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Archive for December, 2010

SAP Mentor Kevin Benedict’s 2011 Predictions for Enterprise Mobility and the SAP Eco-system

As the final days of 2010 tick down, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions has brought in Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst to provide his predictions for Enterprise Mobility and the SAP eco-system in 2011.

  1. Mobility vendors in the SAP mobility ecosystem standardize on the SAP Unwired Platform and the differentiators between vendors revolve around the support for industry specific business processes. Expert industry knowledge will as a result become critical in solution provider differentiation and in creating a competitive advantage.
  2. In 2011 content again becomes king.  Enterprise users will want content to be available at the right time, in the right place, to the right person, on the right device. This increase in valuable mission critical content will be assigned to specific groups of employees or even single employees using flexible middleware, easily configured by an administrator.  
  3. Mobile device management (MDM) solutions will finally come into vogue.  With the plethora of new mobile operating systems, different versions of operating systems, new mobile devices and increasing pressure to expose enterprise data on mobile devices, IT will insist on standardization of some MDM solutions.

 Kevin makes some very interesting points. SAP has to capitalize on its large investment in Sybase, as well as getting mission critical content in the right person’s hand at the right time, creating a new paradigm “content logistics”. By definition successful logistics is getting the right item, in the right place, at the right time, for the right price.  As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions is poised to fill critical roles inside the SAP eco-system in the New Year.

For More Information Check Out:

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions 2011 Predictions in Enterprise Mobility – Part 1

Leadership in Enterprise Mobility: Five Tips to Improve Your Business’s Efficiency in 2011

Kevin Benidict – What Are Your Predictions for Enterprise Mobility in 2011?

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Posted in Application Development, B2B Mobile, Cognos, Enterprise Mobility, Interactive Questions, SAP | No Comments »

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions 2011 Predictions in Enterprise Mobility – Part 3

In 2011, you will see enterprises change their previous way of thinking about enterprise mobility and adopt a much more user centric approach. The focus will be on providing workers with the information that they need at the exact time needed to perform a task, allowing the worker a view into back-office systems and a look at new subsets of data derived from a mashup of data stored in multiple back-office systems. This user centric approach will greatly increase apportion of mobilization projects throughout organizations.

Here are some key predictions for enterprise mobility in 2011:

  • Enterprises will adopt a business-to-everyone approach to mobility.

As organizations recognize the information, they will discover that the needs of employees, partners, and customers are rooted in the same data sources.  Business apps will learn from consumer apps, in that the user experience will be intuitive and supportive of the job function.  Consumer apps will learn from business apps as back office systems and data stores are opened to provide more and more information to engage with the customer.

  • Mobile mashups will dominate the direction for enterprise mobility solutions as mobility vendors focus on the mobile user’s perspective.  

Legacy mobile solutions “mobilized” a single back-office system, but today the data needed is often broader than one solution contains.  As individual enterprise solutions are less likely to house all the data needed by a mobile employee, mashups will be the key to providing the data from various back-office systems and data stores in order to provide information on-demand to the mobile user.

  • Tablet devices, like the iPad and Galaxy Tab, will pick up where the Smartphone left off in freeing individuals from desktop and laptop computers. 

 More people will use these devices for more complex work activities previously too “big” for a Smartphone, like email threads and reviewing documents.  As a result we expect to see the amount of mobile applications designed specifically for these larger screens increase rapidly in number. There will be a dramatic business-to- business demand for these powerful “super apps” on tablet devices, driving demand and thus rapidly increasing development. This means we will also see rugged cases for these devices become more common as initial concerns over durability surface.

  • Enterprises will rapidly start to adopt consumer grade devices (Smartphones and Tablets) in place of company issued mobile devices, especially those mobile devices that employees are already bringing to work, for business functions.   

Initial concerns over durability of these devices will be eased when the employee is using their own device and/or with the increase in rugged cases.  We also expect that this trend, as we pointed out during 2010, will reduce the need for mobile device management solutions in many cases.

  • Packaged solutions for mobility and previous legacy on-premise solutions, like Mobile Workforce Management Dispatch and Scheduling, will be revolutionized into nimble, SaaS offerings. 

Although this is good news for the Small to medium size business market, as these previously unaffordable solutions are made available to the masses, larger enterprises will also begin adopting subscription solutions due to the rapid deployment and lower support costs associated with these packaged solutions.

Enterprise Mobility will be a dynamic and rapidly evolving industry in 2011; proliferation of consumer grade devices, the need for data mashups presented intuitively to a mobile worker, and the dependence on that information to increase job performance will become necessities for creating a competitive advantage in business. As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions will provide best-in-class mobile applications allowing organizations to roll-out nimble and efficient mobile offerings to their employees and customers.

For More Information Check Out:

Smartsoft Mobile 2011 Enterprise Mobility Predictions – Part 1

Smartsoft Mobile 2011 Enterprise Mobility Predictions – Part 2

Leadership in Enterprise Mobility: Five Tips to Improve your Businesses Efficiency in the New Year

Smar

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Posted in Application Development, B2B Mobile, Cognos, Enterprise Mobility, SAP, Solution Delivery, Tablets | 1 Comment »

Interesting Widget: Mobile Commerce Heat Map of Holiday Shipping 2010

Well, the holidays are upon us. Many have purchased gifts; some might be purchasing or procrastinating as I write this. One of the clear winners in the mobile commerce space is eBay with mobile sales up 230% year over year. I wanted to take this time to share a cool widget that eBay created. It is an interactive heat map of mobile commerce transactions.  I recommend you check it out; you can sort by category and replay all of the 2010 holiday shopping days and associated revenues for the transactions. For those of us who have worked in the e-commerce space, heat mapping is nothing new, but this kind of corporate transparency is certainly refreshing.

You can view eBay’s interactive mobile commerce heat map here:

 http://www.ebayinc.com/mobilecommerce

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions wishes you all a very safe and happy holiday season.

For More Information Check Out:

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions Predictions in Enterprise Mobility Part 2

Black Friday is Here and The Leaders in Enterprise Mobility are Ready

User Experience was King in Black Friday Mobile Commerce Transactions

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Posted in Application Development, B2C Mobile, Interactive Questions, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Marketing | 1 Comment »

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions Predictions in Enterprise Mobility (Part 2)

As some best of breed mobile commerce providers such as eBay have seen US mobile commerce transactions grow 146% year-over-year, analysts expect this trend to pick up even more steam in 2011. The New York Times reports that eBay expects $1.5 billion in gross merchandise sales via mobile this year while Amazon has said it sold $1 Billion in product over mobile devices last year. However, it is important to note that not just the big e-tailers are cashing in on mobile commerce; companies like Best Buy, Sears, Target, and The Home Depot all have sophisticated mobile commerce offerings.

In 2011 look for the following:

  • Retail organizations will reach the broadest possible mobile consumer audience.This business objective will be achieved by using a hybrid mobile application strategy. The blended model for mobile web combined with a rich native application will cross-leverage an organization’s web services, user experience design and barcode technologies. Further supporting the extension of the firm’s previous investments made in their .com, retailers and other enterprises will be able to extend their business to consumer application for a full rich mobile experience to all customers regardless of device.

 

  • Mobile applications driven from the Cloud will leverage enterprise investments in cloud based network infrastructure and unified communications, as well as the back end system investment. The implementation of mobile application architecture will provide a holistic approach to the enterprise which will yield clear metrics against previous operational efficiencies and organizational technology investment.

 

  • Mobile applications will have a greater effect in 2011, more than even television advertising.We will see that mobile device adoption and the leveraging of mobile applications will perpetuate this incredibly powerful advertising medium. Mobile advertising will jump from $770 M in 2010 to $1.3B in 2011, then grow to a forecasted $5.4B by 2015. (mobileSquared Report November 2010)

 

  • Near Field Communications (NFC) will start the beginning of the end of plastic credit cards as we know them.With device makers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola including NFC technology in their devices, and payment kiosks currently being made to handle payments through the swipe of a mobile device, it will only be a matter of time before this valuable addition to the customer experience is widely excepted . Major data security companies will lock your valuable information deep into your mobile device, in a much more powerful form of encryption than is currently available.

 

Technological advancements such as in-application barcode scanning, the proliferation of barcodes in marketing campaigns, and various payment systems integrations will drive mobile commerce to the next level in 2011. As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions will continue to provide mobile application innovation within the mobile commerce space.

For More Information Check Out:

The Battle For the Mobile Wallet is On!

Best Practices: How Should a Retailer Select a Strategic Mobile Partner

Enterprise Mobility Predictions for 2011 (Part 1)

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Posted in Application Development, B2C Mobile, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Marketing, Solution Delivery | 3 Comments »

Smartsoft Mobile’s Top Four Enterprise Mobility Predictions for 2011.

Enterprise Mobility will continue its stunning growth in 2011, with firms pursuing new enterprise mobilization projects. Though these projects will vary greatly in scope, there is a consistent message we at Smartsoft Mobile Solutions hear from our customers; “Make applications that increase productivity, not that get in the way of daily work tasks.” Smartsoft Mobile Solutions sees four major trends driving enterprise mobility in 2011.

1. Tablets Usher a Fatal Blow To Laptops:

2011 will be the year that the laptop dies. Tablet computing devices such as the iPad and RIM’s PlayBook will begin replacing laptops, particularly for executives who are travelling. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI) will make it easier to do many tasks that are traditionally done via laptops. According to Gartner, tablet sales will reach 54.8 million in 2011 and grow to more than 208 million in 2014. The range and diversity of mobile computing devices — from Smartphones and tablets to barcode scanners and card readers — will escalate in 2011.

2. iPads Will Trump iPhones in the Enterprise

After consumers raced out in droves to purchase iPhones, they quickly brought those devices to work and requested access to network resources like mail, calendar, and contacts: 2010 was the year of the employee-liable device in the enterprise. Next year the trend will shift toward enterprises purchasing and deploying iPads for their employees. Now that enterprises have, for the most part, mobilized their workforce they are looking for ways to mobilize their business. With that process comes the need to manage revenue-generating mobile applications as they traverse between customers, partners, and the enterprise. With its larger screen size and greater computing power, the iPad will be the device of choice for enterprises looking to deploy mobile business applications, more so than its iPhone counterpart.

3. Business Applications Reign Supreme

Applications will reign supreme in 2011. Need proof? The wireless industry’s biggest tradeshow this fall was rebranded from CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment to CTIA Enterprise and Applications, signaling a shift from entertainment-focused content to revenue-building line-of-business applications. In the year ahead, you will also see the rapid adoption of a new kind of mobile application, the “micro app,” which will enable employees to use their mobile devices for transactions commonly conducted via a company intranet, such as inventory inquiries, expense approvals, vacation requests, etc.

4. Mobile Middleware Will Be Increasingly Flexible for the Enterprise

As each business requirement and work-flow is different, enterprises will seek mobile vendors that provide a flexible middleware solution that can quickly be tailored to individual business needs. Mobile Enterprise solution providers must adapt quickly to customer needs and be responsive to the desired flexibility of clients. Allowing clients to quickly develop micro apps based upon specific businesses needs, with the desired user experience, on the enterprise’s desired platform, and quickly configure mobile middleware, will be the new standard business practice.

The New Year will ring in with exciting new opportunities for business to reduce costs and improve performance through enterprise mobilization.  A key to mobile project implementation success will be to select the right mobile partner to fit your business needs. As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions will continue to help our clients successfully achieve their enterprise mobility objectives in the coming year.

For More Information Check Out:

Leadership in Enterprise Mobility: Five tips to Improve Your Business Efficiency in The New Year

Tablets: Taking the Business World by Storm

Blackberry Playbook Review
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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2B Mobile, Blackberry, Devices, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile News, SAP, Tablets | 4 Comments »

In 2011, Micropayments Will Be Driving Mobile Application Revenue

Mobile payments will be king in 2011, with devices rapidly adopting Near Field Communications, technology that will give mobile users the ability to swipe their Smartphone and pay for an item on-site just like it is a credit card. Application developers are also working to develop in-application payment functionality.

According to Bango, the platform battle next year will focus on developers as much as users. Developers will need to determine which of the application platforms to prioritize for development and distribution.  Those that deliver the most revenue will capture the greatest mind-share. Bango forecasts that for 2011, in-application charging will grow more than 600%, to account for close to 30% of all mobile application payments.

The forecast is based on end-of-year trends from leading developers in the games, music and broadcasting segments. Near-term, the developers and publishers who monetize regular use of the application—streamed video and audio, games, news and alerts—will most readily capitalize on in-application payment features. Bangois also working with music and print publishers that are looking to develop revenue models beyond simple subscription-based paywalls.

Touchnote Inc. uses Bango’s in-app billing solution for its digital greeting card service. The company lets customers download the application for free and then charges users for generating and sending post cards. Touchnote, available for download for iPhone, Nokia, Windows 7 and Android devices, has proven to be very popular with consumers in these application stores.

Tablets like RIM’s PlayBook, supporting a front-facing camera, could at last unlock video-calling opportunities. Applications will look for the best available broadband connection, wireless or carrier, and bill from within the application based upon usage. Boosted by the Smartphone wars and tablet devices from Research In Motion, Samsung, Dell, Acer, Sharp and others, the number of mobile application downloads is predicted to rise to almost 50 billion by 2012, according to Chetan Sharma’s “Sizing Up the Mobile App Market”

With the proliferation of devices, both Smartphones and tablets, and the continued rise of application downloads, the 2011 mobile applications development landscape promises to generate some powerful mobile innovations.   As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions will be in the forefront of mobile application innovation in 2011.

For More Information Check Out:

Black Friday is Here and the Leaders in Enterprise Mobility are Ready

The Battle for the Mobile Wallet is On!

Tablet Usage in a Retail Environment

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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2C Mobile, Devices, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Marketing, Mobile News, Tablets | 3 Comments »

Data Usage Among Android Users is Much Greater Than That of iPhone Users

When mobilizing  an enterprise, it is important for managers to look at individual device usage. With the end of all-you-can-eat data plans, mobile implementation managers and business owners will need to pay greater attention to worker data usage in 2011.

Google Android Smartphone users consume more data than users of Apple’s iPhone3Gand iPhone 4, according to network management specialist Arieso. Using the iPhone 3G as a benchmark, the company foundthat Android handset owners notched higher data call volumes, time connected to the network, and data volume uploaded and downloaded than users of iPhones, RIM’s BlackBerry or any other platform.

In Arieso’s example, Samsung Galaxy users uploaded 126 percent more data than iPhone 3G users, while HTC Desire users downloaded 41 percent more data than iPhone 3G users.

Android has risen to capture 23.5 percent of U.S. Smartphone market share, coming within one market share point of the iPhone, according to comScore’s latest data.  

Arieso also found that iPhone 4 users “are more hungry for data than their iPhone 3G counterparts.” iPhone 4 users make 44 percent more data calls, download 41 percent more data to their devices and spend 67 percent more time connected to the network for data than do iPhone 3G users.

When developing applications for the enterprise, it is very important to optimize mobile enterprise applications for minimal data consumption. Making the actual Smartphone applications “smart”, will allow only needed enterprise data to be pulled from the back-office. The result will be cost savings to the enterprise, and more effective and efficient mobile enterprise applications. As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions has already developed these “smart” applications for the enterprise understanding that data optimization is a key solution differentiator.

For More Information Check Out:

Best Practices: Leaders in Enterprise Mobility – Device Knowledge

Tablets: Taking The Business World by Storm

Best Practices: Mobile Project Implementation Part 1

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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2B Mobile, Blackberry, Devices, Enterprise Mobility, Google, Mobile News, Tablets | 3 Comments »

Leaders in Enterprise Mobility: The Current State of Enterprise Mobility

2010 has been the year of mobility, with 48% of enterprises implementing some sort of mobile project. It is forecasted that 1 in 5 workers will be considered “mobile” workers by 2011. Organizations that have implemented mobile enterprise projects have seen worker productivity greatly increased, customer service greatly improved, and day-to- day business processes streamlined.

This quarter’s iPass Mobile Workforce Report uncovered several interesting mobility trends. Highlights include:

  • The mobile device continues to be a tether that creates an on-demand workforce – always at the ready to handle work or personal business. Even while on vacation, a mere 5.9 percent of employees surveyed completely disconnected, 36.3 percent said that they were always connected, and the majority of mobile employees who connected while on vacation did so for work.
  • Mobile devices are used for both work and personal business.In fact, 94.4 percent of mobile employees surveyed use their Smartphone/cell phone for both work and personal business. Even among iPad and tablet PC users, a surprising 90.6 percent planned to use it for work.
  • The line between consumer and business applications has blurred. Across the board, most respondents are using email, calendar, text messaging, browsing and other applications for both work and personal use on their Smartphone’s. The only exception is social media, which is primarily accessed for personal use.
  • Nearly 97 percent of mobile employees carry two or more mobile devices, and almost 50 percent carry three or more. The most popular mobile device is the laptop, followed by the Smartphone and cell phone.
  • The majority of mobile employees (76 percent) have their Smartphone bill paid fully or partially by their companies.And while the majority of Smartphone users are choosing Wi-Fi to connect, the primary reason stated (31.8 percent) was because it is faster than 3G.

It is also worth noting that over 40% of workers surveyed plan on using a tablet during the performance of daily tasks within the following year. While devices will continue to diverge in the coming months, one fact rings clear:  enterprise mobility and its wide adoption across industries will continue, and Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, the leaders in enterprise mobility,  is well positioned to provide innovative mobile solutions to help businesses achieve their objectives.

For More Information Check Out:

Best Practices: Leaders in Enterprise Mobility – Device Knowledge

Best Practices: How Should a Retailer Select a Strategic Mobile Partner

Tablets: Taking the Business World by Storm

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Posted in Application Development, B2B Mobile, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile News, Solution Delivery | 3 Comments »

User Experience Was King in Black Friday 2010 Mobile Commerce Transactions

With the smoke settling and data still coming in for Black Friday 2010, one thing is clear: the usability of a retail company’s mobile offering played a huge role in consumer purchase decisions.  Firms with outdated WAP technology and no comprehensive mobile roadmap left their customers frustrated. M-commerce from rich native mobile applications greatly increased.

Analyst data suggests that mobile devices will play a role (in some way) in over a quarter of U.S. consumer spending (across all channels) this holiday season. This means not just for making purchases, but for anything that makes the holiday shopping experience faster, easier and more convenient – researching product availability in stores; comparing product prices between retailers; and gaining fast, easy access to coupons and deals through mobile apps, for example.

For the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period thus far, Gomez’s User Experience Index has shown that mobile Web performance continues to lag behind the traditional Web. Same paragraph

Generally, for any type of web experience (traditional PC or mobile), a numerical score of 70 or greater is considered fair; a score between 85 and above 94 is considered good; and a score above 94 is considered excellent

Mobile Web performance throughout the weekend has hovered around 50 – low compared to the traditional web, but consistent with or even a bit higher than the mobile Web performance baseline (based on performance over four non-peak weeks in October). 

We can assume that mobile web users have been pretty satisfied with their online holiday shopping experiences thus far, but just this afternoon (Cyber Monday), performance across the top 15 mobile retail sites has dropped off slightly, indicating a decrease (for the first time since last Wednesday) in the number of satisfied users relative to the baseline, as the online shopping season comes into full swing.

Overall, for the “official” start of the 2010 holiday shopping season, mobile web performance has not kept pace with the PC web, and any major increases in mobile commerce this holiday season are likely to come about through mobile apps.  Mobile Web sites are reminiscent of where the overall web was 10 years ago, performance-wise. 

As leaders in enterprise mobility Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, provides the rich native mobile applications that consumers are demanding.

For More Information Check Out:

The Impact of Mobility on the 2010 Holiday Shopping Season

Best Practices: How a Retailer Should Select a Strategic Mobile Partner

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Posted in Application Development, B2B Mobile, B2C Mobile, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Commerce, Mobile News | 2 Comments »

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