Execution in Enterprise Mobility

This weekend I read an article written by Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, called Africa Needs Aid Not Flawed Theories in the November 27-28 edition of the Wall Street Journal.  In it he criticizes author Matt Ridley’s ideas (found in the book The Rational Optimist) by saying, “He seems to think that innovation involves simply coming up with a new idea, when in fact the execution of the idea is critical.”
This got me thinking.  If the execution of the idea is what is critical, how does this relate to enterprise mobility vendors? 

I receive calls and emails from mobile start-ups weekly.  Many are convinced they have a better mobile application, a better strategy and a better team.  However, they have no money, only three people in the company, no brand recognition, and no global sales, delivery or support infrastructure.  I usually ask a few additional questions to learn if there is anything at all that might hint at their ability to execute.  Too often there is not.

The Evolutionary Phases of Enterprise Mobility

I have had several opportunities to visit with large enterprises about their mobility strategies lately.  It is interesting watching and learning how large companies go about mobilizing business processes.  As a result of these discussions and experiences, I propose that there are at least six phases of this evolutionary process.  Let me know your thoughts as well!

I believe that phase one of an enterprise mobility strategy is to recognize the need to mobilize enterprise solutions.  Enterprise mobility is not a fad.  It is strategic and mission critical.  Mobile browsing is predicted to surpass all other forms of internet connectivity within the next year or two.  I have seen reports that over 40 percent of the workforce is mobile.  Giving them access to the right information, at the right time and at the right place to do their job is critical.  Everyone has a smartphone these days.  They are indepensable tools for the mobile workforce.

Phase two of your mobile strategy is to start mobilizing basic items like business process notifications, approvals and alerts.  These simple mobile "instant value" applications are a good first step to mobilizing your workforce and showing immediate value.  My mobile ESPN application sends me the scores of my favorite teams.  This is an example of a simple notification solution.  This phase helps your mobile workforce to ease into using their mobile devices for business purposes and ERP interactions.  Study the results, understand the challenges and use this information to prepare for more complex mobile solutions.

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly - November 30, 2010

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.

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As location-based services report impressive user growth and big brand partnerships, and major players like Facebook and Google enter the space, marketers are ramping up their location-based efforts for the holiday season.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/17/location-based-services-holidays/

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Bargain hunters can print out paper coupons or can go paperless. You can download mobile coupon apps to your smartphone and you'll be sent limited time offers at stores right near you. Just click on the coupon, show it to the cashier and ring up the savings.

The True Value in Enterprise Mobility

Have you ever really thought about where the true value is in enterprise mobility?  Is it replacing paper documents with electronic forms and data?  Is it replacing manual processes with automated?  Is it receiving more accurate data from the field?  Is it all about speed and efficiencies?  What is it?  I think the answer is YES.  It is all of the above, but there is much more.

Mobile and real-time communications - Just think about how you text friends and family today.  In seconds you can learn where your friends and family members are and what they are doing.  This is a relatively new development for humanity.  We are compressing time by receiving more information at a faster pace that allows us to act on the information quicker. 

I read recently that people no longer are asking for detailed location information when meeting people.  They simply say, "I will call or text you when I am close.  We can figure out where to meet at that time."  This is the result of instant and real time communications.

What Happens When the Novelty of Enterprise Mobility Wears Off?

What happens when wireless connectivity and mobile applications are no longer a novelty?  What will enterprise mobility companies talk about?  Already SAP's acquisition of Sybase has made the discussion of MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) passé.   Enterprise mobility vendors will announce their support for leading MEAPs, much like announcing their support for various OSs, and the discussion will move on to more interesting topics.

What is the value that enterprise mobility vendors will bring to the market in 2011?  I propose that the value will come in the following areas:

Enterprise Mobility, Embedded Wireless Devices and Robotics

I believe it is useful to not only study current enterprise mobility trends, but also to look at future trends when planning an enterprise mobility strategy.  One of the places to keep an eye on for future trends is the US military.  Why?  The US military must plan years ahead for each new generation of fighter jet or weapons platform, as the technology takes many years to develop and perfect. 

Recently US Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the Department of Defense will begin planning for the next generation (6th generation) of fighter jets.  One of the most interesting requirements is that it will be capable of being flown pilotless. 

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly - November 24, 2010 ** Special Edition

This is a special edition of Kevin's Mobility News Weekly.  In this edition I have collected the best market and trend numbers from the past few months and aggregated them into one edition.  You can save this edition and use these numbers in your own business plans and presentations.

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Nokia released its results for second quarter, 2010. They reveal a 40 percent slump in profits to €227 million, compared to €380 million a year ago. On a slightly brighter note, the company increased its share of the smartphone market by one percent to 41 percent in the quarter, having sold 24 million smartphones.

http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/nokia-profits-slump-while-smartphone-share-rises

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Of the four key Motorola business segments, only the company's enterprise mobility segment experienced growth, with sales of $1.9 billion, up ten percent compared to a year ago.

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly - November 23, 2010 ** Special Edition

This is a special edition of Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly. In this edition I have collected the best market and trend numbers from the past few months and aggregated them into one edition. You can save this edition and use these numbers in your own business plans and presentations.

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According to Forrester, 47 percent of consumers expect to wait no more than two seconds for a Web page to load; 58 percent of mobile phone users expect websites to load as quickly on their mobile phone as on their PC according to Gomez research.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/compuware-gomez-presents-webinar-on-the-top-e-commerce-strategies-for-turning-web-traffic-into-sales-2010-09-08?reflink=MW_news_stmp

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In a development with importance to e-commerce merchants and other marketers moving to mobile commerce, phones using Android accounted for one quarter of all North American mobile page views in August, up from 6.4 percent in August 2009, according to the latest numbers from Quantcast Corp. Google’s gain came mostly at the expense of iOS, the operating system used by the iPhone. That system lost 11.4 points of mobile Web share, to finish at 56 percent in August.

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/newsstory.cfm?newsid=2631

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For most retailers, the fourth quarter is relied upon to generate a substantial portion of the company’s yearly revenue. The mobile commerce market is currently $2.5B with a projected four times annual growth rate for 2013. Businesses have made mobility a top priority for growth and view m-commerce as a new retail channel.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2010/09/10/fourth-quarter-2010-trends-in-mobile-retailing/

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MarketsandMarkets has released a new report predicting that the value of mobile payment transactions in the US will reach $56 billion in 2015.

http://www.nfcnews.com/2010/08/30/report-us-mobile-payments-market-to-reach-56-billion-in-2015

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According to a new report from ABI Research, location based marketing will increase from only about $43 million this year to $1.8 billion by 2015 as part of overall mobile marketing budgets.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=135110
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Forrester predicts B2B interactive marketing spending to reach $4.8 billion by 2014 - almost double that estimated for 2009 ($2.3 billion).

http://www.bizreport.com/2010/03/b2b_marketers_embracing_interactive_channels.html

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By 2014, about 12 percent of all e-commerce transactions will be made using smartphones and other mobile devices, but fraud detection tools for mobile commerce are lagging, Gartner said.

http://thecitizen.co.tz/business/-/4302-mobile-commerce-surge-outpaces-anti-fraud-tools

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Mobile online transactions are growing at a fast pace. According to market researcher ABI Research, there will be 20 times more data and 40 times more mobile transactions by 2015.

http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/16/ibm-launches-software-that-will-help-corporations-embrace-social-media-and-mobile-devices/

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Mobile Marketing has seen growth of over 600 percent in the past year. The Kelsey groups forecasts 2000 percent growth by 2013.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2010/10/05/mobile-marketing-trends/

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According to Gartner, almost three billion of the world's population will be able to make electronic transactions via mobile or Internet technology by 2014.

http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/news/110100404.asp

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A reported 81 percent of young consumers around the world are "interested" or "very interested" in employing wireless handsets as a "wallet" linked to bank accounts and loyalty cards.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=27323

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The location-based services market is forecast to reach $21 billion by 2015 and will total 1.24 billion subscribers.

http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/news/gps-to-drive-21-billion-location-based-services-market-n158.aspx

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Mobile banking is expected to grow exponentially over the next 12 months, as the world's adoption of smartphones increases.

http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=2979

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During Google’s third quarter earnings call, the company disclosed that mobile ad sales were now at a $1 billion “annualized run rate.”

http://moconews.net/article/419-google-claims-1-billion-in-annualized-mobile-ad-revenues/

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Fifty-one percent of mobile owners in the United Kingdom use mobile commerce to make payments, redeem coupons or research products and services.

http://www.utalkmarketing.com/pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19240&Title=_Smartphone_users_boost_m-commerce_in_the_UK

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Will Pinnell, director of mobile commerce for Sabre Holdings, told Mobile Commerce Forum attendees that global mobile shoppers will spend $119 billion by 2015 - up from $12 billion last year.

http://www.brafton.com/industry-news/mobile-shoppers-spend-119-billion-in-2015-according-experts-at-mobile-commerce-forum-$800119329.htm

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Just over half of mobile phone owners in the UK, or 23 million people, are now using their devices for mobile commerce.

http://www.businessandleadership.com/marketing/item/26174-half-of-uk-mobile-users-now/

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Approximately 49 percent of businesses are willing to pay for the convenience of mobile cash management capabilities, pointing toward the ability for banks to generate fee based revenues.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/survey-shows-high-demand-for-corporate-mobile-banking-around-the-globe-2010-10-25?reflink=MW_news_stmp

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Mobile financial services are growing at a head spinning clip. The number of active users has climbed to 17.8 million from 4.9 million two years ago and will reach 53.1 million by 2013.

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/newsstory.cfm?newsid=2672

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Twenty-five percent of consumers have used a mobile phone for research while shopping -- and 55 percent of those aged 18 to 24 have.

http://www.cbc.ca/smartshift/2010/09/smart-retailers-are-tapping-in-to-phone-wielding-bargain-hunters.html

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Smartsoft Mobile empowers some of the world’s largest multi-national organizations to extend and improve business processes by providing mobile solutions to their employees and customers. Smartsoft has more than 700 experienced ERP/mobile consultants with over 5,000 man years of experience helping 400,000 plus mobile users achieve their business goals with powerful mobile B2B and B2C applications, designed and developed specifically for today’s popular consumer and industrial grade mobile devices. For more information please visit, http://www.smartsoftmobile.com/.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Smartsoft Mobile Solutions.


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Kevin Nix, presented staggering statistics about the explosive adoption of mobile devices and mobile apps at the 2010 SAP Retail Forum. Three million iPads were sold in eighty days; 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices were sold in three days; and the use of mobile apps is expected to increase to 100 million by 2013.

http://www.retailsolutionsonline.com/article.mvc/Leverage-Mobility-To-Create-Business-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

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There has been a rapid increase in the number of active users of location-based services in the United States, up from 12.3 million in 2009, and it is predicted to hit 33.2 million at the end of 2010.

http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/topics/mobile-communications/articles/111764-smartphone-adoption-predicted-drive-lbs-services.htm

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A recent eMarketer report projects that marketers will spend in excess of $1 billion on mobile marketing in 2011.

http://www.ricg.com/marketing_articles/digital_marketing/mobile_marketing_budgets_to_surpass_1_billion_next_year_/

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Forty-three percent of mobile phone owners have purchased movies, music and games—“shrink-wrapped” physical goods, not digital products—via their phones between March and August.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/10/15/mobile-shoppers-are-buying-movies-clothing-and-more

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Sixty-one percent of mobile operators surveyed thought that coupons or vouchers would become the dominant form of mobile marketing by 2015.

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/61-of-carriers-see-mobile-coupons-as-the-dominant-form-of-mobile-marketing-by-2015-11065/

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PayPal Mobile general manager Eric Duprat keynoted the final day of ARM TechCon in Santa Clara last week. He predicts that within five years the majority of $5.5 trillion in retail transactions that occur face-to-face will be handled through mobile devices.

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4210662/PayPal-exec-charts-future-of-mobile-money

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More than one million people in the UK have used PayPal to make a payment or send money from their mobile phones.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/39301/1m-Brits-have-made-PayPal-mobile-payments

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, mobile industry analyst and experienced mobile industry executive, offers both one and two day onsite workshops designed to educate and inform executives and management teams on enterprise mobility and mobile strategies for businesses. This workshop is designed to provide a complete overview of enterprise mobility and what it means to the business. The workshop is customized based upon the needs of participants. For more details visit http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html.

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Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict

Mobile Expert Interview Series: SAP's Usman Sheikh, December 2010
Vivido Labs Releases New Moible BI Application for SAP Customers
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sybase's Willie Jow, Part 1
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sybase's Willie Jow, Part 2
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sybase's Willie Jow, Part 3
Update on Sybase Reorganization, Revised Edition
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sky Technologies' Neil McHugh

Podcast: SAP Enterprise Mobility - Where Do We Go From Here?
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Archived editions of Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly are available at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-retail-news-weekly.html

You can follow me on Twitter @krbenedict and read my blog, Enterprise Mobility Strategies.

Also available are Kevin’s M2M News Weekly and Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly.

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I have added a feature to my blog site that supports email subscriptions. You can now receive all blog articles directly via email. If you are interested, click here.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410 Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

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.

Ben Lee on the Mobile Wallet

Mobile retailing guru Ben Lee has written a very interesting blog article on Google's new mobile payment platform.  Some of the most interesting points are as follows:
  • Google’s next version of its Android Smartphone software will support a technology that lets people use their handsets, instead of credit cards.
  • Google CEO Eric Schmitt said that support for Near Field Communications will be integrated into the next version of its Android software.
  • Three of the four largest mobile phone carriers in the U.S. have formed a joint venture to turn phones into digital wallets.
  • Many mobile application developers will incorporate this new functionality into mobile retailing applications.

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Syclo's Bill Moylan, Part 4

Bill Moylan, Syclo's EVP of Sales
This is part four of the an interview with Syclo's Bill Moylan.

Kevin:  What other trends are you seeing in the enterprise mobility market?

Bill:  We are actually still quite focused on the traditional market of field services.  We have a narrower view of enterprise mobility than perhaps you.  There are more devices, more operating systems and more choices for mobile devices, but the value propositions are much the same as we have been selling for sometime.

Kevin:  What do you predict will be different in 2011 in the enterprise mobility market?

Bill:  There will be a massive amount of options available for new mobile devices and operating systems.  This will allow Syclo to recommend exactly the right kind of mobile devices for each kind of job.  We will be announcing Android support soon.

Kevin:  What industry markets are you focusing on today?

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