Enterprise Mobility Podcast Series: Neil McHugh

I was able to track down Neil McHugh, VP of Sales and Business Development with Sky Technologies today and record his thoughts on a variety of subjects related to enterprise mobility and strategy.  This is a very interesting discussion.  The link below takes you to Part 1 (see Part 2) of the interview on YouTube. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38TMW2ysQGY&feature=youtube_gdata

Listen to Part 2 of this interview here.

Webinars of Note:

Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution
Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility in Fortune 500 Companies - 10 Lessons Learned (with Kevin Benedict)
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.

Mobile Money News Weekly - Week of March 14, 2011

The Mobile Money 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 Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

Google is trying to beat Apple to the punch when it comes to making Near Field Communication technology popular in the U.S.  Google is about to begin testing mobile NFC payments and plans to do so by installing "thousands" of VeriFone NFC readers at merchants in New York and San Francisco.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/03/google-reportedly-testing-phone-payments-in-nyc-san-francisco.ars

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Recent reports have projected mobile payments would grow to a $680 billion market by 2016.  Juniper Research has valued the mobile payment market at $170 billion in 2010 and projected it to grow to $630 billion by 2014.

http://www.procurement.travel/news.php?cid=mobile-payment-providers-consumer-applications-commercial-applications-hype.Feb-11.28

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Forrester reports that less than 6 percent of American adults have ever used mobile payment.  Americans seem stuck on paper money and credit or debit cards — behind both high-tech first world countries and the developing world in using phones as a wallet.

http://www.technewsdaily.com/us-lags-even-developing-world-in-using-cell-phones-as-wallets-2318/

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Apple has told several UK mobile operators that NFC will not be part of the next iPhone, because Apple is concerned about the lack of an industry-wide standard.

Enterprise Mobility Podcast Series: SAP's Dr. Ahmed El Adl

This is a great interview that I conducted with SAP's Dr. Ahmed El Adl last week.  He discusses his new role at SAP working on enterprise mobility projects and strategy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZva1Y6KqF0

***************************************************
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.

Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of March 14, 2011

The Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was € 1.72 billion in 2009.  Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent, the mobile ad market is forecasted to be worth € 13.5 billion in 2015.

http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/sbwire-82016.htm

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While today mobile represents 15 percent of online advertising, by 2015 it will represent 64 percent of all digital ads.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/9264.html

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Recent reports show the total download app market for Android and iPhone will reach a whopping $15 billion by 2013.

http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2129310&spid=24698

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AOL is trying to transform itself from an Internet service provider to a media company, driven by advertising.  And as attention shifts to the mobile Internet from the desktop, AOL realizes that it needs to kick start a mobile advertising business, too.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/03/11/businessinsider-aol-mobile-ads-2011-3.DTL

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The mobile marketing industry in Kenya is set to see significant growth with the launch of the East African chapter of the Mobile Marketing Association.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh, Part 3

Neil McHugh

This is Part 3 in this interview.  Read Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Kevin:  Do companies need a mobility enterprise application platform?
Neil:  We believe so.  Ninety percent of the customers we have deploy more than one mobility project.  Mobility is a strategic IT initiative and by deploying a mobile platform, customers can grow and evolve their mobile infrastructure without having to worry about scalability or supporting multiple application types and can continue to add various mobile devices as technology evolves over time.

Kevin:  Do companies need mobile device management?
Neil:  They should definitely consider MDM if the enterprise owns the devices, not so when they allow users to access data through their own personal devices.

Kevin:  What is the hardest part of working with mobile devices?
Neil:  Just the constant changes of operating system updates….

Kevin:  Where do you see the biggest value in mobile business intelligence?
Neil:  The ability to present data in a dashboard screen where you can view critical aspects of your business in one location. This is extremely advantageous if your data is spread across different systems and you can pull data dynamically into one application. This is a cool app.

Kevin:  What value do you see in location-based services?

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh, Part 2

Read Part 1 of this interview.
Read Part 3 of this interview.

Kevin:  What are some of the biggest challenges you see in mobility today?
Neil:  For customers, so many solution options which provide many alternatives but also lots of confusion.  Mobility is critical to a customer’s competitive strategy to ensure efficiencies continually improve and operational costs are reduced.  With so many options, customer may fall for the marketing hype promoted by some of these vendors which harms the credibility of the mobile technology market.  So our challenge, as a mobile solution provider, is to educate customers in technology and ensure they follow a logical evaluation process that will eliminate vaporware vendors and provide them with a solution that works and meets their business requirements.

Kevin:  How are enterprise mobility implementations different from other typical IT projects?
Neil:  I think from an IT project viewpoint there is far more emphasis and focus on the user experience and the interface.  In other non-mobility projects the primary objective was ensuring the solution worked and if it looked nice…that was great.  With mobility, it is all about the application.  How it looks, ease of use which is just as important in today’s world.

Kevin:  What do companies fail to plan for when implementing mobility?
Neil:  Customers sometimes fail to consider and plan for the rapid change in mobile devices.  How they are going to manage and support the increasing number of devices.  How will they implement changes across their entire company when either an application is updated, or the hardware operating system changes.  A good device management system should be considered during their planning stage.

Kevin:  Where can companies find the biggest ROIs when implementing enterprise mobility?
Neil:  There are so many situations where customers can experience significant ROI, but one of the simplest examples are those customers that implement Field Service applications.  Engineers can often be on the road for several weeks which means submitting invoice information back to the admin departments can be delayed which exerts unnecessary pressure on the cash flow.  By deploying mobile applications, engineers have access to customer information, part numbers and prices which enable them to write invoices on the spot.  They can virtually do anything while mobile that they can do in their office.  This solution has a direct impact on the bottom line and improves customer satisfaction dramatically.

Kevin:  What advice do you have for companies just starting down an enterprise mobility path?
Neil:  I would advocate that customers do their own research and not rely on the typical top SI’s or analysts for solution recommendations.  We always suggest that customers go through a complete RFP process and chose the top four vendors.  From there they should ask each vendor to do a POC on site within three days, provide three customer references.  The chosen solution should have the capability and flexibility to evolve and future changes should be easy to change by the customer’s IT staff.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this interview.

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

***************************************************

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.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh, Part 1

Neil McHugh

Sky Technologies is an Australian based global software company that has been working in the SAP ecosystem and the Oracle ecosystem for nearly a decade.  The last time I checked they had over 100 SAP enterprise mobility customers.  Because of their experience and expertise, I contacted Neil McHugh about an interview and he was kind enough to agree.

Note:  Neil responded to these questions in writing, so these are Neil's words with minor editing.

Kevin:  What are your current roles and responsibilities? How long have you been in these roles?
Neil:  I am the Vice President for Sales & Business Development for Sky and have been working with them for almost three years.

Kevin:  Where are you located?
Neil:  I am located in Houston, but my offices are in Dallas and Palo Alto.

Kevin:  What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Neil:  I carry a iPhone, iPad and laptop when I travel.

Kevin:  What are some of your favorite mobile applications that you have on your mobile device?
Neil:  My favorite apps for my personal life are VectorVest for financial stock monitoring.  OpenTable to find good restaurants and Redbox for my DVD rentals.  From a work viewpoint an application that simplifies my life when I travel such as (Workflow – PO & Expense approval) CRM for accessing customer information.

Kevin:  Do you ever use your mobile device to buy things?
Neil:  I tend to use my iPad to buy things on Amazon, eBay and moving money around when I am buying stock.

Kevin:  How many computing devices do you have in your home?
Neil:  We have two laptops, two iPads, an iPhone and Android.  Six devices if I counted correctly.

Kevin:  How did you get involved in enterprise mobility?
Neil:  Networking with contacts brought me into the world of SAP and mobility.

Kevin:  What do you like most about working with enterprise mobility?
Neil:  I came from a background of mainframes with IBM which was very stable but bordering on stagnant.  Enterprise mobility is quite different, and it is the first time I have worked in a space where consumer and enterprise meet with the same technology.  So, it is a very dynamic space where hardware, software and communications will continue to improve and help us all to be more efficient.

Kevin:  What are some of the most surprising trends you saw in mobility in 2010?
Neil:  Probably the uptake of the iPad and follow-on tablets.  It was only 11 months ago that the first iPad was released and estimates suggest 10 million from Apple and 7 million from other suppliers.  Also, the adoption rate of iPads into the enterprise has been extremely quick.

Read Part 2 of this interview.
Read Part 3 of this interview.

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

***************************************************

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.

Unified View of Mobile Field Operations

I read an article recently about how SAP's customer PG&E once had 67 different local offices dispatching field services crews.  These 67 offices managed 1,500 crews that consisted of approximately 5,000 specialists taking care of 50 million customers.  Each of these local offices only managed and had visibility to their own region's work and crew schedules.  As a result, some regions were very busy, some not.  This resulted in high administrative costs in the 67 offices, and an inefficient use of the field services crews.

PG&E ultimately consolidated all of their dispatching and field services management into two centers and standardized on a central scheduling solution.  This resulted in a unified view of the workforce's schedule. 

Today, the central dispatchers at PG&E have the visibility and management flexibility to schedule or reschedule work and crews to where they are most needed across regions.  This solution consisted of ClickSoftware's ServiceOptimization Suite of tools including ClickSchedule, ClickPlan, ClickAnalyze and ClickForecast integrated with SAP’s work order application.

PG&E is a great example of the implementation of a concept called "Network Centric Operations."  The ability to have a unified real-time view of all of your assets, work/missions, schedules and resources so that you can manage them to most efficiently accomplish the mission. 

I have been studying with keen interest recently how the military is incorporating these kinds of strategies to do more with less.  I believe this goal is equally important in the commercial sector.

***************************************************

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 14, 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

An Indiana man has developed a smartphone application that may make the war effort safer and more efficient.  Capt. Jonathan Springer created Tactical NAV last year with the help of his wife to provide soldiers with more precise logistics for delivering mortar strikes and artillery fire.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9a3b94a4c9ea4da386e7bd3ae8ee02e6/IN--Soldier-Smartphone-App/

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The total market for finished barcode scanners (dedicated handheld and fixed position devices) reached an estimated $1.4 billion in 2010, with revenues of $1.5 billion projected for 2011, according to new research.

http://vsr.edgl.com/reseller-news/2D-Imagers-Set-to-Drive-Barcode-Scanner-Market-to-$1-5B-in-201171158?googleid=71158

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Trimble introduced the Trimble TSC3 handheld controller for construction, a powerful and rugged addition to the portfolio of controllers for heavy and highway contractors.

http://www.forconstructionpros.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=25&id=19652

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Telemetry has been used to remotely monitor equipment such as combine harvesters for some time, mainly for diagnostic and troubleshooting purposes.  Manufacturers are now looking to adopt such systems on tractors for enhanced fleet management and better security.

Mobile Solutions for Grocery Shopping and Allergens

I found out recently that I am allergic to wheat.  This fact has motivated me to adjust my diet, and to start reading closely the labels on products in the grocery store.  Last week I was reading the ingredients on a bottle of salad dressing and came across an unknown ingredient.  At first, I thought about using my iPhone 4 to look up the ingredient on the Internet, but then decided to try my free Red Laser app.

I turned the bottle around and snapped a photo of the UPC barcode with the Red Laser app and it instantly brought up a full description of the product and a section called Allergens.  There was a full description of each ingredient and a list of known allergens.

I was impressed!  A simple barcode image capture instantly provided me with all known allergen information for the product in question.  Now in my case the wheat allergy is simply an inconvenience, but with some people their allergies can be life threatening. 

Many mobile applications are simply clever apps looking for a problem to solve, but in this case the Red Laser app, or any other of the multitude of barcode image capturing apps, connected to a powerful database with valuable content can be a life saver.

This is a real life example of how a consumer can benefit from a free mobile iPhone application integrated with a product catalog that contains information important to the consumer.  I will certainly be using my iPhone bar code capturing technology, connected to the Internet and integrated with a database, much more often while grocery shopping.

I can image the CPG (consumer packaged goods) could add all kinds of other related services and information around this model.  If I capture the barcode, and then click on allergen information, that may be a good indicator that I have a special interest in particular ingredients.  The CPG company could then provide me with a list of other gluten-free products available from their company at my current location (GPS connection required).  They could certainly interest me in more gluten free products.  Making more sales should serve as a motivator for CPG companies to develop more kinds of mobile applications that are connected to more valuable consumer services.

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

***************************************************
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.

Is Developing Your Own Mobile Solution a Good Idea?

There are a lot of challenges and complexities involved with developing an enterprise mobility solution.  You can choose to purchase a packaged application, where the vendor has already solved most of the challenges, or you can choose to take on the challenge yourself and develop your own mobile solution or outsource the custom development.  It is important, however, to recognize what difficulties and challenges are involved in custom development. The following list of questions and considerations is intended to help you understand what it takes to develop your own mobile solution:

1. Do you have the resources available to collect all business and technical requirements for the application? Do you know what questions need asking?
2. Do you have the time and resources available to design, develop, test, deploy and support a mobile software application for the long term?
3. Do you have the time and people available to review all the hardware requirements and operating system features that are needed by the end user?
4. Do you have experienced mobile application designers available that are familiar with the unique features of every operating system?
5. Mobility is here for the rest of your career.  Are you able to develop a mobility solution that can rapidly evolve as the mobility landscape evolves, or will your design require major work each time new mobile operating systems and devices are released?

Mobile Money News Weekly - Week of March 7, 2011

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

The $2 billion in mobile money transactions that occurred in 2009 is expected to grow ten fold to $22 billion by 2012.  Mobile remittances, or phone-to-phone transferring of funds, stood at $11 billion in 2009 and should reach $68 billion by 2012.

http://blogs.forbes.com/ciocentral/2011/02/18/mobile-phones-are-transforming-commerce-starting-in-africa/

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The number of mobile payment users has been rising fast with 351 million users in 2009, and is estimated to reach 1.06 billion by 2014 at a compound annual growth rate of 20.5 percent.  Global mobile payments transactions are expected to rise to $1.13 trillion in 2014 from $37.4 billion in 2009, at an annual growth rate of 98 percent.

https://www.trefis.com/modelDiff?id=11

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San Francisco based startup, Square, has reached a new milestone.  The company is now processing one million dollars in mobile payments per day.

http://www.zippycart.com/ecommerce-news/2140-square-racking-in-1million.html

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According to InsideRetailing.com, more retailers are expected to begin incorporating Apple’s iPad into store operations.  The shift seems to be retailers' response to consumers’ multi-channel shopping habits.

Mobility News Weekly - Week of March 7, 2011

Kevin's 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 News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

With the launch of the Motorola Xoom, and impending arrival of the BlackBerry PlayBook, HP TouchPad, and a plethora of other tablets, the competition is mounting for the Apple iPad. However, a survey from ChangeWave finds that the dominance of Apple's iPad is assured for the foreseeable future.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221858/survey_paints_bleak_future_for_ipad_rivals.html

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One year after its formation, the operator led Wholesale Applications Community, has launched its commercial service.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/02/operators-launch-wac-wholesale-app-store.php

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that 65 percent of the Fortune 100 have either deployed or have pilots running with the iPad.  Meanwhile, Network World puts the number in the Fortune 100 as 80 percent.

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/02/14/enterprise-ipad-adoption-up-to-80-percent-in-fortune-100/

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SAP AG has announced a new road map of in memory applications that will help customers become real time businesses, transforming the way they think, plan and operate.

M2M and Mobile Devices are Changing the Economics of Energy



M2M and Smartphones

A good friend and fellow Boisean, Chris Volk, works for M2M Communications on a project called PEAR.  PEAR stands for Peak Energy Awards Program.  This is a very interesting program that combines M2M (machine to machine) devices with smartphones to provide a significant benefit for energy producers and their customers.

Here is how I understand it to work.  There are certain times of the season and day when energy usage peaks.  Energy utilities are required by law to support these peak times with enough energy.  The problem is that these peaks may only be for a few hours each day, or month or season.  As a result you have expensive infrastructure and assets not being used for much of the time.  This is an inefficient use of money.

Energy generators would rather find ways to reduce the peak usage times in order to reduce the need for  new power plants, transmission and distribution networks.  One way they are doing this is through project PEAR.  This project targets large agricultural irrigation systems and users.  It pays farmers to equip their irrigation pumps with M2M devices that allow them to be managed and controlled remotely and switched off at certain peak energy usage times.  They are switched off for one to four hours at a time.  The equipment is free to the farmer and they are paid a fee for participating.

One of the reasons the agricultural industry was targeted with this program is they have flexibility.  They can be flexible with their irrigation times.  A factory has less flexibility in that their employees start at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 5:00 p.m.  However, a farm has more flexibility to water at different non-peak usage times.

The farmer is given notice in advance, so they know when their pumps will be switched off and can choose to opt out if needed.  The pumps can be managed and controlled by smartphones, computers or via an internet connection to the energy providers systems.

To me, the smartphone component is what makes this story really interesting.  You have mobile devices (smartphones) being used as control panels for industrial and agricultural systems.  Oh My!  First our smartphones became TV remotes, now they can control the farm.  I love it!

***************************************************
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.

M2M News Monthly - March 2011

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Monthly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices.  I aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article.  I also search for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around the M2M market.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Preliminary data from Berg Insight show that the worldwide number of mobile network connections used for wireless M2M communication reached 81.4 million at the end of 2010, up 46 percent year-on-year.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/47657.php

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A report released by ABI Research indicates more than three-quarters of a billion RFID tags will be used in global apparel markets in 2011.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/09/item-level-rfids-get-support-from-big-retailers-track-your-ever/

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A growing number of startups are applying the principles of social networking to home energy management, and bringing social media to the smart grid.  In the process, they are revolutionizing people’s understanding of their energy use, building successful companies and helping to lessen the impact of each individual on the environment.

http://mashable.com/2011/02/08/smart-grid-social-media/

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Defense contractor Comtech Telecommunications Corp., has revealed that its Maryland-based subsidiary, Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation, received orders totaling $27.2 million under its MTS contract with the U.S. Army.

Sybase's New Enterprise Mobility Guide

Sybase's Eric Lai

Eric Lai, a friend of mine at Sybase, has just completed a monumental task.  He has organized the publication of a very interesting new guidebook called the Enterprise Mobility Guide.  This is a substantial guidebook with 123 pages, and it is absolutely free!  It contains many different sections:

• Transformation of the Enterprise
• The Mobility Effect
• Mobile Ecosystem @Work
• Mobile Enterprise Best Practices
• Market Data

The articles within the guidebook are written by folks like:

• Raj Nathan, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Sybase, an SAP Company
• Oliver Bussman, Global CIO, SAP
• Greg Jenko, Partner, Global Lead for Mobile Systems Integrations, Accenture
• Philippe Winthrop, Managing Director, The Enterprise Mobility Foundation
• Eugene Signorini, Vice President, Yankee Group
• Many more... 

This is very good material and I would encourage you to download your copy.

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

***************************************************
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.

Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of March 7, 2011

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was €1.72 billion in 2009.  Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent, the mobile ad market is forecasted to be worth €13.5 billion in 2015.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/302541

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The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and c|net amongst others, have reported that the number of searches coming from mobile devices and apps now accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total number of shopping searches.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/238262

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Amazon sold $1 billion worth of goods last year via mobile devices, while eBay did $2 billion on mobile devices, seeing a sale every second during the fourth quarter of last year.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2275026/google-mobile-search-ecommerce

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comScore researchers found that 36 percent of U.S. consumers browsed the mobile web in 2010 while 34 percent accessed the mobile web through an application.

Expert Advice on Implementing Enterprise Mobility

I have had the good fortune to interview nearly 30 enterprise mobility experts over the past few months. During these interviews I asked the experts for advice related to implementing enterprise mobility solutions. This 10 minute video reviews the advice given.

***************************************************
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 7, 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

A few NFL teams are considering the benefits of tablet devices such as the iPad over plain old paper.  The Dallas Cowboys, in particular, have determined that going digital "could save them as much as 5,000 pages of paper printouts per game."

http://techland.time.com/2011/02/08/nfl-coaches-to-swap-printouts-and-playbooks-for-ipads/

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Bigger is not always better when it comes to the military's ruggedized computers.  The latest trend is toward small, lightweight computing devices that can work for vehicular and dismounted applications.

http://defensesystems.com/articles/2011/02/28/defense-it-1-smaller-rugged-computers.aspx

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The Department of Homeland Security is creating a prototype handheld device that will scan bodies and determine DNA components.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/04/homeland-security-considering-portable-instant-dna-scanners/

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that Quick Response codes, which are similar to barcodes, are being added to all work permits issued by the Department of Buildings.

1,000th Article on Enterprise Mobility Today



Remember when?

I have been writing articles on enterprise mobility since 2006, and today I reached my 1,000th article.  They are certainly not all good, but occasionally you can find a gem.  If you ever want to laugh at how much enterprise mobility has changed in the past 5 years, take a look at some of the older article archives here:

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Thanks for reading!

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


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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.

SAP CIO Oliver Bussman on Tablets

TechEd Interview with Oliver Bussman

I read an interesting interview with SAP CIO Oliver Bussman this morning.  He is a qualified expert on tablets, as he has authorized the purchase of 3,500 tablets at SAP in less than a year now.  I was particularly interested in how he, a very busy executive, uses the iPad.  Here is what he uses it for:

• Respond to email
• Media consumption
• Media sharing and sharing device.  He likes the iPad apps by Pulse, Twitterific, Flipboard and InstaPaper.

I like reading about the personal work habits of individuals.  I guess it is a way to measure and compare how we ourselves work and use technology.  In my case, I use all of the same applications on my iPad, and for the same reasons, except InstaPaper.  I will need to investigate that app.

Does the iPad replace Bussman's laptop?  Not when he needs to tweak presentations or perform more complex tasks.  Again, I share his use criteria, except, since I spend most of my time writing and developing presentations, I find myself tied to my laptop for the forseeable future.

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

***************************************************

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.

Design Strategies for Mobile Applications

One Client Many Apps

I had the opportunity to be briefed on Webalo's mobility solution a couple of weeks ago.  It is much different than most enterprise mobility solutions.  Using their web-based Agenda environment it takes only a few hours to develop a mobile application, and you need download only one mobile client to support and mobilize hundreds of different business processes.

It is an interesting concept.  You can access the Agenda environment in the cloud, configure your integration with backend databases, layout your mobile application screens, download the mobile client to your device, and then login and upload any and all mobile applications you have configured.  Each additional business process that you want to mobilize is simply a configuration exercise, that gets uploaded to the same mobile client on the next login.  You can open your mobile client and see a menu with all of your unique mobile applications, all in the same mobile client. 

You give up some native graphical user interface flexibility when you use the same mobile client for all applications, but what you gain is:

• Lower development costs
• Less development time
• Less deployment effort
• Less support issues
• Lower TCO (total cost of ownership)

In talking to the CEO/Founder of Webalo, Peter Price, he said in many enterprise mobility projects the 80/20 rule comes into play.  You can deploy 80% of the functionality you need for 20% of the cost.  You need to ask yourself if gaining an additional 20% of features is really worth 80% more.

It is an interesting approach to enterprise mobility.  It is very utilitarian.  Mobilize as many business processes as you want for one low price.   I like the idea that one mobile client, can be configured to run hundreds of different workflow kinds of applications, rather than buy separate mobile applications for every different business process.

Webalo's product approach and strategy invites a debate on the value of spending a lot of time on the user interface.  Some vendors spend most of their time talking about their beautiful user experience.  Others take the approach that a simple menu driven approach that quickly and cost effectivly provides mobile capabilities is worth a lot more and commands a better ROI.

What do you think?

***************************************************
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.

How to Prepare for An Enterprise Mobility Implementation

Design, Develop, Test, Deploy, Revise

Next week I am going to be participating in a webinar called Rapid SAP Mobilization for the Enterprise.  This is a Smartsoft Mobile Solutions webinar and they are an SAP services partner.  I will be sharing advice from mobility experts on how to prepare for enterprise mobility implementations.

The webinar topics to be covered include:

1. Best Practice: Mobile Engagement Methodology
2. Rapid Mobile Solution Deployment
3. Five Ways to Optimize your ROI

I invite you to join me on this webinar. 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.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: SAP's Matthew Schwartz

I am excited to be able to introduce Matthew Schwartz, SAP’s VP of Enterprise Mobility for North America to all of you who may not have met him yet.  He kindly agreed to be interviewed by me and to share his thoughts and advice on SAP enterprise mobility.

Kevin:  What are your current roles and responsibilities?
Matthew:  I am the VP of Enterprise Mobility for North America at SAP.  I orchestrate SAP’s efforts to be the leading Enterprise Mobility Software and Services company.  Specifically, I am focused on creating a portfolio of software and services that will allow SAP’s Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) to be the enterprise standard for Mobile Enterprise Application Plaforms (MEAP) and Afaria to be the enterprise standard for Mobile Device Management (MDM).  At the end of the day, my team and I help SAP customers to get up and live on mobile solutions.  I am excited to announce that we have been able to put together an exceptional team of experts including Dr. Ahmed El Adl.

Kevin:  Where are you located?
Matthew:  I live in San Diego, California where I have been for the last three years.

Kevin:  What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Matthew:  I carry a BlackBerry Curve, iPhone 4, iPad, and a MacBook Pro (that I rarely use anymore, as I mostly use the iPad).  I love the Zagg case for my iPad.  It is an aluminum case with a built in keyboard and stand for my iPad.  With this case I have cut back on my laptop use by about 75 percent.

Kevin:  What are some of your favorite mobile applications that you have on your mobile device?
Matthew:  The Kindle app for both my iPad and iPhone.  I am a big e-book reader.  Also, Dragon Dictation – I dictate notes to myself while driving, Hertz, Delta and American Travel apps.

Kevin:  Do you ever use your mobile device to buy things?
Matthew:  Yes, every day.  Airline tickets, hotel, car reservations, books, Amazon, iTunes.

Kevin:  How many computing devices do you have in your home?
Matthew:  Fourteen.

Kevin:  How long have you been involved in enterprise mobility?
Matthew:  Three years in enterprise mobility after years of doing lean mobility projects in the supply chain space.  Recently, I was involved in some very cool new mobile applications in the media and entertainment space.

Kevin:  How did you get involved in enterprise mobility?

Mobility News Weekly - Week of February 28, 2011

Kevin's 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 News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

For the first time ever, smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone are outselling personal computers, according to a report by research group IDC.

http://www.pddnet.com/news-smart-phones-outsell-pcs-for-first-time-020911/?et_cid=1099912&et_rid=45618679&linkid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pddnet.com%2Fnews-smart-phones-outsell-pcs-for-first-time-020911%2F

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RBC projects that between three and four million Verizon iPhone 4 units will be sold during the first quarter of 2011.  RBC also notes that its previous estimates of between nine and ten million Verizon iPhones being sold during the 2011 calendar year may be conservative.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/09/rbc-verizon-to-sell-over-1-million-iphones-in-first-week-3-4-million-in-q1/

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Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 1.6 billion units in 2010, a 31.8 percent increase from 2009, according to Gartner, Inc.  Smartphone sales to end users were up 72.1 percent from 2009 and accounted for 19 percent of total mobile communications device sales in 2010.

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1543014

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Total web email usage was down eight percent in the past year, with a whopping 59 percent decline in use among people between the ages of 12-17.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Israel Beniaminy, Part 4

ClickSoftware's Israel Beniaminy

This is Part 4 of my interview with ClickSoftware's VP of Product Strategy, Israel Beniaminy.  Also read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Kevin:  Where do you see mobility going in 2011?
Israel:  Judging by the evolution of mobility in 2010, mobility is going to continue surprising us in 2011.  It's going to be an exciting year!  Still, a few predictions are as safe as predictions can be:  Mobility will affect more people, in more roles, than ever before.  Many people will leave aside desktops and laptops, bypass netbooks and switch to using smartphones and tablets for the majority of their digital communications.  Social media will start to become a key part of enterprise mobility solutions (as it has done already in consumer mobility).  Mobile applications will be increasingly sensitive to context, starting with location and extending to other context cues; and location will receive a boost from existing and upcoming indoor-location technologies.  Lastly, while predicting surprises is impossible by definition, I would expect some of the most rewarding and significant surprises to be in discovering new ways of doing business, which will become possible due to mobile technology, just like the Internet enabled new ways of doing business (eBay is just one example).

Kevin:  What role do you see for mobile BI in Field Services?
Israel:  Executives, managers, business analysts and budget managers all need full access to business intelligence systems.  When drilling through the numbers, an iPad works very well. You don’t want to be doing much work on a small iPhone screen.  However, for field services engineers, they need access to BI data but not all the data.  It is best if the data is integrated with their existing field services solution.  Field services engineers don’t need to know about Business Objects on the back end, but they could benefit from their performance data.  The number of work orders completed relative to other service engineers.  The number of sales, the amount of inventory or services sold, etc.

For field services managers, it may be useful for them to see product sales numbers so they can anticipate demand on their services and plan for it.

I want to thank Israel for taking the time to share his thoughts, experiences and advice with all of us.

Whitepapers of Note:

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

***************************************************

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.