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.

What's New in HTML5 - Week of March 19, 2012

When it comes to mobile HTML5 performance, Apple’s iOS platform far surpasses the Android, according to a recent study from Spaceport.  Read original content

The TeamLab Document Editor, which is the first online HTML5 word processor, makes use of all the HTML5 features, according to developer Ascensio System SIA.    Read original content

Adobe has introduced Shadow, a new tool for the inspection and preview of customized websites for mobile devices.  The HTML5 friendly tool allows developers to “remotely control and inspect Web pages in multiple phones and tablets simultaneously.”  Read original content

According to a new study from IT staffing firm Bluewolf, demand and salaries are on the rise (up 200 percent) for developers with knowledge of HTML5, iPhone, iPad, and Android applications.  Read original content

Tether has introduced a new HTML5 web app which allows users to wirelessly connect their iPhone or iPad to a laptop to enable 3G Internet access.  The HTML5 Tether for iPhone, as a web app, will bypass Apple’s app store.  The iTether originally launched in November of 2011, but was pulled from the app store by Apple shortly after its introduction.  Read original content

appMobi has announced the launch of jqMobi 1.0, an open source HTML5 mobile framework.  Read original content

Trigger.io has expanded its cross-platform development framework with the new Forge framework.  The new framework allows developers to “create and deploy web apps in addition to native mobile apps - all from a single HTML5 codebase."  Read original content

Netbiscuits has launched a new HTML5 framework.  The Tactile framework utilizes web standards and the Netbiscuits SaaS cloud-based platform.  Read original content

Nokia Maps is now available for iOS and Android as an HTML5 web app.  Read original content

The new AnyPresence cloud-based mobile development platform for building HTML5, iOS and Android apps is in beta testing.  The platform was developed by former SAP and Oracle executives and is expected to launch in April, 2012.  Read original content

Gizmox announced the availability of a preview version of its new Visual WebGui Enterprise Mobile platform.  The platform will enable .net developers to build “secure, efficient data-centric enterprise HTML5 applications for cross platform mobile devices including iOS, Android and every W3C browser using their existing development skills."  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 Marketing News Weekly – Week of March 19, 2012

The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing 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 M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Earlier this month mobile operator SingTel purchased mobile ad company Amobee for $321 million in an all-cash deal. Read Original Content

Small business interest in mobile advertising is up sharply, according to Ad-ology Research. More than 20 percent of small business decision makers said they plan to commit more resources to mobile marketing in 2012, up from the 12 percent who said the same last year. Read Original Content

Advertising on mobile devices rocketed by 157 percent in 2011 in the UK, to a new high of £203.2 million, according to the annual IAB and PwC mobile advertising spend study. 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

A survey released last month from mobile advertising network Greystripe found that 53 percent of smartphone users and 27 percent of iPad users search for movie listings, times and locations on their mobile devices. Within a few weeks, you'll be able to skip the box-office line and head straight to your seat by swiping your mobile device over a scanner. It can read the bar code of an electronic ticket purchased with an app. Read Original Content



The tech marketing - specifically the mobile device market - is exploding around the globe. In the U.S. the growth has been staggering over the past year, in all corners of the country. MaxPoint Interactive finds tech products are getting the most consumer interest on both the east and west coasts - San Francisco, Miami, New York and West Palm Beach - are among the top ten most interested cities for technology products. Read Original Content

SAP Enterprise Mobility and the Gathering M2M Storm

As regular readers of this blog already know, I have been championing the convergence of enterprise mobility and M2M (machine to machine) for several years now.  Why?  M2M is mostly data collected in the field and wirelessly sent and integrated with back-end systems and ERPs.  That kind of sounds like enterprise mobility, right?

As a manager, data collected from the field has value.  It can impact scheduling, resource allocation, planning, work dispatch and much more.  In today's world of M2M or "The Internet of Things" equipment, products and other assets can have embedded wireless chips connected to sensors reporting their status from just about anywhere. When machines report their own status, or measurements without humans in the loop, there are big savings. 


Today I read about Axeda and Globalsoft working together to integrate M2M solutions with SAP.  Very interesting!  Here is an excerpt, "Axeda Corporation and GlobalSoft Solutions are enabling SAP users to get more value from their CRM solution by integrating connected product data with customers’ core business systems and workflows."

Instead of waiting for a piece of high value equipment to break, the equipment can automatically send a wireless message to an enterprise asset management system notifying it that repairs or maintenance is required.  If you can maintain and support equipment before it breaks down, you can avoid unscheduled work stoppage and high repair costs.  If equipment can be remotely reporting its status, then there doesn't have to always be a person driving around inspecting it. 

Last year I heard for the first time, Jim Snabe, Co-CEO of SAP referring to M2M and remote sensors.  I also heard that M2M was a big subject at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year.  M2M is a subject that companies with remote plants, job sites, assets and equipment should be researching and learning.

Here is more about M2M and SAP from the article, "By connecting real-time product data from the Axeda Platform to SAP, information such as asset owner, location, product configuration, health status, usage, inventory levels and alerts automatically populates in the SAP CRM Contact Center. This data can automatically trigger business process workflows such as automated service ticket/case creation, pay-per-use billing, warranty management, replenishment of consumables, compliance management, product recalls, planned maintenance and more."

I have heard people at both SAP and Sybase talk about remote sensors and M2M, but I still don't know if there is any technology in the SAP/Sybase solution stack that helps manage wireless sensors, or the data that comes in from them. 

Please let us know if you have any information about SAP and M2M!

Thanks!

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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 19, 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 M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

PayPal unveiled a new service that allows smartphones to process credit card transactions. Known as PayPal Here, the service takes the handset beyond a tool for consumers to make payments, to a terminal for merchants too, reflecting the changing balance of the company's business. Read Original Content

MasterCard has launched its Mobile Money partnership program with Indian mobile services provider Comviva, mobile messaging service Sybase 365, and a Singapore-based mobile financial services company Utiba as initial partners. The MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program is a global initiative by MasterCard to provide financial services to more than 2.5 billion financially under-served consumers worldwide through their mobile phones. Read Original Content

According to the annual Q1 Merchant Survey conducted by the Direct Response Forum, a majority of retailers, 63 percent of respondents, indicated that only 2 percent or less of their sales are generated from a mobile device. Only 17 percent reported that mobile sales are over 10 percent. 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

A recent NielsenWire report shows the top five retail mobile apps and sites together, belonging to Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Target and Walmart, managed to reach nearly 60 percent of all smartphone users during the holiday season at the end of last year, up from 53 percent in October. Read Original Content


Gap recently ran a two-week campaign that used location to drive users to nearby stores with a mobile coupon. The Gap campaign placed ads on bus shelters in major cities that were tied to a mobile offer using geolocation. The retailer worked with advertising company Titan on this initiative. Read Original Content

Mobile Expert Video Series: Logica's Hans Nygaard

Hans Nygaard, Global Lead for Mobility, with Logica works with many clients on mobile projects particularly in the Scandinavian countries.  He offers his insights into enterprise mobility in this interview with me that was recorded at SAPinsiders' recent Mobile2012 conference.  In this interview Hans reports on how his clients have matured through the enterprise mobility curve. 




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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.

Mobility, SAP, Hana and Risk Management

This weekend I drove past a tragic fatality accident near Bend, Oregon.  It was a head-on collision between two cars.  One of the witnesses quoted in the paper the following day expressed his long held belief in the danger of the particular stretch of road where the accident happened.  That got me thinking.

This afternoon, I decided to grab some delicious take-out Indian food for lunch here in Boise, Idaho.  As I was returning to my office, I drove past another traffic accident in a section of the road that I always felt was dangerous.  That incident pushed me past thinking to writing.

I want a mobile solution, or an in-vehicle navigation system that utilizes SAP's Hana solution to wirelessly and speedily analyze big data about traffic and safety and predict the safest routes.  One that is also location aware, and can provide me with a list of route options based upon their relative safety.  I know some back roads, where the speed limits are slow and the traffic light, that must be far safer that congested streets with fast speed limits.  I want that information.  I bet insurance carriers would appreciate the same.

As I was planning the driving route home from Bend, Oregon to Boise, Idaho on Saturday, I was trying to predict and anticipate all of the virtues and risks of each possible route.  I considered road conditions, speed and weather.  I forgot, however, to consider distances to hospitals, tow trucks, gas stations and emergency responders.  I was fortunate not to need any emergency services, but I had failed to consider all of these variables.  My wife pointed out that we were lucky we didn't need them as we were driving across hundreds of miles of near empty high desert, in the Winter.

Which one of you service providers or vendors will provide me with a subscription to this service?

Can we add a predictive mobile app that will consider crime, death rate, accident data, contagious disease outbreak data, a potential for civil war as well?  One that will give me real-time updates as I walk through unfamiliar neighborhoods in foreign cities?  Let's add tornado outbreaks, earthquake, tsunami, flood and hurricane data as well.  Seriously!!!  The data is there.  Can't we consider all of this data and then visualize it on an infograph?

I am waiting...safely in my house...with my doors locked...for your solution.

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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: Sky Technologies' Roger Newby

I have known Sky Technologies' Roger Newby for many years.  He is an expert in enterprise mobility, both on the software and the hardware side of the business.  In this interview Roger shares his insights on mobility and working within the SAP mobility ecosystem.



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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 19, 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 and machine to machine communications 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 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

Rugged phones have been popping up on the mobile market for a little while now and Caterpillar has announced a new Android powered smartphone for the rough and tough customer, the CAT B10.  Read Original Content

Our lives are filled with connected gadgets, but there's more out there. Everyday household appliances are now connected to the Internet. Check out these fridges, thermostats, and scales that all go online to allow you more convenient control and save you energy and money. Read Original Content

The global RFID market is expected to reach $19.3 billion during 2011 – 2014, according to a new market research report from ReportLinker. Emerging RFID applications under different verticals will also outpace other automatic identification technologies, such as bar code. 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/.

Two Spanish retailers are tracking the popularity of selected items within their stores, using technology that detects which products are lifted off shelves, and how often. The stores are utilizing an RFID-based system provided by Spanish automatic-identification solutions company Cité Trade Tech. Read Original Content

The integration of the smartphone into consumer vehicles will become all but standard on new models, finds a new report by Juniper Research, which forecasts that 92 million vehicles will feature technology to integrate the smartphone into the head-unit by 2016. Read Original Content


The rugged tablet market has been exploding in recent months, putting out ever tougher, ever faster and ever more economical ruggedized devices to help companies meet the high-speed, high-tech business intelligence needs of the era. Read Original Content

Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly – Week of March 18, 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 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

A recent global IT survey by the Ponemon Institute and Websense revealed that 61 percent of Australian IT professionals felt the use of mobile devices in the workplace is an important part of achieving business objectives. Read Original Content

BlackBerry leads as the most popular enterprise platform in India, according to a recent survey of CIOs.  Sixty-one percent of those responding preferred the BlackBerry as an enterprise mobility solution, with Android far behind with 18 percent. Read Original Content

CTI Group and Australia’s KNet Technology have announced a partnership and a move into the Asia Pacific region. Read Original Content

A study from research firm TechNavio shows that mobile may be the solution for voice over Internet protocol technology for businesses in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  The research predicts that the market will reach $5.3 billion in two years. Read Original Content


TriQuint Semiconductor has opened a headquarters facility in Singapore. "With Asia's appetite for new technologies, particularly in mobile devices, and government support of the latest communications infrastructure, we believe Asia will continue to offer great opportunities for business growth.” Read Original Content

Mobile Health News Weekly – Week of March 12, 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

FORCE Therapeutics has released its next generation app, FORCE Mobile, which offers professional exercise solutions for musculo-skeletal injuries, direct to the consumer. The app intelligently recommends exercises based on sport, area and type of dysfunction. Read Original Content

A new healthcare mobility survey from iHealthBeat found that 85 percent of respondents said their organization has a BYOD policy, but the organizations vary in the amount of data they allowed personal mobile devices to access. Read Original Content

Patient-centric medical homes are touted to fix the healthcare cost crisis, but the deep pockets and extensive IT resources they require aren't available to every healthcare provider. 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.

Low-cost, self-service platforms for SMS alerts will soon replace manual phone calls and handwritten notes for appointment reminders and prescription refill notifications, ensuring that billable services and products are used and patients receive their scheduled care. This is just one of the reasons mHealth will go mainstream in 2012. Read Original Content


According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group and Telenor Group, a Norway-based mobile communications provider, mobile health projects could reduce maternal and perinatal mortality rates by about 30 percent; and reduce medical data collection-related costs by about 24 percent. Read Original Content

Mobility News Weekly – Week of March 12, 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 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 Mobile Health News Weekly

Samsung’s market share in the Chinese market is three times larger than Apple’s and still growing, Bloomberg reported.  Read Original Content

By 2016, iGR expects approximately 96 percent of U.S. handset sales to be comprised entirely of smartphone sales.  Read Original Content

4G handsets grabbed 35 percent of the smartphone market in the fourth quarter, up from just 6 percent a year earlier, NPD said.  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/.

Beginning March 1, Facebook began allowing brands that people “like” to send messages and ads to those users’ mobile news feeds. Facebook could generate more than $1.2 billion from mobile ads in the program’s first year, estimates Mobile Squared.  Read Original Content

By 2016, at least 50 percent of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or mobile client instead of a desktop client, according to Gartner.  Read Original Content

Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP's Anu Agarwal

I had the privilege of attending a session on SAP's new mobile applications taught by SAP's Anu Agarwal a couple of weeks ago.  After the session Anu granted me an interview on a range of topics related to enterprise mobility and mobile application architecture.  Anu manages the development of SAP's new mobile EAM (enterprise asset management) and Field Services applications. These applications connect to SAP's CRM.  I hope you find it useful.

 

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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.

Coca Cola Consolidated and Enterprise Mobility

I just listened to an overview of a recent mobility project that Coca Cola Consolidated did using the system integrator Energy4U and the MEAP vendor Syclo.  The solution integrated with SAP.  It was basically a mobile shipping, inventory and warehouse application.

A few interesting points, 1)Coca Cola Consolidated are mobility veterans in some parts of their organization with over 25 years of mobility experience, but they outsourced this project to a mobility vendor and a system integrator, and 2) the project only took 8 weeks.

Coca Cola Consolidated selected Energy4U and Syclo as their mobility implementation team because mobility was not their core focus.  They wanted to outsource this effort to an experienced team with SAP expertise.

The success of the project was credited to productive on site visits where processes and requirements were accurately documented, trained experts and a good MEAP vendor.  It also helped that there was a very experienced Energy4U mobility team that were skilled veterans of developing on Syclo's Smart Mobile Suite.

Venky Govind of Coca Cola Consolidating said they wanted a mobility vendor that would be responsible for supporting all of the current and future mobile operating systems and devices, and keeping the MEAP (mobile enterprise application platform) updated.  They did not want that responsibility in-house.

This solution was replacing a manual paper driven process.   The mobile app replaced the paper forms and simplified the entire process while automating the data collection and integrating it directly with SAP.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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.

What Mobile Software Vendor will Oracle Buy in 2012?

What mobile software vendor will Oracle buy in 2012?  This is the question I asked, and sixty-six people shared their thoughts.  Here are their answers:

  • 42% - Antenna Software
  • 27% - Kony Solutions
  • 13% - Verivo (formerly Pyxis Mobile)
  • 12% - Syclo
  • 4%   - Rhomobile

I asked this question because SAP bought Sybase, IBM bought WorkLight, HP bought webOS (oops!), and it seems like Oracle must make a move into enterprise mobility soon.  The market will not wait for Oracle, so if Oracle wants to control their future they need to act.



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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 Marketing News Weekly – Week of March 12, 2012

The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing 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 M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

As Twitter launches mobile ads — 66 percent say they don’t want smartphone ads as indicated in this infographic. Read Original Content

College campuses are the new targets of choice for leading mobile ad firms like Touchpoint. Touchpoint revealed a nationwide deployment of its mobile technology to over 130 college campuses in what it dubs the “Campus Connection.” Read Original Content

A new report by Nielsen showed that mobile advertising on tablets is leading to an impressive number of purchases on other devices. Among owners of tablets like Apple’s iPad in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Italy, 29 percent made purchases on a PC after seeing ads for those goods on their tablet. 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

On the back of tickets to Los Angeles Lakers games Toyota has been advertising ToyoTags, its mobile marketing app, that allows consumers to enter sweepstakes or receive information about a car special. Downloads of the app increased 600 percent the first week and 700 percent the second.  Read Original Content

NY Waterway has installed GPS technology on town buses that take passengers from Fort Lee, Cliffside Park and Edgewater to the Edgewater ferry landing, enabling residents to track buses via the web or a new mobile app. Read Original Content

What's New in HTML5 - Week of March 12, 2012


HTML5 offers some genuine advantages and tools for developers, but it is not mature enough to serve as a tool for business applications, according to David Akka of Magic Software.  Read original content

The basics of establishing user location with HTML5 are covered in this tutorial from developerdrive.com.  Read original content

The iPad 2 ranks as the best device for HTML5 games and apps performance, according to a new report from spaceport.io.  Overall, iOS devices and browsers outperformed Android “across the board”.  Read original content

Mozilla has created a mobile OS based on HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.  Boot to Gecko is an open source web-based operating system for mobile devices and “eliminates the need for apps to be built on platform-specific native APIs.”  For a demo visit, https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G/Demo.  Read original content


Combining the benefits of HTML5 and native app technologies may be the best approach.  Ashley Streb of Brightcove states that “for cross-platform, content-centric apps, this approach saves both time and money."  Read original content

Is the Java development community ready to embrace HTML5?  Opinion seems to be divided at this point.  Read original content

Sencha has upgraded its HTML5 mobile application framework with the release of Sencha Touch 2.   One of the goals of the upgrade was to “make standards-based Web apps rival native apps on all the top devices and browsers."  Read original content

Although HTML5 has made strides in apps development, Apple customers are still demonstrating their love for native apps.  The iOS app store has exceeded 25 billion downloads.  Read original content

appMobi has announced the release of the beta version of its directCanvas HTML5 acceleration technology.  “HTML5 is the future of the open Web and many people want to take advantage of building games with it on smart devices.”  Read original content

Corel’s VideoStudio Pro is now available in a new “X5” version that provides the ability to generate HTML5 video content that will display in any browser that supports HTML5.  Read original content

Ludei has announced the availability of CocoonJS, a development tool that provides the ability for developers to convert HTML5 games into iOS and Android apps.  Read original content

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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.

SAP Mobility and the App Pricing Problem

SAP has a challenge.  After nearly two years the field sales still can't figure out how to organize consistent pricing on enterprise mobility.  Yes, I have been given many explanations by SAP on their pricing strategy(it does exist), but these details haven't seemed to trickle down to the field. When I talk to end customers and systems integrators (many over the past 14 days) they express frustration and say there is no consistent pricing.  As a result, many companies are finding it challenging to plan for and implement enterprise mobility.

In an analyst report that I recently wrote for insiderResearch titled Mobile Outlook 2012, only 32% of companies have an enterprise-wide mobile strategy that governs all applications and devices.  Without a mobile strategy in place, it is very difficult for companies to pull the trigger on large purchases of MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) and MDMs (mobile device management) solutions.  In addition to the no-mobile-strategy challenge, there is the need to determine pricing for all of the mobility projects that are being requested so you can plan, budget and prioritize.  This can easily end up in a vicious circle.  No strategy and no-pricing equals barriers that will delay valuable mobility projects.


I spoke recently to a system integrator that is involved in many active enterprise mobility projects that are using SUP.  He said everyone of them have been given different pricing for SUP.  It seems the pricing is difficult to understand and communicate. I am not suggesting good clear pricing doesn't exist, it is just not getting translated to the field.

In a recent insiderResearch survey, participants (602 people completed the survey) were asked to identify their biggest challenges to implementing enterprise mobility solutions. Here are the answers:
CLICK TO ENLARGE
The first four biggest challenges were:

  1. Developing a mobile strategy
  2. Identifying and prioritizing business cases
  3. Choosing a platform and mobile technologies
  4. Budgeting
Do you see why not knowing the price of mobility can be a BIG problem.  How can the business and the IT department even start implementing mobility with all of the uncertainty?

40% of companies report that enterprise mobility is currently being managed by each line of business, business unit or group without central management or oversight.  These groups won't wait for the corporate office to negotiate with SAP.  They will purchase their own mobile solution that provides them with clear pricing.

[March 22, 2012] Read the follow-up article titled More on SAP Mobile App Pricing.





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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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: Smartsoft Mobile's CEO Dan Homrich

This is an interview with mobility expert Dan Homrich, CEO of Smartsoft Mobile that I recorded at the recent SAPinsider Mobile2012 conference in Las Vegas.  Dan has been in the enterprise mobility industry for over 20 years and has many great experiences to share from his time on the front lines of mobility.  In this interview I am asking what he sees in 2012 that was different than in 2011.



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
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