Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

Thoughts on the Business of Mobile Handheld PDA Software Development

Software and IT Consultants that wish to offer general mobile software development services and mobile handheld PDA solutions to a broad market have the following important business management questions to consider:

how do you achieve economies of scale (get better and faster over time to increase profitability)
how do you manage risks (from many new and custom development projects)
how do you develop in-house expertise in a broad windows mobile market with a large number of different mobile business processes
how do you develop all the appropriate technology skills necessary to deliver a wide variety of applications using different synchronization, security, integration, database, business process and connectivity options in your mobile software
how do you develop a complete quality assurance plan for every new custom mobile software application (make sure you include this time in your proposal)
how do you efficiently test and de-bug a large number of custom mobile applications
how do you document how each customized software application works (make sure you include this time in your proposal)
how do you maintain and support a wide variety of custom mobile software applications
how do you keep your customer’s mobile software applications current with new versions of mobile operating systems and new handheld device technologies
how do you integrate your custom mobile software applications with a large variety of different backend databases and database applications
how do you do this all profitably

I have had many software and IT consultants contact me and say they have tried to develop a business targeting mobile software applications using Microsoft’s .NET development environment or other coding environments like Appforge, but it simply takes too long, and the cost is too high for the majority of their small to medium sized customers. They contacted me to ask if MobileDataforce has a solution that can address their business needs. The short answer is yes.

In order to profitably develop customized mobile software solutions for use on smartphones and handheld PDAs a large variety of business processes and/or industries, one must standardize as many of the design, development, deployment and support processes as possible. This goal is most easily accomplished by using a mobile software platform that provides these features in a configurable environment.

A mobile software platform enables your professional services organization to train on a standardized platform and to use a standardized methodology for rapidly developing and delivering custom solutions. With a common platform in use, the following benefits can be recognized:

Many of the requirements that mobile projects have are already pre-built in the mobile software platform
project estimates become increasingly accurate
software developers can easily support each other's projects and mobile applications
synchronization does not have to be developed, rather it is configured
mobile application screens don't have to be developed, rather they are configured
connectivity options don't have to be developed, rather they are configured
handheld device support is configured, rather than developed
mobile databases don't have to be developed, rather they are already included and only need configured
common templates and functions can be re-used on many different applications
technical support staff can easily de-bug and support new custom applications using visual de-buggers and management tools
design standards and functions make screen creation quick and efficient
application "clips" are reusable configurations and features that can be re-used on many different projects
the function library has over 220 pre-built functions that save design and development time
existing application templates can used and customized for multiple customer projects
new versions of mobile solutions can be published to the mobile user from the server
one set of code can work on Windows XP, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Tablet PC and multiple screen sizes

The bottom-line - a large variety of mobile applications can be rapidly designed, developed, deployed and supported profitably if they are produced using a mobile software platform like the PointSync Mobility Platform. To program or code a large variety of different and customized mobile applications using .NET or Appforge is simply too expensive and takes too much development time for the average small to medium sized business. Speed and efficiency is required to serve this market. Mobile applications should be configured for these clients, rather than programmed.

Here are a few articles that address these issues in more detail:

Ultra-Rugged Portable Printers - O'Niel Printers for Handheld PDA Solutions

Have you ever thought what a challenge it would be to produce a ruggedized printer for use with a mobile handheld PDA? Think about the environment they are used in; rain, snow, dust, spilled coffee, climbing in-and-out of vehicles all day, dropping it on the bathroom floor when your belt is loose. I am sure the folks at O'Niel have a million stories they laugh about or cry about when customers are not around.

For those who feel "rugged" is not good enough for them, O'Niel Portable Printers offer the "Ultra-Rugged" line of microFlash printers.

These printers are also called "wearable" printers and they can be clipped to your belt. Hummm...what if you don't wear a belt? Where would you clip it? Perhaps you also need ruggedized clothing to support your ruggedized printer? These are popular with the route delivery folks who are leaving proof-of-delivery receipts with digital signatures. They can also be used for sales receipts, service requests and letters to your mother. That's an idea, a very short curled letter to mom.

Since these printers are "wearable" I wonder if you need to accessorize them? Do they come with matching handheld computers, styluses? Are there different colors, patterns and textures....I guess black goes with everything.

MobileDataforce develops customized mobile software solutions for companies, and these kinds of rugged, or ultra-rugged printers are often part of the solution. In this article I discuss a project we did for a company that manages parking garages and city parking meters.

In an earlier article I wrote about PrinTekMobile's FieldPro Printer.

Zebra also offers rugged and wearable printers.

AppForge sells assets; firm owes $1.8 million

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/04/16/newscolumn6.html?jst=pn_pn_lk

AppForge sells assets; firm owes $1.8 million

Atlanta Business Chronicle - April 13, 2007
by Justin Rubner

Details have emerged about the fate of software-maker AppForge Inc.
The company, which unexpectedly shut its doors in mid-March, has sold its assets to Atlanta-based Hays Financial Consulting LLC, a firm that manages distressed, insolvent and bankrupt companies. AppForge, which developed software for PDAs and other mobile devices, filed an "assignment for the benefit of creditors," a quasi-bankruptcy that assigns all assets to the management company with the intent of paying off creditors as quickly as possible so shareholders can get something as well.

Gartner on Appforge

This blog article is from Nick Jones and Michael King at Gartner:

http://blog.gartner.com/blog/comminn.php?itemid=2147

Gartner's advice - "...develop a contingency plan for what you'll do if AppForge ceases to be viable, and be prepared to activate that plan some time in the next three months."

MobileDataforce is here to help with contingency plans.

Rent a Mobile Handheld PDA or Handheld Computer

Ryzex now offers rugged industrial handheld PDAs or computers for rent. How is this helpful? Many organizations need rugged handheld computers only for a specific 6 week period of time for year-end inventory, annual inspections, or a one time limited time project.

MobileDataforce sees a lot of these projects because our mobile software platform, the PointSync Mobility Platform, enables companies to quickly design, development and deploy these simple mobile applications.

Another important set of considerations is the ability to immediately synchronize and review the data that was collected on the mobile applications. In an earlier blog article I wrote about the challenges with using poorly trained, temporary workers for important data collection in the field.