M2M News Monthly - March 2011

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Monthly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices.  I aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article.  I also search for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around the M2M market.

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

Preliminary data from Berg Insight show that the worldwide number of mobile network connections used for wireless M2M communication reached 81.4 million at the end of 2010, up 46 percent year-on-year.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/47657.php

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A report released by ABI Research indicates more than three-quarters of a billion RFID tags will be used in global apparel markets in 2011.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/09/item-level-rfids-get-support-from-big-retailers-track-your-ever/

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A growing number of startups are applying the principles of social networking to home energy management, and bringing social media to the smart grid.  In the process, they are revolutionizing people’s understanding of their energy use, building successful companies and helping to lessen the impact of each individual on the environment.

http://mashable.com/2011/02/08/smart-grid-social-media/

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Defense contractor Comtech Telecommunications Corp., has revealed that its Maryland-based subsidiary, Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation, received orders totaling $27.2 million under its MTS contract with the U.S. Army.

Sybase's New Enterprise Mobility Guide

Sybase's Eric Lai

Eric Lai, a friend of mine at Sybase, has just completed a monumental task.  He has organized the publication of a very interesting new guidebook called the Enterprise Mobility Guide.  This is a substantial guidebook with 123 pages, and it is absolutely free!  It contains many different sections:

• Transformation of the Enterprise
• The Mobility Effect
• Mobile Ecosystem @Work
• Mobile Enterprise Best Practices
• Market Data

The articles within the guidebook are written by folks like:

• Raj Nathan, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Sybase, an SAP Company
• Oliver Bussman, Global CIO, SAP
• Greg Jenko, Partner, Global Lead for Mobile Systems Integrations, Accenture
• Philippe Winthrop, Managing Director, The Enterprise Mobility Foundation
• Eugene Signorini, Vice President, Yankee Group
• Many more... 

This is very good material and I would encourage you to download your copy.

Whitepapers of Note

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

Webinars of Note:
Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility - 10 Lessons Learned
Barcode Scanning in Mobile Apps
Five Ways to Optimize the ROI of your Mobile Solution

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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 Retailing News Weekly - Week of March 7, 2011

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.

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

Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was €1.72 billion in 2009.  Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent, the mobile ad market is forecasted to be worth €13.5 billion in 2015.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/302541

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The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and c|net amongst others, have reported that the number of searches coming from mobile devices and apps now accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total number of shopping searches.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/238262

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Amazon sold $1 billion worth of goods last year via mobile devices, while eBay did $2 billion on mobile devices, seeing a sale every second during the fourth quarter of last year.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2275026/google-mobile-search-ecommerce

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comScore researchers found that 36 percent of U.S. consumers browsed the mobile web in 2010 while 34 percent accessed the mobile web through an application.

Expert Advice on Implementing Enterprise Mobility

I have had the good fortune to interview nearly 30 enterprise mobility experts over the past few months. During these interviews I asked the experts for advice related to implementing enterprise mobility solutions. This 10 minute video reviews the advice given.

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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.

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of March 7, 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 Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

A few NFL teams are considering the benefits of tablet devices such as the iPad over plain old paper.  The Dallas Cowboys, in particular, have determined that going digital "could save them as much as 5,000 pages of paper printouts per game."

http://techland.time.com/2011/02/08/nfl-coaches-to-swap-printouts-and-playbooks-for-ipads/

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Bigger is not always better when it comes to the military's ruggedized computers.  The latest trend is toward small, lightweight computing devices that can work for vehicular and dismounted applications.

http://defensesystems.com/articles/2011/02/28/defense-it-1-smaller-rugged-computers.aspx

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The Department of Homeland Security is creating a prototype handheld device that will scan bodies and determine DNA components.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/04/homeland-security-considering-portable-instant-dna-scanners/

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that Quick Response codes, which are similar to barcodes, are being added to all work permits issued by the Department of Buildings.

1,000th Article on Enterprise Mobility Today



Remember when?

I have been writing articles on enterprise mobility since 2006, and today I reached my 1,000th article.  They are certainly not all good, but occasionally you can find a gem.  If you ever want to laugh at how much enterprise mobility has changed in the past 5 years, take a look at some of the older article archives here:

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Thanks for reading!

Whitepapers of Note:

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


***************************************************
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.

SAP CIO Oliver Bussman on Tablets

TechEd Interview with Oliver Bussman

I read an interesting interview with SAP CIO Oliver Bussman this morning.  He is a qualified expert on tablets, as he has authorized the purchase of 3,500 tablets at SAP in less than a year now.  I was particularly interested in how he, a very busy executive, uses the iPad.  Here is what he uses it for:

• Respond to email
• Media consumption
• Media sharing and sharing device.  He likes the iPad apps by Pulse, Twitterific, Flipboard and InstaPaper.

I like reading about the personal work habits of individuals.  I guess it is a way to measure and compare how we ourselves work and use technology.  In my case, I use all of the same applications on my iPad, and for the same reasons, except InstaPaper.  I will need to investigate that app.

Does the iPad replace Bussman's laptop?  Not when he needs to tweak presentations or perform more complex tasks.  Again, I share his use criteria, except, since I spend most of my time writing and developing presentations, I find myself tied to my laptop for the forseeable future.

Whitepapers of note:

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

***************************************************

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.

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!

 
***************************************************
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?