Mobile Data Collection is a Different Breed of Mobile Application

There is a whole category of mobile applications that is easy to overlook.  It is the mobile data collection category.  Many of these solutions are project specific.  That means a large utility, contractor or government agency needs to collect data on mobile devices in the field for a project, but there is no existing databases to store this data and/or to create reports on it.

When I was the CEO of a mobile software company I was surprised by how much database work my team ended up doing.  We were a mobile applications company, but since there were no existing backend database applications to store the data, we ended up developing those as well.  Once the database was developed, our customers would often want browser access and reports.  Good development work, but it could quickly divert your focus away from mobility.

SAP Mentor John Appleby on SAP Enterprise Mobility Plus News and Thoughts

Fellow SAP Mentor John Appleby published a terrific and well thought out article summarizing his views on the current state of SAP enterprise mobility.  He works as a technical consultant in the UK for Bluefin Solutions Ltd., so has a much more technical view than I can provide.  I recommend reading it.

I do have a question that has been in the back of my mind this week.  If mobility is so important to SAP, where were all their mobility executives at SAP TechEd?  Where was John Chen, Bob Stutz, Kevin Nix, etc, which are the folks responsible for SAP enterprise mobility?  There were over 5,000 attendees.  My session on the Future of Enterprise Mobility had over 200 registrants.  It seems in hindsight, that SAP should have brought the big boys of mobility to the show.

Thursday at SAP's TechEd 2010 - Enterprise Mobility

Today (Thursday) I was able to finally get enough time to sit down in the Innovation Center with SAP folks and see demonstrations of their new enterprise mobility applications.  I saw the following applications:

• SAP Prove - Workflow approvals (expense approvals)
• SAP CRM Mobile
• SAP Expense Reports

I loved the SAP Prove application because of the GUI.  It was an image of a desk with a crumpled piece of paper on it that had an expense request written on it.  Next to it were two rubber stamps.  One that said Approved, the other Rejected.  By tapping one or the other it would stamp the paper.  I loved it.  I kept stamping all of them with Reject, Reject, Reject.  I could do that all day.  What power!

Super Secure Environments and Enterprise Mobility

At SAP TechEd 2010 this week, I learned about a very interesting mobility project.  A large manufacturer is so concerned about the security of their data, that they have special requirements that all components of computers and servers be cleaned and verified as clean and secure before they are assembled.  All steps in the server manufacturing process are audited and verified as clean.

This manufacturer is concerned that a worm, or other malicious bug can be introduced to the system during the installation of software, or the manufacturing of memory or hard drives.  Wow, I have just not thought this issue through.  They point to the example of the Iranian Nuclear plant that was infected by a worm that was introduced by someone bringing in a flash drive to the secure environment.

SAP Enterprise Mobility Vendor Chooses Sybase's Unwired Platform

When SAP announced they were going to acquire Sybase, the SAP enterprise mobility market paused.  Now it is moving again and SAP's mobility partners are aligning with SAP's mobility strategy and announcing support for the Sybase Unwired Platform as this announcement today demonstrates - ClickSoftware Partners With Sybase to Deliver Best-in-Class Mobility for the Service Sector.

Here are some interesting excerpts: