving to the office and manually searching through file cabinets. The time re-typing inspection data can be eliminated as well.

In these times of economic challenges, companies are looking for ways to do more with less. Mobile solutions can provide many cost savings and allow companies to conduct more services with less resources. For more information on mobile inspection solutions please contact MobileDataforce.

Juno SC Handhelds

Trimble has just announced their new Juno SC handheld. This device is meant for people that work out of doors and need a pocket sized and industrial strength GPS unit that uses a Microsoft Windows Mobile OS.

The value of using a Windows Mobile OS is that many mobile software development tools like PointSync from MobileDataforce uses Windows Mobile. You can develop and customize nearly any kind of mobile software application you can image to run on this device.

"The Juno series handhelds are the ideal solution for GIS-enabled organizations that require high productivity from their mobile field workforce," said Peter Large, general manager of Trimble's Mapping and GIS Division.