Compliance Functions for Mobile Applications

In an article I published on The Enterprise Mobility Foundation earlier this week, I spoke of the challenges involved with managing a mobile workforce.  Here is an excerpt: 

"You are tasked with managing a team you cannot see. You are accountable for the safety of your employees in locations you have never been. Your success is based upon your team’s ability to overcome all kinds of technical challenges in remote and distant job sites. You are responsible for your team following company standards, processes and industry best practices without any supervision. You must expertly balance their schedules, qualifications and workloads to maximize customer satisfaction and profitability from a distance."

The management challenges listed above are magnified by distance, remote locations and the lack of management visibility.  Often these challenges are not just about managing.  They can also be about safety, liability, legality, quality and customer SLAs (service level agreements).

A few months back, Gil Bouhnick with Clicksoftware, told me about a mobile application he worked on that incorporated Union rules into a mobile application.  It included a complete set of rules, above and beyond, simple work order management.  This application would look at the tasks required of the service technician and review a database of Union rules to ensure the service technician was not doing anything counter to those rules.  This conversation got me thinking.

Perhaps mobile applications could have an application layer for the following:

• Safety compliance
• EPA compliance
• FDA compliance
• OSHA (occupational safety and health administration) compliance
• Legal compliance
• Union compliance
• Quality standards compliance
• Best Practices compliance
• Corporate standards compliance
• Sorbanes-Oxley Act compliance
• SEC compliance
• Customer Service Level agreement compliance

Of course this list could go on forever, but the point is mobile applications can integrate a "compliance" application layer that could associate different compliance issues with each piece of data and field.  Specific jobs could activate specific compliance rules.  Certain tasks and projects could flag specific safety procedures.  This "compliance" application layer could improve the documentation and implementation of the appropriate behavior in remote workers which in turn makes it easier to management them.

What are your thoughts?  Would this be a useful mobile application layer, or simply a pain for the mobile worker?

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

http://www.clicksoftware.com/e86e075b-4fca-44c9-bfeb-4efcc978f416/knowledge-center-white-papers-delivery.htm

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly – September 2, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter that is 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 numbers and trends.

You can read archived versions of the newsletter here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html.

********
The worldwide smartphone applications market grew more than $2.2 billion within the first quarter, according to a study by research2guidance. In 2009 the applications market had posted revenue of $1.7 billion. Mobile application download numbers reached a total of 3.8 billion in only six months, compared to 3.1 billion in 2009.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=753129

********

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/.

********

A new report from the Globe and Mail indicates that while Google’s rise in the smartphone world shook up the market, its Android operating system may have reached its peak.

http://www.visagemobile.com/news/news/understanding-mobility-management-news/5078/report-finds-growing-smartphone-options-for-businesses-may-lead-to-short-reign-for-android-devices-in-the-enterprise/

********

Google unveiled a way for Web users in the U.S. to make calls through its Gmail email service, further pushing into the Internet-calling business and ratcheting up competition with similar services such as Skype.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451743621937792.html

********

In May Dr. Neal Sikka began a six month study examining how accurately emergency doctors and physician assistants at GWU Hospital could diagnose wounds from patient-generated cellphone images. "Mobile health" does not mean a clinic on wheels. It is an emerging field within telemedicine that comprises all aspects of care generated from or available on a portable mobile device such as a cellphone.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083003939.html

********

Apple's iPad will account for an overwhelming 74.1 percent of global tablet shipments this year, with the remaining 25.9 percent consisting of a mix of older PC-type tablet products and competitive slates, according to a study by iSuppli.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=753118

********

Motorola Inc. unveiled a new smartphone version of its handsets that feature a popular Chinese handwriting technology, in hopes that the company can make a comeback in China, where it was once the market leader.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704323704575461513047883520.html

********

Sony Ericsson Chief Executive Bert Nordberg said Tuesday that he expects smartphone use in China to expand to half of all mobile phone users in the country within five years, as the company joins other global handset makers in shifting its focus to higher end devices.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704421104575463344074776632.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

********

Samsung says they've sold one million T-Mobile Vibrants and AT&T Captivates in less than a month and a half in the US.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/08/29/samsung-galaxy-million/

********

Microsoft will spend about $400 million to promote the launch of its forthcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system according to Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg, adding his forecast doesn't include the millions the software giant has already committed to pay its handset manufacturer partners to offset non-recurring engineering costs.

http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/analyst-microsoft-will-spend-400m-market-windows-phone-7/2010-08-30

********

Mobile content revenues in the U.S. will increase from less than $1.15 billion in 2009 to over $3.53 billion in 2014, a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent, according to a new forecast issued by digital intelligence firm eMarketer.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/emarketer-mobile-content-revenues-top-3-5-billion-2014/2010-08-31

********

AT&T Mobility readjusted its schedule to begin offering services in a number of markets it had acquired from Verizon Wireless earlier this year. The carrier said it was moving up the launch dates in markets in South Dakota, North Dakota, Alabama, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado from the originally announced “mid-2011” to “the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011.”

http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20100902/CARRIERS/100909988/att-mobility-accelerates-alltel-market-transitions

********

Syclo announced it is rolling out major enhancements to its Agentry mobile enterprise application platform. Agentry is the backbone of Syclo’s mobile solution framework as it provides both the tooling and infrastructure that enterprises need to develop, test, deploy and manage high availability mobile applications.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Agentry_Mobile_Platform/Enterprise_Mobility/prweb4460374.htm

********

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced that the company has been awarded a three year blanket purchase agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under the terms of the agreement, the EPA and its 17,000 employees will have access to a full range of T-Mobile products and services.

http://www.bradenton.com/2010/08/31/2540816/t-mobile-usa-awarded-epa-mobility.html

********

The middle-aged Internet (ARPANET first went live more than 40 years ago) could easily slide into complacency, but the National Science Foundation might be staving this off with four multimillion dollar grants that the agency has recently awarded. The Future Internet Architecture research projects are expected to re-think the network from the ground up, taking into account emerging security concerns, the demand for greater bandwidth and the growth of mobile devices.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=re-thinking-the-internet-with-secur-2010-08-31

********

You are tasked with managing a team you cannot see. You are accountable for the safety of your employees in locations you have never been. Your success is based upon your team’s ability to overcome all kinds of technical challenges in remote and distant job sites. You are responsible for your team following company standards, processes and industry best practices without any supervision. You must expertly balance their schedules, qualifications and workloads to maximize customer satisfaction and profitability from a distance.

http://theemf.org/2010/09/01/managing-the-mobile-workforce/

********

I recently registered for SAP's TechEd 2010 Las Vegas. I am excited about it this year - the year of mobility! SAP's 2010 focus is - on premise, on demand and on device - MOBILE device that is. I will be teaching a session on The Future of Enterprise Mobility. I have seen the conference agenda and it is packed full of sessions on mobility. I hope to see all of you there!

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/08/kevin-benedict-on-teched-2010-in-las.html

********

Nearly a year ago, on August 27, 2009, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called to order his first meeting as the head of the new five member panel. Inside the FCC's low slung but expansive meeting room in Southwest Washington, D.C., the commission voted to open a series of inquiries into the wireless industry.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/one-year-fcc-where-things-stand?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

********

Companies could increase their annual revenue an average of $2.01 billion by improving employee productivity through making their data just 10 percent more usable and accessible.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/sybase/study-refutes-nick-carr-shows-data-it-do-matter/397

********

Recent articles from Kevin Benedict’s blog Enterprise Mobility Strategies for SAP and Others:

Education and SAP Enterprise Mobility
Apple Stores and Motorola No More
Systems Integrators and SAP Enterprise Mobility

Recommended Webinar:

I participated in the webinar, 10 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting and Implementing a Mobility Solution this week. It can be viewed here, http://www.clicksoftware.com/96ec7ed7-023c-4260-a063-a7d5c320dd23/knowledge-center-on-demand-webinars-registration.htm?mgs1=06a52axCfU.

Recommended Whitepaper:

Networked Field Services - http://www.clicksoftware.com/1c7060c0-1296-4c54-90d6-8f83c5c5ecf0/knowledge-center-white-papers-registration.htm


**************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410 twitter @krbenedict Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro Full
Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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

Kevin’s M2M News Weekly – September 1, 2010

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Weekly. This is an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices that I read each week. 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.

You can read archived editions of Kevin's M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

Also available are Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly and Kevin’s Enterprise Mobility Blog.

********

The auto industry is getting fired up about wireless technology in cars and trucks, but it's not just for connecting passengers' laptops or streaming Internet radio stations. At an assembly plant outside Toronto, Ford Motor Co. is using Wi-Fi transmitters to load customized phone and entertainment features into its Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers as the vehicles chug down the production line.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704504204575445642013867472.html?mod=rss_Technology

********

This week Audi has been demonstrating its Travolution technology on a fleet of test vehicles near its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany. The Travolution package incorporates a number of different technologies, including vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure communications and SmartACC. The vehicle-to-infrastructure component allows vehicles to communicate with traffic signals over a combination of WiFi and 3G mobile.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/03/audi-demonstrating-travolution-vehicle-to-infrastructure-communi/

********

The National Science Foundation has awarded a three year, $7.5 million grant to a Rutgers led research team to develop a future Internet design optimized for mobile networking and communication. The team of nine universities and several industrial partners has dubbed its project “MobilityFirst,” reflecting the Internet’s evolution away from traditional wired connections between desktop PCs and servers toward wireless data services on mobile platforms.

http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2010/08/national-science-fou-20100827

********

Although they won’t attain field readiness in time to help workers trapped by the mine collapse in Chile, a number of new technologies will enter service in the next few years that could drastically increase mine collapse survival rates. These technologies differ in their use, but all use advanced sensors to help miners locate fallen colleagues, alert rescue teams and flee to safety.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38884331/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

********

The convergence of personal health records and mobile communication devices may provide the mechanism to engage consumers to use technology to enhance self-care, taking cost out of the health care system, according to a new Deloitte Issue Brief released today by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

ttp://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253126&Itemid=59

********

An ABI report indicates renewed interest from mobile operators in the M2M space, coupled with the widespread deployment of 3G, led it to predict the M2M market will be worth $3.8 billion by 2015.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/ereaders-tablets-are-early-winners-embedded-device-category/2010-08-26

********

The love affair between people and their mobile phones will grow even stronger once those devices go beyond communications and entertainment and into actual control of entire home and office environments.
http://connectedplanetonline.com/topics/machine-to-machine/m2m-smartphones-smarter-083010/

********

Intel's $1.4 billion acquisition of Infineon's wireless chipset unit is now official and may boost Intel's prospects in wireless a great deal, especially in smartphones and embedded wireless products.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/intel-goes-all-wireless-infineon-deal-will-bet-pay/2010-08-30

********

Eurotech, a supplier of embedded technologies has announced the Eurotech TurboXb computer on module has been deployed in GE Healthcare's EView ventilator data capture device.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ge-healthcare-deploys-eurotech-turboxb-computer-on-module-in-medical-data-capture-device-accessory-101865608.html

********

Telefonica will launch a new business area in September as the company looks to beef up its data technology services and expand revenue. The Madrid based telecommunications company said that besides the video content delivery network the company will expand in the segments of eHealth, applications, security and financial services, cloud computing and M2M Internet communications.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100831-703849.html

********

Mobile payment is slowly gaining traction in China, with systems already in place in top-tier cities for subways, supermarkets, convenience stories, cafes, and fast food chains. China's mobile payment market size is estimated at USD 417 million in 2010, up 45 percent from 2009. Users are expected to nearly double to 150 million. These numbers mostly reflect niche forms of mobile payment, from IC embedded traffic cards to online payments made from a handset.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/08/31/4983086.htm

********

The number of mobile connected M2M and embedded devices will ramp up to nearly 412 million globally by 2014, according to analyst firm Juniper Research. But the main market drivers won't be the oft-hyped e-readers or netbooks. Rather, they will be several enterprise verticals led by healthcare monitoring, a small market today, but one poised to achieve significant revenues.

http://connectedplanetonline.com/mobile-apps/news/m2m-connected-devices-grows-0122/

********

Wireless operators have decided to stake their claim in the mobile telematics market. The market is growing rapidly, as module prices fall and the cost and time of developing and integrating new M2M solutions drops. The industry is no longer dominated by a few verticals, such as security and fleet tracking. Broad new fields such as telemedicine, home automation, agriculture — even the insurance industry — are investing in M2M.

http://connectedplanetonline.com/connectedplanet/news/operators_piece_together/

********

The world of M2M communications is no longer just about vehicle tracking applications, Kore Telematics is fond of saying. But according to its own numbers, 70.7 percent of the M2M device connections Kore manages still connect GPS devices in vehicles and other assets.

http://connectedplanetonline.com/topics/machine-to-machine/kore-m2m-connections-071510/

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410 twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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

Education and SAP Enterprise Mobility

Last week I wrote an article pondering how management strategies may need to change to take advantage of both current and emerging mobile technologies.  My reasoning is that simply placing mobile devices in the hands of a mobile workforce does not on its own improve the business.  Mobile technology is simply a way of enabling new and improved business processes and management practices.  To me this means management needs to be educated.

The SVP of National Customer Solutions Delivery, Tony Geheran at TELUS recently stated, "Efficient and effective management of our large mobile workforce is critical to the success of our business.”  The important part to note about this statement is that efficient and effective managing is the key to success, not mobile technology.  Mobile technology is an enabler, not the end goal.

I read recently that one SAP mobility partner, Clicksoftware, is advocating the combination of technology with educational services to help businesses find the right balance between reducing costs, increasing customer satisfaction, employee preferences and industry regulations.   I am a fan of this approach.  Having been involved in hundreds of mobility projects I know how important it is for the stakeholders to have a deep understanding of why mobile technologies are useful and why it is worth the implementation effort and costs.

I believe it is important for managers today to spend time in education and research to learn how mobility can make managing more efficient and effective.

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Apple Stores and Motorola No More

In December of 2007 I wrote a blog article questioning why Apple was using the Motorola MC50 handheld computers and Microsoft Mobile operating systems in their stores rather than their own devices and operating systems.  Every time I popped into an Apple store for the next couple of years I would see the same thing.  However, last month I noted that all the Apple sales associates were carrying the Apple iTouch with a sleeve that appeared to have an integrated barcode reader.

I interpreted this development to be a measure of progress that Apple has made toward supporting enterprise requirements.  Early on, Apple would not use their own solutions for enterprise class POS and retail applications but now in 2010 they do.

The iTouch was using an integrated barcode reader which is a good step toward field data collection.  It seems reasonable to assume it could also integrate with RFID and any number of additional Bluetooth enabled data capture accessories.

I wonder if there would be a large enough market for a ruggedized iPhone?  It would not work well with field workers that wear gloves, but for many service technicians working primarily indoors it might be fine.  There are a lot of service technicians from companies like Konica Minolta that work indoors and are implementing mobile field services solutions. 

Here is a description of the Konica Minolta solution.  Jobs are raised in the SAP system, and this information is automatically passed to ClickSchedule via the existing interface. ClickSchedule (from an SAP mobility partner) then allocates the most suitable individual to fix or service the product based upon the engineers' skill sets, location and availability. This information is then seamlessly passed to the field engineer via rugged mobile devices which the engineers use again to update progress.

Wouldn't it be interesting if Apple developed a ruggedized and industrial grade device running iOS for this segment of the market?  Would this work or do you see more limitations with the iOS that would prevent this from being a reasonable alternative?

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.