Mobile Enterprise Management Platform

Is another mobile acronym on your Christmas list?  Great!  I have one for you, MEMP (mobile enterprise management platform).  A MEMP is designed to help you keep mobile systems, mobile networks, mobile devices and your mobile workforce working and productive.  This is not easy if you have several thousand mobile devices being used in mission critical roles across a wide geographic area.

When my family and I are traveling on trains in Europe, all of the rail staff that check your tickets and sell you snacks are carrying mobile devices.  Airports and airport gates are increasingly being operated by people with mobile devices.  Public safety and emergency responders are nearly all carrying mobile devices today.

If you have the good fortune of being the person responsible for keeping mission critical mobile applications and mobile devices operating, then you would appreciate the value of a MEMP.

Global Economic Development, Prosperity and Enterprise Mobility

In the book The Birth of Plenty, the author William J. Bernstein proposes that prosperity is based on the following four tenets:

1. Property Rights – Creators must have proper incentives to create.

2. Scientific Rationalism – Innovators must possess the proper intellectual tools in order to innovate and must be able to do so without fear of retribution.

3. Capital Markets – Entrepreneurs must have access to sufficient capital to pursue their visions.

4. Transportation/Communications – Society must be able to rapidly and efficiently move information and finished products.

Bernstein says that the presence of, or lack of, these four items determines the level of prosperity of a people or country.

When I read item four on the list I thought about enterprise mobility.  I have worked on, seen and heard about many mobile enterprise applications that have enabled economic development and a higher quality of life.  Let me share a few of them.

The Intangible Benefits of Enterprise Mobility

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In an article re-published in The Wall Street Journal last year, The Secrets of Intangible Wealth, author Ronald Bailey writes the following, “A Mexican migrant to the US is 5 times more productive than one who stays home.”  Did your interest peak like mine when you read that line?  The data comes from research done by the World Bank.  Here is the reason why according to Bailey.  The average American has access to over $418,000 in intangible wealth, while the stay-at-home Mexican’s intangible wealth is just $34,000.

What is intangible wealth? The World Bank’s environmental economics department describes it as, “trust among people in a society, an efficient judicial system, clear property rights and effective governments.”  The value of these intangibles according to the World Bank is significant.  Who wants to invest in property if it can be taken away any time?  Who wants to develop a large manufacturing plant in a location where these intangibles are hard to come by?

Key Performance Indicators in Mobile Applications

Picture this - a service technician, Frank, opens his mobile application and sees that he is ranked sixth out of 18 service technicians in products and services sold.  He also sees that he is the fastest service technician at completing work on a particular piece of equipment.  Overall he can see that he is ranked number three when all of the figures are added up and weighed.  Now let me ask you, "Is this a good thing?" 

Is it useful to develop KPIs (key performance indicators) and then measure and share them?  Will it motivate positive performance?  One of the key challenges managers have is effectively managing a remote and mobile workforce.  Will KPIs that are measured and shared on mobile devices help?

Kevin’s Mobile Money News Weekly – December 1, 2010

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.

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New forecasts from ABI Research indicate that in 2015 about 244 million people worldwide will carry out financial transactions using their mobile phones.

http://www.sys-con.com/node/1610685
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Google’s newest iteration of its Android phone OS will include a wallet that lets you use your phone to make payments by tapping it against a cash register.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/android-wallet