Design Strategies for Mobile Applications

One Client Many Apps

I had the opportunity to be briefed on Webalo's mobility solution a couple of weeks ago.  It is much different than most enterprise mobility solutions.  Using their web-based Agenda environment it takes only a few hours to develop a mobile application, and you need download only one mobile client to support and mobilize hundreds of different business processes.

It is an interesting concept.  You can access the Agenda environment in the cloud, configure your integration with backend databases, layout your mobile application screens, download the mobile client to your device, and then login and upload any and all mobile applications you have configured.  Each additional business process that you want to mobilize is simply a configuration exercise, that gets uploaded to the same mobile client on the next login.  You can open your mobile client and see a menu with all of your unique mobile applications, all in the same mobile client. 

You give up some native graphical user interface flexibility when you use the same mobile client for all applications, but what you gain is:

• Lower development costs
• Less development time
• Less deployment effort
• Less support issues
• Lower TCO (total cost of ownership)

In talking to the CEO/Founder of Webalo, Peter Price, he said in many enterprise mobility projects the 80/20 rule comes into play.  You can deploy 80% of the functionality you need for 20% of the cost.  You need to ask yourself if gaining an additional 20% of features is really worth 80% more.

It is an interesting approach to enterprise mobility.  It is very utilitarian.  Mobilize as many business processes as you want for one low price.   I like the idea that one mobile client, can be configured to run hundreds of different workflow kinds of applications, rather than buy separate mobile applications for every different business process.

Webalo's product approach and strategy invites a debate on the value of spending a lot of time on the user interface.  Some vendors spend most of their time talking about their beautiful user experience.  Others take the approach that a simple menu driven approach that quickly and cost effectivly provides mobile capabilities is worth a lot more and commands a better ROI.

What do you think?

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

How to Prepare for An Enterprise Mobility Implementation

Design, Develop, Test, Deploy, Revise

Next week I am going to be participating in a webinar called Rapid SAP Mobilization for the Enterprise.  This is a Smartsoft Mobile Solutions webinar and they are an SAP services partner.  I will be sharing advice from mobility experts on how to prepare for enterprise mobility implementations.

The webinar topics to be covered include:

1. Best Practice: Mobile Engagement Methodology
2. Rapid Mobile Solution Deployment
3. Five Ways to Optimize your ROI

I invite you to join me on this webinar. Register here!

 
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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: SAP's Matthew Schwartz

I am excited to be able to introduce Matthew Schwartz, SAP’s VP of Enterprise Mobility for North America to all of you who may not have met him yet.  He kindly agreed to be interviewed by me and to share his thoughts and advice on SAP enterprise mobility.

Kevin:  What are your current roles and responsibilities?
Matthew:  I am the VP of Enterprise Mobility for North America at SAP.  I orchestrate SAP’s efforts to be the leading Enterprise Mobility Software and Services company.  Specifically, I am focused on creating a portfolio of software and services that will allow SAP’s Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) to be the enterprise standard for Mobile Enterprise Application Plaforms (MEAP) and Afaria to be the enterprise standard for Mobile Device Management (MDM).  At the end of the day, my team and I help SAP customers to get up and live on mobile solutions.  I am excited to announce that we have been able to put together an exceptional team of experts including Dr. Ahmed El Adl.

Kevin:  Where are you located?
Matthew:  I live in San Diego, California where I have been for the last three years.

Kevin:  What mobile device(s) do you carry?
Matthew:  I carry a BlackBerry Curve, iPhone 4, iPad, and a MacBook Pro (that I rarely use anymore, as I mostly use the iPad).  I love the Zagg case for my iPad.  It is an aluminum case with a built in keyboard and stand for my iPad.  With this case I have cut back on my laptop use by about 75 percent.

Kevin:  What are some of your favorite mobile applications that you have on your mobile device?
Matthew:  The Kindle app for both my iPad and iPhone.  I am a big e-book reader.  Also, Dragon Dictation – I dictate notes to myself while driving, Hertz, Delta and American Travel apps.

Kevin:  Do you ever use your mobile device to buy things?
Matthew:  Yes, every day.  Airline tickets, hotel, car reservations, books, Amazon, iTunes.

Kevin:  How many computing devices do you have in your home?
Matthew:  Fourteen.

Kevin:  How long have you been involved in enterprise mobility?
Matthew:  Three years in enterprise mobility after years of doing lean mobility projects in the supply chain space.  Recently, I was involved in some very cool new mobile applications in the media and entertainment space.

Kevin:  How did you get involved in enterprise mobility?

Mobility News Weekly - Week of February 28, 2011

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 data and trends.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

For the first time ever, smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone are outselling personal computers, according to a report by research group IDC.

http://www.pddnet.com/news-smart-phones-outsell-pcs-for-first-time-020911/?et_cid=1099912&et_rid=45618679&linkid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pddnet.com%2Fnews-smart-phones-outsell-pcs-for-first-time-020911%2F

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RBC projects that between three and four million Verizon iPhone 4 units will be sold during the first quarter of 2011.  RBC also notes that its previous estimates of between nine and ten million Verizon iPhones being sold during the 2011 calendar year may be conservative.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/09/rbc-verizon-to-sell-over-1-million-iphones-in-first-week-3-4-million-in-q1/

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Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 1.6 billion units in 2010, a 31.8 percent increase from 2009, according to Gartner, Inc.  Smartphone sales to end users were up 72.1 percent from 2009 and accounted for 19 percent of total mobile communications device sales in 2010.

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1543014

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Total web email usage was down eight percent in the past year, with a whopping 59 percent decline in use among people between the ages of 12-17.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: ClickSoftware's Israel Beniaminy, Part 4

ClickSoftware's Israel Beniaminy

This is Part 4 of my interview with ClickSoftware's VP of Product Strategy, Israel Beniaminy.  Also read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Kevin:  Where do you see mobility going in 2011?
Israel:  Judging by the evolution of mobility in 2010, mobility is going to continue surprising us in 2011.  It's going to be an exciting year!  Still, a few predictions are as safe as predictions can be:  Mobility will affect more people, in more roles, than ever before.  Many people will leave aside desktops and laptops, bypass netbooks and switch to using smartphones and tablets for the majority of their digital communications.  Social media will start to become a key part of enterprise mobility solutions (as it has done already in consumer mobility).  Mobile applications will be increasingly sensitive to context, starting with location and extending to other context cues; and location will receive a boost from existing and upcoming indoor-location technologies.  Lastly, while predicting surprises is impossible by definition, I would expect some of the most rewarding and significant surprises to be in discovering new ways of doing business, which will become possible due to mobile technology, just like the Internet enabled new ways of doing business (eBay is just one example).

Kevin:  What role do you see for mobile BI in Field Services?
Israel:  Executives, managers, business analysts and budget managers all need full access to business intelligence systems.  When drilling through the numbers, an iPad works very well. You don’t want to be doing much work on a small iPhone screen.  However, for field services engineers, they need access to BI data but not all the data.  It is best if the data is integrated with their existing field services solution.  Field services engineers don’t need to know about Business Objects on the back end, but they could benefit from their performance data.  The number of work orders completed relative to other service engineers.  The number of sales, the amount of inventory or services sold, etc.

For field services managers, it may be useful for them to see product sales numbers so they can anticipate demand on their services and plan for it.

I want to thank Israel for taking the time to share his thoughts, experiences and advice with all of us.

Whitepapers of Note:

• ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
• Networked Field Services
• The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
• Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly

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