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Showing posts from July, 2010

SAP AG Announces It has Completed the Acquisition of Sybase

SAP AG announced that it has completed the acquisition of Sybase, Inc. Sybase survives the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAP America, U.S. operating subsidiary of SAP. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SAP-Completes-Acquisition-of-prnews-532143970.html?x=0&.v=1   *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC Phone +1 208-991-4410 Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly – July 29, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter that is 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 numbers and trends. You can read archived versions of the newsletter here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html . ******** Are you going to SAP’s TechEd Las Vegas in October? I will be teaching a session entitled The Future of Enterprise Mobility. For the current buzz on SCN (SAP Community Network), check out the SAP TechEd blog topic . Also, follow SAP TechEd on Twitter and Facebook ! ******** Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein affirmed that Web OS 2.0 will become available for download later this year. http://www.softsailor.com/news/34126-jon-rubinstein-webos-2-0-to-be-released-for-download-by-end-of-2010-new-hardware-coming-too.html ******** AT&T has been rumored to have put their name down fo

Extending Business Processes Two Directions - Digital Mailrooms and Mobility

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I recently recorded a video comment on the subject of The Next Steps to Business Process Automation - Mobility .   This segment is very interesting to me as it covers developments and extensions to business processes in two different directions, 1) automating company mailrooms, and 2) by mobilizing business processes.  Until recently I had not considered that many business processes do not start until the mailroom manually opens, sorts, stores, transports and distributes mail and other paper documents (order forms, warrantly cards, customer complaints, invoices, etc) to the various departments in a company.  This is a very old fashion, potentially slow and labor intensive process that is prone to many human errors. Digital mailrooms and transactional content management solutions are new categories of solutions that extend automation into the mailroom.  For more information on this category of solutions visit BancTec's blog Transactional Content Management and Digital Mailrooms .

29 Areas to Find an ROI by Mobilizing Field Services

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In this article we take a more indepth look at ROIs that can be achieved by mobilizing and automating field services.  We start out by reviewing some of the ROI points we discussed in an earlier article and then adding to the list. It is important to recognize that ROIs don't just come from cost savings.  Upselling products and services can bring in new revenue.  Providing better customer service can leave a lasting impression that results in more business and referrals.  Automating and mobilizing business analytics and queries can provide new insights and more business opportunties for the field sales and field services teams.  Integrating work order dispatch with enterprise asset management and location based technologies can ensure that you optimize the use of a field service technician's time while onsite with a customer. Here are 29 areas where you can look for ROIs. 1. Eliminate time spent in the office re-typing data collected in the field by enabling field service

Kevin’s M2M News Weekly – July 28, 2010

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Weekly. This is an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices that I read each week. 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. You can read archived editions of Kevin's M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html . Also check out Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly and Kevin’s Enterprise Mobility Blog . ******** AT&T has announced new products aimed at the mobile enterprise and a new partnership in the M2M space. The new service will provide high level security for calls on AT&T's mobile network and is expected to be available later this quarter. It is targeted at government agencies, law enforcement organizations, financial services institutions and

Mobile Expert Video Series: Smartsoft Mobile's EVP Ed Krufka

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I had the opportunity recently to video record an interview with Ed Krufka, EVP at Smartsoft Mobile about their company and strategies.  Click here to watch the video interview on the YouTube SAP Mentor channel. I think it is always interesting and useful to hear from someone that has 400,000 mobile users, and over 700 ERP/mobility consultants with over 5,000 man-years of experience on staff. To watch other video interviews with mobility experts check out the complete list here. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC Phone +1 208-991-4410 Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Field Service Automation ROIs and Service Optimization, Part 1

Andy Wright, in a recent blog article wrote, "According to a recent study by the Aberdeen Group; organizations that adopt a scheduling solution see on average a 12 percent improvement in workforce utilization. While many field service organizations are slow to adopt a scheduling solution, those considered “Best-in-Class” are 50 percent more likely to adopt and implement resource planning tools that harmonize the execution capabilities of their scheduling applications." From personal experience I would agree with the Aberdeen Group's findings.  When you consider all of the different areas where a service company can receive a positive ROI, not automating a field service organization seems simply irresponsible. Here are some of the most basic areas to look for ROIs: Save the office staff's data entry time. Enter clean, valid data in the field using your smartphone and have it automatically synchronize with your office business software application. Dispatch servi

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos Announces $1 Billion in Mobile Sales

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Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO announced this week that they are seeing rapid growth in Kindle, Amazon web services, third-party sales and retail.  He added, "In the last 12 months, customers around the world have ordered more than $1 billion of products from Amazon using a mobile device." This is a very interesting report by Bezos on mobile sales numbers.  I believe it!  My wife is regularly using the Amazon iPhone application to order books and other essentials.  You can find a book on a store shelf, reach for your iPhone and enter the ISBN number.  You can immediately see the cost for a new and used version of the book on Amazon.  With one click shopping the book is on its way, and since we subscribe to the free shipping program at Amazon, even the delivery is free. This process must frustrate bookstores or maybe not.  I guess any used book store can choose to sell books on Amazon -  they could be the one making money from the Amazon iPhone application. I wonder how Ama

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly – July 22, 2010

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Kevin's Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter that is 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 numbers and trends. You can read archived newsletters here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html . ******** The FCC will announce at its open meeting Thursday a plan to create a $400 million program that would bring broadband connections to rural healthcare providers. The proposal comes from the FCC’s national broadband plan, which recommends making high-speed Internet service an underlying platform for transferring information between health care providers, patients and hospitals. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/07/fcc_to_propose_400_million_rur.html ******** Apple posted revenue of $15.7 billion dollars for its most recent quarter, beating Wall Street analysts’ estimates yet again

Kevin’s Weekly M2M Newsletter – July 21, 2010

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Weekly. This is an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices that I read each week. 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. You can read archived editions of Kevin's M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html . Also check out Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly and Kevin’s Enterprise Mobility Blog . ******** Trilliant, a California-based provider of smart grid solutions that enhance energy efficiency, utility operations, and renewable resource integration, this morning announced that it has secured a whopping $106 million in funding from a global syndicate of industry and financial big-names: Investor Growth Capital, VantagePoint Venture Partners, ABB and GE.

Mobility Changes the Enterprise and Expectations

Companies rarely understand the full extent of the changes mobile software solutions will bring to their organization. They appreciate the concept of having access to enterprise content in mobile environments and converting paper document processes to electronic, but they don't often see the complete vision for how enterprise mobility can re-engineer business processes until they have walked the path for a while.  Let me share some personal observations that I have had working on mobility projects. Most mobile software projects start small and have a very limited user base and business focus in the beginning.  As the users begin to test and adopt the new mobile software solutions, they most often expand the project as they quickly recognize the efficiencies that can be gained by using mobile enterprise.  It seems many companies must see to believe. There is usually some point about 80 percent through the mobile software project when the lights go on!  The client can see beyond t

A Mobile Work Order Process in the Field

What does an automated and "mobilized" work order system or service ticket dispatch and management system look like? Here is a scenario - A customer calls in to report a broken heating system. The office staff takes the phone call, enters the relevant information into the work order application on the desktop computer which then creates a unique work order and number. The work order database application, with GIS integration, can compare the location of each service technician to determine which one is closest to the work location. The dispatch system can also look at the estimated availability of the nearby service technicians. In addition, the solution can quickly look up the qualifications of each service technician to see which ones are qualified for the job.  Once the appropriate service technician is identified, the work order is dispatched to the smartphone or handheld computer used by the service technician. Included in the electronic work order is driving directi

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly – July 15, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter that is 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 numbers and trends. You can read archived newsletters here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html . You may also find Kevin’s M2M News Weekly on the subjects of M2M (machine-to-machine) and the mobile embedded device market of interest here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html . ******** Trimble announced recently it has partnered with Timmons Group to provide an integrated system for the field collection, management, and submittal of wetland delineation data. The solution combines handheld computers with the WetCollect wetland delineation software to comply with the reporting requirements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The COE determines whether a wetland is a "water