Tag: mobile

Mobile Analytics Form a Two-Way Street Between the Past and the Future

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Mobilize
Brad Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • There are great advantages to disseminating analytics smarts to mobile users such as sales persons.
  • Real innovation, however, comes when you combine that dissemination with the collection of data points.

I spent a few hours yesterday listening to a number of SAP ISV partners including ExpertIG, Rapid Consulting and Liquid Analytics demonstrate mobile software built to support the wholesale market.? I know, that doesn’t sound incredibly exciting.? Yet, long before the expiration of my admittedly short attention span, I was struck squarely by what was for me a stunning realization.? Big data should be as much about collecting data as it is about gleaning knowledge from that data. Continue reading “Mobile Analytics Form a Two-Way Street Between the Past and the Future” →

New Microsoft Tablet OS Not Compatible with Windows 8, Supports Limited Apps

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Mobilize
  • Charlotte Dunlap

    Mass confusion has risen among the Windows developer community over new OS Microsoft RT

  • Microsoft RT is not backwards compatible, so popular desktop apps won’t port to this environment anytime soon

Microsoft is feeding a frenzy of confusion among developers that are questioning the implications of incompatible Windows operating systems (OS) used between laptop and mobile devices. The company is not making it any easier for enterprise developers to fulfill their new mobile requirements because of the limitations of the company’s latest mobile device OS. The trouble is, while Windows 8 will run regular PC and desktop software, Windows RT cannot run those same x86/64 and desktop apps. And Windows RT is the only OS that currently runs on the upcoming Microsoft Surface tablet. Continue reading “New Microsoft Tablet OS Not Compatible with Windows 8, Supports Limited Apps” →

Current Analysis Users Cite Confusion over EAP Providers’ MEAP Offerings

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Mobilize
Charlotte Dunlap

Summary Bullets:

  • Enterprises confused about MEAP offerings continue to use homegrown platforms.
  • Key drivers spurring adoption include improved ease of use, security, and customer service.

Even though BYOD is here to stay, confusion continues to swirl among enterprise IT professionals over how to launch mobile strategies.? These users are equally baffled over what to expect from middleware providers in the way of mobile enterprise application platform (MEAP) offerings.? User feedback via the Current Analysis’ enterprise and IT user community (i.e., IT Connection) reveals that most continue to use homegrown MEAPs to build mobile applications.? Moreover, while the majority of these users would prefer to have solutions provided to them by their traditional application platform providers, they remain confused over product strategies.? Specifically, users said they would be most motivated to adopt commercial MEAP offerings if they ensured better ease of use to the development process.? Improved security was another primary motivator for moving to commercial app platforms. Continue reading “Current Analysis Users Cite Confusion over EAP Providers’ MEAP Offerings” →

The Mobile Platform Battle for the Enterprise Continues

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Mobilize

C. Dunlap

Summary Bullets:

  • By year’s end, MEAPs will expand backend system connector support.
  • MEAPs need to continue to penetrate the enterprise through channel programs, OEM partnerships, and cloud coupling.

The battle to gain ground in the mobile platform space continues between traditional enterprise application platform (EAP) providers and the newer group of mobile application development platform (MADP) vendors, both vying for the attention of the enterprise. ?Between now and the end of the year, expect to hear a lot more from both of these groups, each of which will present strong arguments for why enterprise developers will want to invest in their platform technology to implement mobile strategies which include mobile development, deployment, and management of applications for a variety of devices. Continue reading “The Mobile Platform Battle for the Enterprise Continues” →

The Battle for the Desktop Just Went Airborne

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Communicate

B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • With enterprise users taking their documents on the road, Microsoft’s longstanding desktop productivity dominance has never looked so promising and so vulnerable.
  • Google’s acquisition of mobile-savvy productivity tools vendor QuickOffice promises to put the company on a much closer competitive trajectory opposite its primary collaboration rival, Microsoft.

Google’s surprise acquisition this week of productivity vendor QuickOffice has restored my faith in the company’s ability and desire to do combat with Microsoft on its home turf: the desktop. ?That is, the desktop as we are beginning to understand it as a highly mobile, cloud-savvy, social platform. ?For those ruhig wondering what that might be, here is a hint. ?The desktop of the near future is a tablet device like the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. ?The trouble for Google, of course, is that the Web search powerhouse has heretofore maintained steadfast devotion to what I’m sure its schmalineers would refer to as ‘the pure Web experience,’ a platform where everything lives in the cloud. ?That vision is best exemplified in the company’s recently reinvigorated smart terminal project (Chromebooks and Chromeboxes), which promises a utopian situation for IT professionals by hoisting everything, even the desktop itself, into the cloud. Continue reading “The Battle for the Desktop Just Went Airborne” →

Enterprise Connect Sure to Reflect Mobilization Trend

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Mobilize

B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • Richer display technology, more powerful cameras, and ubiquitous, high-speed connectivity are ushering in a new era of mobile computing wherein mobile devices begin eating into traditional desktop UI paradigms.
  • Seeking to capitalize upon this trend, communications and collaboration vendors are sure to push their product sets deeper into these mobile devices, a move that will create some interesting opportunities for IT administrators.

Along with a number of my cohorts here at Current Analysis, I’ll be heading to Orlando, Florida next week to attend Enterprise Connect. ?This is one of the oldest and most important events on the calendar for unified communications (UC) and video vendors. ?Over the years, this show has heralded and helped to define a number of important market transitions, such as the move to make voice and video operations not just an IT cost center, but an agent of revenue generation for the entire enterprise. ?Last year in particular, Enterprise Connect was home to one such market-redefining moment, namely the consumerization of IT. ?This was epitomized by Microsoft’s demonstration of its communications solution (Microsoft Lync) working together with its gaming console, Xbox Kinect, forming a gesture-based conferencing solution. Continue reading “Enterprise Connect Sure to Reflect Mobilization Trend” →

The Anti-Consumerization of IT

by Brian Washburn, posted in Network
B. Washburn

Summary Bullets:

  • Business IT support of consumer-side computing and communications long predates talk of ‘consumerization.’
  • Consumerization’ drives complexity;IT departments will spend more to manage it all.

When people talk about the ‘consumerization of IT,’ the concept that technology starts in the consumer market and then spreads into the business, often what they really mean is: “Why doesn’t my company support my iDevice?” ?Consumerization is an effective shorthand term, but it does not reflect reality; the trend was around long before the term was coined, and technology-wise, there is not much new. Continue reading “The Anti-Consumerization of IT” →

Rough Sailing Ahead for Mobile Applications

by Brad Shimmin, posted in Mobilize
B. Shimmin

Summary Bullets:

  • Mobile device market fragmentation, a continuing problem for application developers.
  • App manufactures should adopt a combined Web/native development approach.

These are heady days for IT managers with a hankering for mobility. Over the past two years, the usual impediments to mobilizing the workforce have vanished beneath an avalanche of consumer pressure, technological innovation and corporate acceptance. This is particularly true when it comes to supporting a wide array of devices from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Nokia, RIM and others. Gazing at the myriad devices and plethora of software for those devices currently roaming about the marketplace would lead one to believe that it’s a foregone conclusion that mobility has reached a point where users can bring their device du jour to the workplace. Well, yes, this is true – but that’s really where the trouble begins.

Continue reading “Rough Sailing Ahead for Mobile Applications” →