Mobility Evolution

Enterprise mobility is a tsunami that is about to take over IT in the not too distance future if not already arriving at the shore as we speak. In fact, 2014 has been predicted to be the year of great changes in enterprise mobility . Nothing underscores this assertion more than the recent  Apple-IBM pact to initiate joint efforts and bring about fundamental changes in the way of enterprises approach mobility. So what can IT do to better prepare for this sea change? Here are a few tips: Don't Look at enterprise mobility in isolation:  Many mobility endeavors today focus on delivering device-centric apps. This misses the bigger picture of the interconnectedness mobility and building integrated solutions that involve large-scale technology initiatives of cloud, big data analytics and social networks. Mobility is a strategic initiative: Mobile initiatives spans all lines of business and potentially impact every aspect of the business operation. An overall enterprise mobil...

In mobility, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) presents a pressing challenge for enterprises today. Employees want to use corporate and personal apps within the same mobile device regardless of whether the device belongs to them or is issued by their employers. Having the corporate and personal apps cohabitate within the same smartphone or tablet presents significant security issues as personal apps downloaded from the app store may be malicious and sensitive work-related information may be breached as a result. A prime example of this are the emails with file attachments that contain confidential company information. Once you synchronize your mobile device with the company's email server, another app that you may have unwittingly downloaded from the app store may attempt to hijack your sensitive data and upload it to another nondescript server. As you can imagine, enterprises do not look lightly on this threat which may result in violation of their intellectual property. The key ...

Formulating a consistent approach to mobile app development is the key to achieving success and attaining desired results. In mobility, success more often than not is equated with a high level of user adoption. To achieve a high rate of user adoption, the following three principles/steps can be closely adhered to: Deliver a Minimum Viable Product: Once again, this idea harks back to the motto of this blog site: In mobile, there’s a big premium on creating single-purpose, first-class experiences. (Mark Zuckerberg)  The emphasis is on 'single-purpose' which narrows down the app's focus and makes 'first-class experience' a reality that is within the grasp of the deliverable.  Use Analytics Metrics to Measure Adoption Results:  Using a Mobile Back-end as a Service (MBaaS) vendor to gather analytics data, granular tracking of the user adoption metrics is imperative to finding out what is and is not working when the app is engaged in the field. The analytics data is to...

More than 85% of respondents in a recent Gigaom Research survey are either working with a third-party MMS vendor or are actively considering or are willing to work with one in the future. Only 13.6% said they would never consider outsourcing their MMS services. The remarkable propensity of enterprises to want to outsource MMS is astonishing in and by itself. Cormac Foster of Gigaom Research offers a plausible explanation: How can you outsource a competitive advantage? I made a few phone calls, and the answer is, “because everyone else is doing it wrong.” Enterprise mobility is an absolute mess, so mere competence can put you ahead of the pack. Foster also states: Outsourcing mobility is getting easier as vendors move security off the table. This is because of enhanced security within the newer releases of Android & iOS and commonly used enterprise apps such as MS Office downplays the need to MMS to get involved in mobile security. Here is the link to the Gigaom Rese...

Today, many industries are gravitating toward mobility adoption in a comprehensive fashion. But for some industries, like foodservice, mobility adoption is going to bring about an undeniably fundamental transformation. Here are some key emerging trends as mobility penetrates foodservice in a big way: 1. Mobile Payments: Just imagine being able to order and pay for your food via a mobile device and pick it upon your arrival. Gives 'fast food' a whole new meaning. It is now 'ready food'. Wholesale adoption of mobile ordering and payments by the foodservice industry will undoubtably result in increased revenue stream as consumers will come to expect a significant reduction in prepared food order and pickup time. 2. Digital Restaurants: My now school-aged kids will probably be telling my yet-to-be-born grandkids of a time when waiters and waitresses walked up to the table to take their food orders at a restaurant. This conversation about a quaint practice will take ...

Viral Shah, Mobility Architect & Strategist from Kellogg Company gave an interview at the 2013 Enterprise Mobility Exchange conference in Miami. I was impressed by some of his key enterprise mobility experience take aways: User Adoption Justifies ROI: The emphasis in mobile is not necessarily some quantifiable contribution to bottom-line. User adoption is really the metric to focalize on. User-friendly is now User Delight: In mobile we are seeking the 'User Delight' experience. This is an important distinction because mobile users are highly prone to totally disengage given a less than ideal experience. Take Baby Steps: Enterprise mobility is very complex . An incremental approach to adoption is an imperative element in ensuring a successful outcome. Focus on User Needs: Although this seems like an intuitive concept, more often than not the common approach revolves around providing users what IT thinks or believes users need.  Create a Common UX: A nebulous conc...

With a myriad of choices available today, transmigration of enterprise computing platforms to mobility presents an increasingly complex landscape for enterprises to thread. Chris Marsh, a principal analyst with Yankee Group’s enterprise research group aptly summarized this conundrum as following: " All of our survey data points to a rise in the proportion of enterprises finding managing the complexity of mobile very difficult – not just a challenge, but very complex . Part of the reason for this is because as a nascent industry there are way more stand-alone point services than there are truly integrated solutions – off-the-shelf apps and 3rd party app stores, EMM services, API management tools, development tools and application platforms, analytics platforms, QA & testing tools to name but a few categories. This is alongside an already often very complicated estate of legacy enterprise IT infrastructure and services, little of which is mobile-friendly. Patching this mish-ma...

The following graph shows the Monthly Active Users for Facebook since mid 2011. The emerging dominance of the mobile venue is abundantly clear. If the  1.2 billion  monthly Facebook usage is not a bellwether I am not sure what is. You decide. Since the first quarter of 2012 a new category of 'Mobile only' has emerged. This category's increasing popularity is an indication of eventual total domination of mobile platform in computing usage patterns. Enterprises with a lagging comprehensive mobility strategy are doing so at their own peril. This is not just a conjecture. There is an over-abundance of empirical evidence that supports this assertion.

In enterprise mobility today, a roadmap that properly lays out your fundamental approach to app implementation is not only essential but absolutely imperative. Approaching enterprise mobile efforts without guiding principles can lead to poorly received and functionally subpar apps that fall well short of accomplishing your intended objectives. In this article featured on the Appcelerator site, five principles for successful enterprise mobile app implementation have been outlined. These five principles address key aspects of any new or ongoing enterprise mobility projects: Rapid and frequent release cycles: the velocity of business needs should be driving your release cycles not your technical capacity or competency. MVP approach: release Minimum Viable Products to keep the focus "on creating single-purpose, first-class experiences” as Mark Zuckerberg has aptly put it. Utilize analytics: to get timely feedback on end-user acquisition, engagement and usage. Optimize mobile API...

The four tiers within enterprise mobile platform put forth by Forrester Research represents the latest emerging trend on enterprise mobility architecture. The key emphasis is on the Aggregation Tier as the primary mobility engagement tier and its importance in federating and aggregating internal services data. One key benefit of implementing this tier is reducing latency on the mobile device when it accesses back-end data from internal data sources. An aggregation tier is utilized to house data in its most optimal consumable format for mobility. The aggregation tier serves as a data staging area designed specifically with the intent of improving back-end data connectivity performance for mobile devices:

I came across two diagrams put out by Kinvey  depicting the big picture in the mobility landscape. One diagram was put out in 2013 and another in 2014. It is interesting how these diagrams were fundamentally altered in a single year to reflect the shifting landscape in mobility. Here is 2013 diagram: And the transformation presented in 2014: The single most interesting differential between 2013 & 2014 maps is the shifting emphasis to Enterprise. Where in 2013 we were looking at the entire mobility landscape, 2014 has brought about a singular focus on the Enterprise segment due to its overarching importance.

Fine tuning mobile apps comes down to looking at how the apps are being utilized once they are implemented and are in the end-users' domain. App analytics provides information that can be used about how any given app performs regarding its end-user acquisition, engagement and usage. Once an app is installed in users' devices, it communicates key information to back-end servers that enable the vendor to monitor the usage patterns. This data, gathered anonymously, assists in the fine tuning process of the app in the upcoming releases. MBaaS (Mobile Back-end as as Service) vendors such as Appcelerator are increasingly incorporating analytics into the tool chest of services they are providing for their customers enabling them to track this critical decision support data. In this featured blog post (click on the image to load), Jeff Haynie, the CEO of Appcelerator outlines some critical mobile metrics and looks at how to interpret them. It is a high level view but also a good ...

Just finished reading a book by this title written by Dan Condon. It is a bit dated but has useful tips regarding: How to work with various stakeholders in a software development project. Balancing the decision-making process within the context of competing interests. How to handle external partnerships and engage in business development. Examining common myths that prevail in software product development. Here is the Amazon link:

MBaaS is front and center of all mobility implementations specially when it come to the enterprise segment. The MBaaS market was at $216.5 million in revenues for 2012. But, according to market research firm MarketsandMarkets, that number is forecast to climb to $7.7 billion by 2017. That is a meteoric rise by any standard. Two key trends in mobility: First, mobility is moving so quickly with new devices, new responsive frameworks, sensors and embedded devices.  Second, a migration toward more sophisticated apps. Enterprise mobility challenges: Scaling Securing & Connectivity to back-end data sources Operative quote: "Our philosophy is--long-term security will not come down to app container or device-level security model. Security should come down to data and identity ." Ten year predictions:  "...mobility (to) deterministically drive revenue or cut costs." ".... the combination of sensors and apps will provide brand-new ways t...

Here are some acronyms you might not have heard before: BYOD (bring your own device) - OK, everyone knows this one but  what about: CYOD (choose your own device)  COPE (corporate-owned, personally enabled) – in which employees are given a choice of devices to use by their employer and may also be permitted to use them personal purposes. OK..now you are in the know!

I and a colleague created this webinar to help you navigate the treacherous waters of hybrid mobile app development. Review and feel free to shoot questions or comments. Click on the image to access the webinar slides

Read this very good article on Enterprise Mobility: Enterprise mobility in 2014: App-ocalypse Now? Here is the operative quote for 2014 from OVUM: In 2014, enterprise mobile apps will become a core part of the enterprise IT application stack. This will create challenges for the enterprise such as getting the UX right and enabling tight integration with internal systems. It also provides a big opportunity for app developers, systems integrators, and mobility management vendors.

I really like this blogpost that appeared on the Appcelerator site. It essentially lays the foundation as to what a mobile app should be: Apps Are Not Applications (And Why This Matters)

....... and one that I can't emphasize enough how important it is to heed: “ In mobile, there’s a big premium on creating single-purpose, first-class experiences.” -Mark Zukerberg Facebook