Kevin’s Field Mobility News Weekly – Week of January 31, 2011

Kevin’s Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Kevin’s Mobile Retailing News Weekly 

Also read Kevin’s Mobile Money News Weekly

Also read Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly

Now for the news:

The Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care organization is getting ready for the day when mobile devices may be fielded to soldiers.  MC4 is preparing for the eventuality that remote, computerized training modules could be loaded on iPads, iPhones and Android-based devices.

http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=76120

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Mobility is one of the emerging technology trends identified by Gartner in its recent Top 10 strategic technologies for 2011.  Gartner predicts that the global market for enterprise mobility will exceed $168 billion 2012. Also a recent survey by CIO.com highlights that significant percentage of IT leaders are including towards mobile solutions.

http://ers.hclblogs.com/2011/01/mobility-solutions-–-meriting-the-manufacturing-and-retail-industries/

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The City of Columbus, Ohio is utilizing Wireless Matrix Corporation’s FleetOutlook Silver service to help improve efficiency of field vehicles in its Department Public Utilities. The  City is implementing the FleetOutlook Silver service for GPS tracking, and deploying Wireless Matrix devices, providing integrated GPS and wireless data communications for the solution.

http://www.government-fleet.com/Channel/GPS-Telematics/News/Story/2011/01/Columbus-Dept-of-Public-Utilities-Implements-GPS.aspx

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Zurich has signed up Trimble to provide telematics for the insurer's new fleet risk management scheme Zurich Fleet Intelligence.  Trimble will offer its telematics devices to Zurich customers looking to cut fleet operating costs and reduce crashes.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: SAP's Puneet Suppal

SAP's Puneet Suppal

I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in a number of conferences, events and webinars this last year with Puneet Suppal with SAP’s Premier Customer Network Center of Excellence. He is an experienced mobility expert, and I want to thank him for sharing his independent thoughts and insights with us (these do not represent any official statement from his employer, SAP).

Note: These are not Puneet’s exact words, rather my notes from our interview.

Kevin: What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Puneet: My main devices are: BlackBerry, Nokia (my overseas phone), Android. Apple iPod Touch, Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell laptop.

Kevin: How many computing devices do you have in the house?
Puneet: Eight.

Kevin: Do you make purchases on mobile devices?
Puneet: Occasional movie tickets on the Android smartphone. I have purchased often using desktop or laptop computers.

Kevin: What are your favorite mobile applications on your mobile device?
Puneet: I am a news junkie, so my favorite mobile apps are news and sports related. I also use Twitter and text messaging apps.

Kevin: How long have you been involved in enterprise mobility?
Puneet: As a user, I got my first BlackBerry in 2004. I have been involved in the enterprise mobility industry since 2008-2009.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Smartsoft Mobile's Ed Krufka



Smartsoft Mobile's Ed Krufka

 I want to thank Ed Krufka from Smartsoft Mobile Solutions for scheduling time with us. Smartsoft Mobile is an SAP services partner.  Ed has been working on enterprise mobility applications for over twenty years. He started by developing mobile solutions internally for a large utility company. His insights today have the added bonus of a long term industry perspective.

Note: These are not Ed’s exact words, rather my notes from our interview.

Kevin: What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Ed: I use a Windows 7 Phone as my main business and personal phone. I carry an Android for testing and navigation. I can actually use both the Android OS and Windows Mobile 6.5 on the same device. I just need to reboot it. I also carry a laptop.

Kevin: What is your favorite mobile application?
Ed: I use the OneNote application a lot. I can store all of my documents, presentations and notes there and access them from any of my devices.

Kevin: How long have you been involved in enterprise mobility?
Ed: I have been working in enterprise mobility for over 20 years. I started working on mobile solutions in the utility industry. We developed our own mobile solutions internally. They were mobile applications for use on laptops mounted in utility trucks for high volume work orders. In 1995 I joined the vendor side of the business.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Adobe's Matthias Zeller

Adobe's Matthias Zeller

I have known Matthias Zeller for over ten years.  We first met in the fast lanes of the Silicon Valley dot.com days, where we were both focused on e-commerce and B2B systems.  A lot has happened in the past ten years for Matthias, including marriage, children, an SAP Mentorship and work as Group Product Manager, Enterprise Rich Internet Applications, at Adobe Systems.

Please read Matthias's responses with a slight German accent.

Note:  These are not Matthias' exact words, rather my notes from our interview.

Kevin:  What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Matthias:  An iPhone 3G, although I am switching to a new Android that supports Adobe's Flash.  I have a MacBook Pro and an iPad.

Kevin:  Have you purchased products using your mobile device(s)?
Matthias:  Just music and apps - no physical items.

Kevin: What industries do you see adopting mobility today?
Matthias:  Financial services, mobile banking, regular and investment banks, and insurance companies.

Kevin: What business processes do you see companies mobilizing?
Matthias: Processes that involve customer engagements like insurance claim filing, transactions, interactions between businesses and customers.  I also see a lot of field force automation, sales force automation and inventory monitoring while on the road.

Kevin's Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of January 24, 2011

Kevin’s Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Also read Kevin's Mobility News Weekly - Week of January 24, 2011
Also read Kevin’s Mobile Money News Weekly - Week of January 24, 2011
Also read Kevin’s Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of January 24, 2011

Apple’s launch of the iPad marked the start of the Tablet revolution. Infinite Research expects that 147.2 million Tablet computers will ship in 2015, up from 16.1 million units in 2010.

http://www.infiniteresearch.net/research/tabletmarketforecast.html

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South Africa’s healthcare is poised for a major revolution this year. Now, millions of subscribers of MTN, a major communications company in Africa, will be able to access a range of healthcare services on their mobile handsets without the inconvenience of travelling to a healthcare facility.

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=10187

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Mobile body area network technology has the potential to be a boon to the healthcare system of the future by enabling remote patient monitoring through disposable wireless devices -- meaning fewer doctor visits for everyone and great news for latrophobes.