How Many Mobility Platforms are Enough?



Kevin Benedict and Australian Post's
John Moy (on the right).

I spoke to John Moy from the Australian Post about his many mobility projects this week.  They have all kinds of interesting mobility applications that are customer facing apps.  I recorded a video interview with John that I will publish here as soon as I get a good high speed Internet connection.  The mobile applications he mentioned were the following:

• Postage calculator
• Package tracking
• Locations of post offices

During our discussions John asked a very good question.  He asked, "Does SAP/Sybase have a mobility platform for customer facing applications?"  I thought about this and said, "Good question!"  There are certainly ways to connect customer facing mobile applications with SAP data and processes, but is there a true platform for customer facing applications?  How would you have answered that question?


I would tell you if I knew.


Customer facing mobile applications need to be compelling in order to compete, and for customers to be motivated to use them.  They need to have incredible UIs (user interfaces) and great value.  John and I would have asked this question of the Sybase folks had they attended, but instead we were left to form our own conclusions.  That is a risky venture.

Another good question John asked was, "Will one mobile platform be able to support all of our needs?"  I believe large enterprises may need more than one.  Especially if they have mobile consumer apps.  In the retail and CPG space, there are marketing campaigns, loyalty programs, mobile money, coupons, rebates, specials, catalogs, location based services and social networking components to all of the above.  I have not seen anything in this area from SAP or Sybase yet.  This may be an area where companies may need to work with a specialty mobile platform.

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Networked Field Services
Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business

Webinars of Note

Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility - 10 Lessons Learned
Barcode Scanning in Mobile Apps
Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution
SAP Mobilization - What You Need to Know

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly

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

Mastering SAP Technologies and Mobility in Australia

Geeks/SAP Mentors Migrating South

About ten SAP Mentors spoke at this year's Mastering SAP Technologies event in Sydney.  I presented one of the opening keynote presentations on Monday, and lead a session called Network Centric Operations in the SAP Environment this afternoon. 

It was a packed house, but there was a noted absence of any Sybase folks.  I met several companies currently interested in purchasing mobile solutions.  The strange thing is that Sybase has a sales office in Sydney, but still did not attend.  It seems there are still some coordination issues to work out.

There were 4 sessions that focused on enterprise mobility this year, and the Demo Jam winner was also a mobile solution.  The Demo Jam winners had the following components and features:

• Remote controlled helicopter
• Barcode scanner on the helicopter
• Wireless remote control of the helicopter using an Android device
• The barcode was capture and wirelessly integrated with SAP's SCM (supply chain management) system.

I attended a session today by Jason Lante from ETSA Utilities on mobile timesheets.  He shared how ETSA Utilities is successfully using ClickSoftware's ClickMobile and ClickSchedule integrated with SAP for about 75% of their employees that work in the field.  They have achieved their mobility and ROI goals and are looking to expand.

Kevin Benedict's Keynote...fun, fun!

I had a gathering of utility, post and CPG company representatives around me following both presentations that I gave.  I kept looking around for some SAP utilities or Sybase folks to bring into these conversations, but none were present.  I don't think the SAP field sales team quite knows how important mobility is becoming to their customers.



***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly

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

Down Under and Enterprise Mobility Security

I am speaking this week at the Mastering SAP Technologies conference in Sydney, Australia.  Following my presentation this morning on enterprise mobility, I spoke with attendees from MIT's Lincoln Labs and Boeing.  Both of these individuals shared that their companies had many requests for enterprise mobility solutions, but security concerns have prevented any from being deployed.  This sounds like a real problem!

A 2011 study by Kelton Research found that security fears had caused 75 percent of enterprises to delay rolling out mobile apps at one time or another.  Yikes!  This is not good for business if you are an enterprise mobility vendor.  This subject deserves more discussion, but I am working in an outdoor cafe and a tropical storm is about to open up on me and my laptop, so we will pick up this discussion again in the future.

Cheers!

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Networked Field Services
Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business

Webinars of Note

Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution
Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility in Fortune 500 Companies - 10 Lessons Learned 
Barcode Scanning In Mobile Applications
SAP Mobilization - What You Need to Know

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of March 21, 2011

Kevin’s Field Mobility 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 Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

The U.S. Army will soon evaluate prototypes of wearable mobile handheld computers running battle command capability.  New applications will provide dismounted soldiers with network connectivity, command, control and situational awareness.

http://defense-update.com/wp/20110318_jbc-p_wearable_pc.html

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The medical device industry is worth $400 billion in annual sales.  Vante, a medical equipment company is restructuring itself to enter the emerging market.  The company, formerly known as SEBRA, is retooling itself as a market leader in supplying machines to make medical catheters and seal sterile tubing.

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_7894c9a9-dff4-574f-a809-bd03da540c3a.html

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Pentagon contractors are developing applications for Apple’s IPad and other tablets in order to command and control unmanned aerial vehicles.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/222301/tablets_smartphones_join_the_military.html

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IDC has launched the ZB111 wireless-based barcode scanner, to provide low cost inventory management systems in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and surgeries.

First Solar Drives Business Value with Enterprise Mobility Platform

First Solar and Mobility

I came across this mobility webinar announcement and wanted to share it with you.  Nothing beats learning directly from the end user.  First Solar has just implemented an enterprise mobility solution and Jay White, Mobility Architect (cool title!) from First Solar will share his experiences.

Here is the webinar description:

Hear first-hand about First Solar’s road to mobility, the critical decisions they faced and the benefits they’re reaping as a result of successfully implementing an enterprise-grade mobility strategy that is able to scale with their needs.

In this informative webinar, Jay White, Mobility Architect at First Solar, will share his insights into enterprise architecture, system integration, and multi-device support and the crucial role they play in successfully and cost-effectively developing enterprise-grade mobile applications.

March 23 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET


Register Here!


***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.