Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP's Greg Chase

I had the privilege of recently attending SAP's DKOM conference.  This is the SAP's developer's kick-off meeting (for SAP internal developers only).  They invited me to speak on enterprise mobility and its impact on managing the "real-time" enterprise.  While there I was able to spend time with SAP Mentors including SAP Mentor Greg Chase.

In this interview I ask Greg, who works in the Cloud Computing area of SAP, about cloud computing, enterprise mobility, business intelligence and how it all works together.



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Commerce News Weekly – Week of March 25, 2012

The Mobile Commerce News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Bank of America is introducing a number of new mobile capabilities to meet the investment needs of Merrill Edge customers, allowing Merrill Edge iPhone users to deposit checks remotely using their mobile devices while iPad app users will be able to pay bills. Read Original Content

WIRED today announced the first-ever magazine advertisement utilizing NFC technology will appear in its April issue. Readers who own NFC-enabled Android smartphones can launch a mobile website allowing them to test-drive the new Lexus Enform with Safety Connect, Lexus’ in-car navigation and information service by simply placing their phone near the ad. Read Original Content

Square has launched a completely revamped smartphone application, rebranding its “Card Case” mobile payment app as “Pay With Square,” featuring a redesign that aims to improve local business discovery for prospective buyers. Read Original Content

Verivo is a leading provider of enterprise mobility software; Verivo helps companies accelerate their business results. Its unique technology empowers teams to build, deploy, manage and update their mobile apps -- rapidly and securely. Verivo’s mobility platform is used by hundreds of companies in numerous industries, worldwide. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Verivo.  To learn more, visit www.verivo.com

Juniper Research has put forward a bold projection. According to the research titans behind the report, one in ten smartphone owners will use their handset to pay bills by 2016. Read Original Content


More than two-thirds of affluent consumers who own a smartphone have used their mobile device to shop for products and services, but since they prefer the in-store experience, luxury brands have to start creating humanistic experiences on mobile. Read Original Content

What's New in HTML5 - Week of March 26, 2012


HTML5 based ads are gaining on Flash.  For ads that will be seen on mobile devices, developers are focusing on HTML5.  Read original content

Systems management and monitoring firm DN2K is turning to HTML5.  It announced that HTML5 is now, “one of its core technologies in its business and industrial application platform”.  Read original content

ChronoZoom is a new HTML5-based web application developed by Microsoft Research, Russia's Moscow State University, and UC Berkeley.  The site uses mixed media to let visitors visualize the universe.  Read original content

A free HTML5 video converter service has been launched to provide a method to convert video files to HTML5 compatible formats.  http://www.html5-converter.com/  Read original content

I found a series on using HTML5 and CSS3 to transform a website into a mobile site.  Read original content 

Mozilla updated HTML5 video controls in the latest version of Firefox version 12, which was just released in beta.  Read original content

With all major browsers now supporting the HTML5 Geolocation API, it would be interesting to understand what can be done with it.  In this linked article, Danwei Tran Luciani for The Code Project  explores the possibilities.  Read original content

Opinion piece - Native apps will be around for some time to come, but the push for HTML5 standardization from powerful groups like Facebook and others are starting to push apps from native to web.   Read original content

The HTML5 Canvas element and Google Maps were used by Vizzuality to create an interactive map that provides visualization of the intensity and location of deforestation.  Read original content

WSX, a new feature from VMware, uses the HTML5 Canvas element and Web Sockets to let users access virtualized desktops remotely through a web browser.  WSX is compatible with Firefox, Chrome, and Safari on the desktop and Safari on iPads.  Read original content

MoSync has announced its new mobile development SDK, MoSync AB, which will allow developers to use HTML5 technology to, “Create hybrid apps or native apps with native features and UI experience for Android, iOS and Windows Phone and submit them to multiple app stores within hours instead of weeks.”  Read original content

Seventy-nine percent of mobile developers report they will integrate HTML5 in their apps this year, according to a survey conducted by IDC and Appcelerator.  The survey responses indicated that developers are planning to develop HTML5 and “hybrid” apps.  Read original content

A new Internet Explorer 9 website for The Hunger Games film shows off the possibilities for HTML5-based sites.  The website (http://thecapitoltour.pn/) was launched by Microsoft and Lionsgate.  Read original content


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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Kony Solutions' Sam Lakkundi

Several weeks ago I had the good fortune to meet up with my long time friend and mobility expert Sam Lakkundi while I was in Orlando, Florida.  Sam and I have been meeting up at enterprise mobility conferences for most of a decade.  He has traveled the world first with Sybase, and now with Kony Solutions as the VP of Mobile Strategies.

Kony Solutions is an interesting company.  They are kind of the new kid on the block in the enterprise mobility space, but they have huge experience in the mobile B2C (business-to-consumer) area.  This experience is serving them very well now because as companies adopt the BYOD (bring your own device) model, they are finding that the B2C and B2E (business-to-employee) models are converging.  If a company decides to support a wide number of mobile devices using many different mobile platforms, then that is basically the same model as B2C.  This plays to Kony Solutions' strengths.

In this interview Sam discusses BYOD models, HTML5, enterprise mobility, mobile strategies, mobile UX, mixed mode development and much more.




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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

QRCs, T-Shirts, Pick-Up Lines and Smartphones

QRC 
This week I walked into a Walgreens store with my wife and saw that all of the employees were wearing T-Shirts with QRCs (quick response codes) on their sleeves.  The clerk did not know what they were.  Being me, I walked up to the clerk and asked if I could scan his sleeve.

I used the Redlaser app on my iPhone to scan the QRC.  It launched a website about an upcoming walk the company was sponsoring to raise funds to fight some disease.  I thought the whole incident was humorous.

Employees are walking around with coded messages on their clothes with messages they do not know.  However, it did get me thinking, which is not always useful.

What if people that are hanging out at pubs all started wearing QRCs on their clothes?  If you are interested in a person, you can simply walk up to them and scan their QRC, which would launch a website with their details.  Seems like an efficient way to learn about a person without actually having to talk to them.

First impressions would be of out-stretched hands with a smartphone pointing at them.  You would need to pay particular attention to the way your hand and smartphone looked.  You would need to think about the impression your particular smartphone would give your victim.  Is it a feminine phone, or a male phone?  Is it large, rugged and industrial, or small and shiny?

I imagine this could launch a whole new breed of "pick-up lines."

PSION EP10


"Do you often get scanned in here?"

Perhaps people would start wearing multiple QRCs on their clothes, each with a different message.  When a person approaches with their out-stretched hand preparing to scan you, you can quickly decide which QRC to expose.

QRCs can evolve into a whole new pub language.  Perhaps you can have different QRCs all over your clothes.   Complete conversations could be conducted simply by exposing different QRCs.  

I am going to stop thinking now.


Join me this week for a webinar called, Making Sense of Mobile Middleware!  I just completed writing a full whitepaper on this subject and will be sharing the details on this webinar.  I hope to see you there.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly – Week of March 26, 2012


The Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Axeda Corporation, a provider of a cloud platform for running and managing M2M transactions, through a partnership with SAP Gold Certified Partner GlobalSoft Solutions is connecting real-time data from its platform to SAP ERP and CRM systems. Read Original Content

The world market for RFID technology is projected to reach USD $18.7 billion by the year 2017, according new research announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc. Read Original Content

Parents of newborns at Colquitt Regional Medical Center can now feel an added measure of comfort thanks to a new state-of-the-art infant protection system called “Cuddles.” The new security system consists of tiny bracelets for the newborns that are constantly monitored by RFID technology. Read Original Content

Since 1995, Syclo has enabled hundreds of companies in 37 countries and industries supercharge their businesses with mobility.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Syclo. http://www.syclo.com/.

Set to hit the market in June for well over a grand, Panasonic’s SR-SX2 rice cooker works with FeliCa-enabled smartphones, which is an RFID smart card system developed by Sony. Through a downloadable app users can specify the type of rice they're cooking, the length of timers, and other settings, all by touching their phone to a blue icon on the cooker's lid. Read Original Content


The rugged handheld device Getac's PS236 is now available with AndroidTM. The military standard mobile handheld now comes equipped with Android 2.2, for those partners and customers looking to run the open-source software. Read Original Content

A lobbyist for the RFID industry has convinced Connecticut legislators to consider implanting spy chips on the state's license plates. The state Senate Transportation Committee voted unanimously to pass a bill asking the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a report on the implementation of RFID for motor vehicle registration. Read Original Content

Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly – Week of March 25, 2012

Welcome to Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility in Asia.  Asia is predicted to be the fastest area of growth for enterprise mobility between now and 2016.

Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Augmented Reality for smartphones tiptoes into India. It is estimated to have 5 percent of the “traditional media marketplace” in India.  One question is whether it’s just a novelty or a wave of the future? Read Original Content

Philippine telecommunications provider Globe Telecom has partnered with Flash Networks to introduce Harmony Monetization solutions. Read Original Content

GraphicMail and SME Guru of Singapore have joined together to offer email and mobile marketing services in Southeast Asia. Read Original Content

ClickSoftware is an SAP mobility partner and the leading provider of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for every size of service business.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by ClickSoftware - http://www.clicksoftware.com/.

Mobile technology has played a large part in travel industry growth in Asia, providing a way for consumers, vendors and employees to connect. Read Original Content


A study from On Device Research reveals that 38 percent of China’s Internet users in 2011 were mobile-only users.  In rural areas, the number of mobile-only Internet users is up to 45 percent, with 29 percent in urban areas. Read Original Content

Consulting firm IDC, tracking China’s growth, predicts that the country will become one of the top five countries for smartphone numbers, along with India and Brazil.  Apple’s iPhone sales in China during the last quarter were described as “staggering”, and IDC predicts it will narrowly top sales in the U.S. by the end of 2012. Read Original Content
and Read More Original Content  and Read More Original Content 

Mobile Health News Weekly – Week of March 19, 2012

The Mobile Health News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to mobile health that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Float Mobile Learning has prepared a terrific infographic showing the prospects of mHealth services. This industry is set for a rapid growth, with all parties looking to cut costs and increase efficiencies. Read Original Content

Mobihealth predicts that the U.S. market for wireless home-based healthcare applications and services will become a $4.4 billion industry in 2013. Read Original Content

Eighty percent of doctors already use smartphones, tablets and mobile apps and 40 percent believe apps can reduce office visits, but it could take longer than we thought for mHealth to revolutionize health care. Read Original Content

Webalo technology eliminates the need for traditional mobile application development tools and custom programming to provide in hours, instead of weeks or months, mobile access to the specific enterprise data and functions that smartphone and tablet users rely on to do their jobs.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Webalo, www.webalo.com.

Telemedicine is set to tackle the diabetes epidemic. Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Center is partnering with American Well to streamline diabetes referrals, improve health data sharing, and get people healthier. Read Original Content

The global telehealth market is expected to more than double from about $11.6 billion in 2011 to about $27.3 billion in 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate of 18.6 percent over the next five years, according to a report by BCC Research. Read Original Content

Apple's iPad is increasingly finding use in health and medicine, with apps ranging from giving individuals instant access to a wealth of reference, educational and personal health information, to helping hospitals streamline their operations, reduce labor costs, improve efficiency, and helping health professionals with analysis and diagnosis. Read Original Content

Mobility News Weekly – Week of March 19, 2012

The Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly

For each 10 percent increase in broadband penetration there will be a 1.4 percent growth in the GDP for lower income economies. Facebook revealed that 90 percent of its users in Nigeria and South Africa access Facebook via mobile.  Read Original Content

A new report from Pew Research Center says 27 percent of Americans now get their news using mobile devices, something that's helping to increase news consumption nationally, despite a continuing decline in subscribers to print publications.  Read Original Content

Known instances of Android-related malware -- "virtually all" involving apps -- have jumped steadily month by month from 400 in June to 15,507 in February, according to Sunnyvale security firm Juniper Networks.  Read Original Content

ClickSoftware is an SAP mobility partner and the leading provider of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for every size of service business.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by ClickSoftware - http://www.clicksoftware.com/.

The U.S. market generated $67 billion in mobile data revenues in 2011, accounting for 39 percent of the overall revenues for the country. The mobile data market grew 4 percent Q/Q and 19 percent Y/Y to reach $18.6 billion for the quarter. Read Original Content

A recent report from Appcelerator and IDC found that developers are more interested in Apple’s iOS platform than any other mobile operating system. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they were very interested in developing for the iPhone, while 88 percent were interested in the iPad.  Read Original Content

More on SAP Mobile App Pricing

Last week I wrote an article titled, SAP Mobility and the App Pricing Problem, that stirred the pot.  I don't know if it was trending on Twitter that day, but in my little world it caused a buzz.  As a result of that article I received a near instant invitation to speak to SAP's Senior VP of Mobile Strategy Nick Brown, and Sybase's VP of Mobile Solutions Willie Jow.  Today I was honored to speak to both of them about SAP's mobile pricing strategies.

Let me start out by saying the SAP mobility team is smart.  They understand mobility, and the challenges that come along with it.  They also understand SAP, SAP customers and how the SAP partner ecosystem works. All of these pieces of the puzzle are on the table and are being aligned.  Not every possible pricing scenario is worked out yet, but most.

It must be recognized that enterprise mobility can be complex.  You can make it as simple as possible, but not simpler. ~ Einstein

Here is how I understand SAP's pricing based upon my call with Nick Brown and Willie Jow today.
  • First pricing option, there is now a per mobile user platform bundle that you can purchase.  The platform bundle includes a license of Sybase Unwired Platform, Afaria and NetWeaver Gateway for that mobile user.  Here is how it works - if you have 100 mobile users, then you purchase 100 platform bundles.  Each platform bundle allows for an unlimited number of mobile applications to access it for that specific mobile user.  The mobile apps are not included as you can develop them yourself, contract with a third party or from a vendor.  So the platform bundle pricing is uncoupled from the mobile apps pricing.  You can purchase mobile apps from SAP, SAP partners or other third parties.
  • Second pricing option, for small productivity mobile apps there is a limited run-time license (includes a one user license of Sybase Unwired Platform and NetWeaver Gateway) that is based on the estimated value of the mobile app.  This license is an incremental percentage of the price of the mobile app.  For example, if the mobile app sold for $50, a percentage of that fee would be negotiated as the license fee for SAP.  If the price for the mobile app was $19.95, the license fee would again be a percentage, but a lesser amount.
  • Third pricing option, Managed Mobility - (includes SUP/Afaria/Gateway) – in this model SAP's end customer is the SaaS or PaaS vendor.  SAP has developed a new license model to empower service providers to resell these platforms as a service to end customers.   This allows cloud based mobile app vendors to pay a fee to SAP based on end user subscriptions.
I know this article doesn't clarify everything, but it should at least be a good conversation starter when you next speak to your SAP AE (account executive).

SAP - if I have something wrong here please correct me!!!  My email is kevin.benedict@netcentric-strategies.com.


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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Interviews with Kevin Benedict