MeLLmo the Maker of the RoamBI Mobile Application Closes More Funding

MeLLmo, the SAP ecosystem mobile application's company that specializes in visualization software for displaying business intelligence on mobile devices, has closed its third and biggest round of funding for $10 million from private investors. The company has now raised total funding of $20 million since MeLLmo was founded in January 2008.  Read more here...

MeLLmo has a way of displaying business intelligence data on mobile devices that is very compelling.  I recorded a video interview with Santiago Becerra, the founder of MeLLmo, earlier this year.  During that interview Santiago said they recruit developers from the electronic game industry because of their ability to make compelling GUI (graphical user interfaces).

I have heard that one weakness in MeLLmo's strategy is the need to download business intelligence data to the mobile device and store it there.  This may concern many executives that don't like the idea of allowing confidential business data to reside on mobile devices.  Other vendors in the mobile business intelligence field do not store this data on the device.  Rather, they simply hold it in memory and display it during the session.  Perhaps this doesn't allow for as compelling a presentation, but the data may be safer.


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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on 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 Mobile Retailing News Weekly - December 21, 2010

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.

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New research from Berg Insight shows the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will grow from $2.25 billion in 2009 at a CAGR of 41 percent to $17.9 billion in 2015. This will then correspond to 15.7 percent of the total digital advertising market or 3.4 percent of the total global ad spend for all media.

http://www.von.com/news/2010/12/global-mobile-ad-market-growing-fast.aspx

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Thirty percent of respondents to a recent survey said they expected to use mobile coupons during this holiday season. Interestingly, only 14 percent said they normally use mobile coupons.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/1932818/holidays-report-mobile-shoppers-coupons

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Mobile marketing is certainly getting plenty of attention these days and for good reason. Targeted mobile campaigns, both B2B and B2C, are finding traction. It appears that today’s leading marketers realize we are only beginning to scratch the surface of mobile’s enormous potential.

Santa Goes Mobile this Holiday Season

Holiday shopping reports show that sales are going mobile like never before.  When comparing the number of mobile transactions between 2009 and 2010, we find there is a rapid increase in shopping from mobile devices.  Retail is just one of many markets being revolutionized by mobile applications.

PayPal reported a 300 percent increase in online sales this holiday season compared to 2009, and a 27 percent increase in mobile transactions on Black Friday alone.  Total mobile sales are expected to double to $3.4 billion from $1.4 billion in 2009.  There is still time for more mobile shopping before Christmas that will make these numbers even more impressive.

The continued popularity and record sales of iPhones and iPads, plus the explosive growth of Android powered devices this year has added fuel to the growth in mobile shopping.

What are Your Predictions for Enterprise Mobility in 2011?

I was pondering 2011 predictions for enterprise mobility while on a flight the other day, so was interested this morning to see a great write up on this subject by Ben Lee of Smartsoft Mobile Solutions. 

1. 2011 will be the year that the laptop dies.
2. iPads will trump iPhones in the enterprise.
3. Business applications reign supreme.
4. Mobile Middleware will be increasingly flexible for the enterprise.

Ben does a good job backing up his predictions in the article.  Do you agree?  What predictions would you add?  Here are some I would add:

• SAP's Mobile SDK launch at Sapphire 2011 is a great start.  Systems integrators and IT organizations get very excited about building a massive number of new mobile applications.  The demand for training on the Mobile SDK and SUP overwhelms SAP and creates major headaches for them.
• SAP's Mobile SDK allows many more systems integrators to enter the mobility market and to compete with established enterprise mobility vendors and SAP's Mobile Business Unit.  This new competition forces established mobility vendors to emphasize the content and business logic that they have developed over many years.
• SAP's acquisition of Sybase causes unanticipated changes in the enterprise mobility marketplace.  More mobility vendors will choose to use SUP, because it is the entry into the world of SAP, plus it supports all the other major markets and ERPs that mobility vendors must address.  This creates an upsurge in demand for non-SAP support in SUP.  SAP must decide if they should prioritize this interest or focus on SAP specific interests.

I look forward to your thoughts!

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on 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.

Syclo and the SAP Unwired Platform

I listened to the pre-recorded SAP/Syclo webinar Mobility for Utilities Webcast today.  At the end of the webcast there was a question and answer segment.  The first question asked if Syclo was going to support SAP's SUP (SAP/Sybase Unwired Platform).  First, Dan Mahowald, Vice President, North America Enterprise Mobility, SAP Americas answered.  He said, "I am encouraged by discussions with the Syclo R&D team. This is a new area that both parties are exploring. Syclo says they intend to support SUP.  SAP utility customers want many mobile applications, so SAP wants to help by providing them with a mobility platform (SUP) that can support them."

My interpretation of Dan's last sentence is that Syclo's mobile infrastructure is Syclo specific.  SAP utility customers may want mobile applications from a vareity of different mobile vendors, so a mobile infrastructure platform that is not specific to one vendor may be better.

Next, Syclo's Senior VP SAP Business Development Jon Schmidt added, "It is our intent to support the SUP strategy and architecture. It adds great value. It is our intent to migrate our existing solutions to SUP. We are working very closely with SAP on this."

Mobility Vendor Strategies for Supporting SAP's Unwired Platform

SAP Unwired Platform

I read a whitepaper today, ClickSoftware's Mobility Suite and the Sybase Mobility Solutions that details how ClickSoftware intends to support SAP's mobility strategy and the reasons for doing so. 

I get a lot of questions from systems integrators about how the various SAP mobility partners will be supporting SUP and SAP's mobility strategy, so this is a timely whitepaper from one vendor that does a good job of explaining their strategy.

Related links:

• Sybase's Shawn McEwen
• ClickSoftware's Nigel Clark

***************************************************
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on 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 Mobility News Weekly – December 16, 2010

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 numbers and trends.

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In the first three months of 2010, just 2.1 percent of smartphones shipped in Australia were based on the Android platform, but over the succeeding three months to the end of June, the percentage of Android shipments had more than trebled, reaching 7.1 percent at the end of that period. Then in the three months to the end of September, Android’s share of the smartphone market exploded again — up to 21 percent.

http://delimiter.com.au/2010/12/09/android-triples-aussie-market-share-in-3-months/

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Samsung has been in overdrive to catch up with rivals Apple, which makes the iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry in the smartphone sector. In the last quarter, Samsung tripled its market share to nine percent, making it the fourth biggest player in the smartphone segment.

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_bus/2010-12-08/696861479515.html

Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Founder Dr. Moshe BenBassat

I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Moshe BenBassat, Founder of ClickSoftware yesterday about the release of their lastest version of ClickMobile called ClickMobile Professional.  He was calling from Israel where they have been having some very stormy winter weather over the past week. 

Let me first give you some background on Dr. BenBassat.  Following a long and successful academic career with positions at USC, Tel Aviv University and UCLA, he established himself as one of the world's leaders in the area of optimization and decision support software for a wide variety of applications. His research work was supported by DARPA (the U.S.’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency); NIH (National Institute of Health); Ballistic Missile Defense Agency (via TRW); ARI (U.S. Army Research Institute); NASA; and NSF (National Science Foundation).  Now that is credibility!



*Important Note:  These are not Dr. BenBassat's exact words, rather a compilation of my notes taken during our discussion.

Kevin:  Tell me about the new version of ClickMobile Professional that you announced today.
Dr. BenBassat:   What makes this version unique is that it uses HTML5 to become device agnostic.  It has what I call a universal mobile client that can run on and support all the major mobile operating systems, plus device specific features, offline/online and data syncing capabilities.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: SAP's Nick Brown

SAP's Nick Brown on the right

I had the opportunity to catch up with SAP's Nick Brown with the Mobile Business Unit on the phone this morning.  He was calling from dark and snowy Waldorf, Germany.  This call was scheduled to help cover some of the questions that did not get answered at last week's SAP Infuencer Summit (see my full report from this event here).

Here are the questions that were asked by you the readers of this blog that were not answered in full at the event.

*Important Note:  These are not the exact words of Nick Brown.  I have often shortened the answers and revised them to be more concise for the purpose of this article.  I have tried my best to keep the original meaning.  Blame me for any misinterpretations.

Kevin:  Will there be Android support in SUP (SAP unwired platform)? 
Nick:  Yes, full support will be released in the second half of 2011.  However, partial support for lightweight applications will be sooner.

Kevin’s Mobile Money News Weekly – December 15, 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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Bango forecasts that in-application charging in 2011 will grow more than 600 percent to account for close to 30 percent of all mobile application payments.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/in-app-billing-revenue-to-grow-600pc-in-2011-bango/

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ABI research has announced that about 50 percent of smartphone users are planning to use their devices for mobile banking, including mobile shopping. A parallel announcement this week highlighted the ABI survey findings when Wells Fargo began rolling out its mobile banking pilot.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/client/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228701963&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

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Mobile banking impacts consumers' bank selection, according to the Mobile Banking Perception Study by global market research company Synovate. Perceptions change about a bank if it does not offer mobile banking services and the study shows that about 50 percent of consumers of this service use it for stock trading.