Monday 27 April 2009

Managed Mobile Solutions


Mobile Device Management
Mobile Devices are getting increasingly sophisticated and because of this they should be treated no differently to a laptop computer when it comes to mobile device management. Just like their laptop big brothers, mobile devices and smart phones can access the internet/intranet, carry large amounts of corporate data, send and receive email and run sophisticated applications. Add to this that most mobile devices (under normal working conditions) will do this remotely and wirelessly and are therefore even more susceptible to loss or theft than laptops, you should have a mobile device management policy and supporting infrastructure in place.
As a minimum, organisations should be looking at policies and procedures to encompass the following:
User handover documentation
Software and hardware configuration management
Backup policy
Settings management
Training and support material
Password policy management
Swap out procedure
Device addition/removal procedure


In life support
These requirements can either be handled manually or by device management software. Device management software enables IT administrators to capture the asset characteristics, configure settings and security policies of mobile devices, and update or deploy new applications with minimal interruption to the user, dramatically reducing the cost of deploying and managing devices.
User Handover documentation
It is important that the users of any company issued mobile device take care of these in a diligent manner. Therefore when handing over a device to an employee, it‘s important to ensure that they agree to a set of usage terms and conditions. This could include when and how the device is to be used and any limitations as to its use (e.g. internet policy) and any liability the employee faces if these terms are broken. Certain companies have insisted that if the unit is maliciously destroyed then the employee is liable for the cost of replacement. Careful consideration must also be given to any health and safety aspects of using mobile devices especially in moving vehicles.
Software/Hardware configuration management
The mobile device will invariably be configured for groups of users and the software and settings need to be set up on each device. Therefore a documented record needs to be kept as to how to set up the device, what applications are active on that device and what applications are to be disabled. This process can also be automated with mobile device management software.
Backup policy
Mobile devices are capable of holding large amounts of corporate data which is added to, or updated then it is essential that this is synchronised to a server on the corporate network.
Data security
Given the ever increasing amount of data a mobile device can hold, there is a much greater risk of sensitive data falling in to the wrong hands. For this reason appropriate password protection and remote wipe capabilities are essential. Careful consideration needs to be given to the level of security imposed however as it is important not to create a frustrating user experience.
Settings management
Once the mobile device is ‘in life’, should the device require additional applications loaded or the device loses its settings, a method needs to be in place to quickly restore them.
Training and support material
When mobile devices are being provided to field workers careful consideration should be given to training the users to use the applications properly and, if necessary provide supporting documentation as reference material.
Device swap out
Mobile devices are always deployed for compelling business reasons, once deployed the business user becomes dependent on the device functioning properly. Therefore should the device fail, clear and effective procedures need to be in place to enable the user to continue working through either emergency paper backup or readily available hot swap devices at appropriate geographic locations.
Device addition/removal procedure.
Should a new starter need to be added to the enterprise as a mobile device user, then a simple process is required to ensure that this is undertaken efficiently. Equally if an employee leaves or their device is stolen a procedure is required to remove their unit from the enterprise and to remove any company specific data remotely. If this is not possible, then using power on passwords will provide an element of protection.
In life support
Mobile devices must be considered as extensions to your corporate enterprise and your new mobile users will need a user- friendly support desk to talk to should they have any issues with their devices or mobile software applications.

Carefully assess your in-house capabilities
It’s important to closely study the capabilities of both in-house teams and third party suppliers when considering an enterprise mobility solution. The underlying objective should be to minimise risk within the development, rollout and subsequent support process so the solution can be completed on time, on budget and with the support of all the field users.
Consider a work share project approach
Due to the complex multi-element nature of enterprise mobility solutions, unless your business has a sophisticated mature and scalable IT department with R&D capability, pure D.I.Y should not be considered. However engaging a mobility specialist with a mobility configuration tool for agile deployments and undertaking certain elements of the project in-house or “work share” is becoming more practical and prevalent.
Do not under estimate the support impact
Supporting large numbers of geographically dispersed users of mobile technology can be challenging. If you are planning to support your mobile users, ensure you have a service desk that can cope with the increased numbers and make use of remote mobile device management software solutions to minimise the down time of your mobile users. Using specialist third party support organisations to deal with fieldworker support is an increasingly popular alternative and can reduce training and other staffing costs.
Consider the efficiencies of third party hosting
Over the last 18 months software as a service (SaaS) has become more wide-spread with major software organisations such as Microsoft offering a rental model for the majority of their software applications that are hosted and managed on third party servers. Therefore IT infrastructure (server) hosting is becoming a key consideration. Building your own server infrastructure to be resilient, with high availability, requires significant capital expenditure, takes time and demands a skilled, responsive support team to deal with any issues. A third party hosted service can be up and running quickly and can also be scaled easily if your business grows. For smaller organisations renting the software and server environment will definitely be more cost effective than outright purchase and self hosting.
Conclusion
It is very important from the onset of any mobile solution deployment to consider every aspect of the project; this must include the management of mobile devices and the support of the users who use them who are often only considered as an afterthought. This can results in projects going over budget and potentially failing. Mobile management is a key requirement in any field mobility project and providing the overhead is considered up front in your business case as part of the total cost of ownership, there will be no surprises.

Mobile software at your service


At a recent event I chaired “Mobilise your Workforce”, a panel session was held to attempt to demystify the hosted/rented software world which is normally referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS) or Software plus Services (S+S). During a quick straw poll of the attendees the majority of the audience had heard of SaaS, however only a few knew exactly what this term means or how SaaS could have a positive impact on their businesses.

Obviously in the current global economic crisis, it is becoming increasingly important for all businesses to be fit and efficient to face the challenges 2009 will bring. I see SaaS based Enterprise Mobility solutions being the “low cost of entry” facilitator for businesses with mobile field workers, to improve their efficiency and reduce their fixed costs. This new way of owning an enterprise mobility solution will deliver a return on investment within a month of rollout, whereas the equivalent CAPEX model could take many months to deliver.

Over the last 18 months SaaS, or renting hosted third party software applications, has become more prevalent with major software organisations such as Microsoft offering a rental model for the majority of their software applications which are hosted and managed on third party servers.

Software as a Service (SaaS) has become the industry term used to describe the delivery of software applications using the Internet or a wide area network as the delivery mechanism. The SaaS model can be implemented rapidly and removes the need to purchase, manage and support expensive server infrastructure. The SaaS model is being used to provide a whole host of software applications from email to enterprise mobility solutions.

Benefits
Revenue based payments
Software as a Service (SaaS) has become the industry term used to describe the delivery of software applications using the Internet or a wide area network as the delivery mechanism. The SaaS model can be implemented rapidly and removes the need to purchase, manage and support expensive server infrastructure. The SaaS model is being used to provide a whole host of software applications from email to enterprise mobility solutions.
Third party hosted
Investing in expensive infrastructure is no longer required since SaaS software applications are now third party hosted. As a result there are no capital costs for hardware, licenses, databases or ongoing overheads of either third party or internal IT support staff or software and hardware maintenance and upgrades. Software applications are accessed via a web browser or a mobile device via a wireless network connection keeping your user IT requirements simple, low cost and easily managed.
Predictable costs
Rented software and services provide agreed pre-defined fixed charges. This enables you to project and predict your annual costs and helps with annual budget provisioning. They do not result in large capital outlay, therefore reducing the time to return on investment in most cases to the month the solution is deployed,
Multi-tenant effciency
Rented software and services tend to use secure multi-tenant architecture (for example Microsoft Exchange email). This means that the cost of all software, infrastructure and expertise is shared by a large number of customers. This multi-tenant architecture offers reduced implementation times and economies of scale making the overall solution more cost effective to small and large businesses.
Increased flexible accessibility
Being Internet based, your applications are accessible not only in the office but from home a hotel room or from any of your businesses international locations if you have them. Work is no longer becomes a place!
Flexibility and scalability
Rented software and services provide businesses with a high level of flexibility. Since the software solution is delivered via the Internet it completely eliminates installation and setup at the customer’s end. Users can be up and running very quickly. Also as your business grows all you need to do is request your service provider to add more users. As hosted solutions are designed to scale, initially you could start with 10 users and after one month add say another 3,000 users without any issues, thus providing your business with ultimate flexibility or conversely if times get hard, you can reduce the number of users.
Availability and security
Third party service providers are in the business of providing uninterrupted reliable services. Vendors understand that data must be backed up religiously and information security is a paramount concern. Skilled resources, network redundancies, stand-by power, up-to-date security and intrusion detection are a necessity in providing an enterprise class service.
General
The rental software application market is starting to mature and offers businesses a flexible low cost entry option delivering instant return on investment which must be a major consideration in today’s economic conditions. But do not forget to ensure that you have a secure and available internet connection to ensure application continuity.










Friday 17 April 2009

MDA provide grant funding oppurtunity


Despite government intervention, the banks are still not supporting British businesses with business loans and investment funding. As a result of this the Mobile Data Association has been exploring alternative funding methods for our members to help provide innovation funding during these difficult times.

The MDA, with the help of MSC Ltd, discovered that local development agencies can offer grants of up to £250,000 to help you with product and innovation development.

So if you have a project that:
· is a robust commercial proposition
· contains a high level of innovation
· would be a major technological advance for the industry
· is technically difficult to achieve

This is a great opportunity to obtain a development grant, with quarterly cash payments that:
· don’t dilute your equity
· you don’t have to pay back
· on which you don’t have to pay any interest
· could be easier to get than other forms of finance
· is not subject to “Credit Crunch” market conditions
· conveys prestige onto your business
· can be used to develop a truly leading-edge product

To help you with the grant application we have selected MSC, the UK's leading expert in grant funding for product development. With 18 years experience in obtaining grants for UK technology SMEs with innovative ideas, MSC is our ideal partner to assist in accessing grants to help develop a truly leading-edge product. Website: http://www.mscbdg.co.uk/

The benefits to MDA members of using MSC to undertake an Innovation Grant application:
Free “Innovation Audit” to assess the eligibility of MDA member’s technology against the grant criteria
“Fast-track” application process – MDA members take priority in the MSC schedule
2.5% discount on any grant application fee payable to MSC (fee around £7000).
2.5% discount on the grant commission fee (fee is usually 12% of the grant)

If you are interested and are a fully paid-up member of MDA for the current Membership Year (1 April 2009 – 31 March 2010)

Please contact
Rufus Meakin, Strategic Business Development Manager
MSC Business Innovation Ltd
Tel: 0114 263 2441
email: rufusmeakin@mscbdg.co.uk

Regards
Steve Reynolds
Chairman, Mobile Data Association

Thursday 16 April 2009

Financing your mobile business in a credit crunch

We are in very tough economic times; 2009 will possibly be the toughest year for British businesses since the 1930's.

To survive in these conditions, it is increasingly important for businesses to be strong, fit and innovative. Recently, the government has announced a series of packages to encourage both the consumer and businesses to return to their normal spending profiles. Businesses must respond by investing in their future.

Times are hard and I am sure a considerable number of businesses are considering restructuring and cut backs in spending, including an innovation investment freeze policy. This is potentially a high risk strategy as the reality could be that without investment your business becomes uncompetitive and potentially not fit enough or strong enough to survive in 2009.

With this in mind our friends at Mobile Monday have organised a superb event on April 20th at the CBI Centrepoint to help businesses in the mobile space entitled Financing your mobile business in a credit crunch

Agenda:

6.00pm - doors open at the CBI Centrepoint
6.30pm - presentations


7.00pm - panel session and discussion
8.00pm - surgery sessions open and networking.
10.00pm - doors close

*Food and drinks will be served after the event courtesy of DCKTN*

Speakers and panellists include Rose Lewis from Pembridge Partners, Carl Uminski from IMW, Pamir Gelenbe from NewtonMore, Denver McCann from Numeritas, Philip Hargrave from DCKTN and ably chaired by Benjamin Ellis from Redcatco.

Surgery sessions available with Pembridge Partners / Gateway 2 Investment and DCKTN

For more information and to register click here http://momolo.org/event.jsp?eventid=57

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Building a mobility solution: DIY or Managed?


The majority of enterprise mobility solutions deployed in the UK have been completed with the involvement of a specialist third party organisation, coming into existence as managed solutions.

Yet, organisations have the option to keep development in-house, and those companies big enough to employ their own experience IT staff may feel that a DIY approach to enterprise mobility offers the best option. The decision making process is further compounded by the decision to either self host or third party host your final solution. So is there a simple answer to this complex question? Below are some of the key considerations.

Carefully assess your in-house capabilities
It’s important to closely study the capabilities of both in-house teams and third party suppliers when moving towards an enterprise mobility project. The underlying objective should be to minimise risk within the development and rollout process so the solution can be completed on time, on budget and with the support of all the field worker users.

Consider a work share project approach
Due to the complex multi-element nature of enterprise mobility solutions, unless your business has a sophisticated mature and scalable IT department with R&D capability, pure D.I.Y should not be considered. However engaging a mobility specialist with a mobility configuration tool for agile deployments and undertaking certain elements of the project in-house or “work share” is becoming more practical and prevalent.

Do not under estimate the support impact
Supporting large numbers of geographically dispersed users of mobile technology can be challenging, if you are planning to support your mobile users, ensure you have a service desk that can cope with the increased numbers, and make use of remote mobile device management software solutions to minimise the down time of your mobile users. Using specialist third party support organisations to deal with fieldworker support is certainly on the increase and can reduce significantly fieldworker down time.

Consider the efficiencies of third party hosting
Over the last 18 months software as a service SaaS has become more prevalent with major software organisations such as Microsoft offering a rental model for the majority of their software applications that are hosted and managed on third party servers. Therefore IT infrastructure (servers) hosting is becoming a key consideration. Building your own server infrastructure to be resilient with high availability from scratch requires significant capital expenditure, takes time and requires responsive support team to deal with any issues. A third party hosted service can be up and running quickly and can also be scaled easily if your business grows. For smaller organisations renting the software and server environment will definitely be more cost effective than outright purchase and self hosting.

Benefits of Software as a Service (SaaS)

Background
Over the last 18 months software as a service SaaS has become more prevalent with major software organisations such as Microsoft offering a rental model for the majority of their software applications which are hosted and managed on third party servers. Software as a Service (SaaS) is the term used for delivering software applications using the internet or a wide area network as the delivery mechanism. SaaS can be implemented rapidly and removes the need to purchase expensive server infrastructure. The SaaS model is being used to provide a whole host of software applications from email to enterprise mobility solutions.
Revenue based payments

SaaS is delivered to organisations as a subscription model, usually billed on a per user per month basis for a fixed term of usually 3 years. Billing is on a “pay as you go” basis, that is, businesses only pay for the users who have benefited from the software during each billable month. Naturally this removes large upfront payments and potential annual licence, support and maintenance charges.

Third party hosted
Investing in expensive infrastructure is no longer required since SaaS software applications are now third party hosted. As a result there are no capital costs for hardware, licenses, databases or ongoing overheads of either third party or internal IT support staff or software and hardware maintenance and upgrades. Software applications are accessed via a web browser or a mobile device via a wireless network connection keeping your user IT requirements simple and low cost and easily managed.

Predictable projectable costs
SaaS provides agreed pre-defined fixed charges. This enables you to project and predict your annual costs and helps with annual budget provisioning.

Multi-Tenant Efficiency
Some SaaS solutions use secure multi-tenant architecture (for example Microsoft Exchange email SaaS). This means that the cost of all software, infrastructure and expertise is shared by a large number of customers. This multi-tenant architecture offers reduced implementation times and economies of scale making the overall solution more cost effective

Increased Accessibility
Being internet based, your applications are accessible not only in the office but from home a hotel room or from any of your businesses international locations if you have them.

Flexibility and Scalability
SaaS, provides businesses with a high level of flexibility. Since, the software solution is delivered via the Internet; SaaS completely eliminates installation and setup at the customer’s end. Users can be up and running very quickly. Also as your business grows all you need to do is request your service provider to add more users. Because hosted solutions are designed to scale, initially you could start with 10 users and after 1 month add say another 3,000 users without any issues, thus providing your business with ultimate flexibility.


Availability and Security
SaaS providers are in the business of providing uninterrupted reliable services. Vendors understand that data must be backed up religiously, and information security is a paramount concern. Skilled resources, network redundancies, stand-by power, up-to-date security and intrusion detection are a necessity in providing an enterprise class service.

Monday 13 April 2009

MDA to develop closer working links with MNO's

The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has committed to create an event platform to allow the mobile industry to forge closer working relationships with the operators.

This was the key commitment to emerge from the MDA's recent Analyst event, which asked how the mobile market will thrive during the downturn.

Bringing together many of the mobile industry's most respected industry analysts at London's City University, the event reflected a demand from mobile players for improved access to the gatekeepers of the mobile industry: the mobile network operators.

The request was echoed in the sentiments of the analysts, who said that enhanced integration and collaboration would ultimately create better opportunities and help to grow the industry.
Subsequently, the MDA has pledged to devise a meaningful stage for its members to work closely together with each other and other key industry stakeholders such as the operators.
A highlight of the MDA calendar, the Analyst event is a proven attraction to mobile business leaders keen to hear the informed, research-led opinion of those charged with assessing what's next for mobile.

Analyst summaries:
Paul Lee from Deloitte presented a realistic but stark economic outlook for the ICT industry, posing the question; 'Is anyone too big for the bin?' His research highlighted the challenges the mobile industry faces in the coming 18 months, providing indicators for achieving growth by looking at lessons learnt from past recessions.

Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca, provided an assessment of the growth and adoption of mobile broadband in the enterprise landscape, suggesting that while mass adoption was achievable, much greater focus was required around cost, coverage and speed.

CCS Insight's Paolo Pescatore reviewed the mobile entertainment landscape, examining the shift in mobile operator revenues, highlighting the impact MMS, general messaging and data was having on the traditional dominance of voice.

Visiongain's Julian Pasin delivered the business outlook for the internet on mobile. His findings demonstrated the impact the iPhone and Safari browsers are having on driving mobile web access.

Shailendra Pandey, Senior Research Analyst, Informa Telecoms & Media provided research on the Mobile Payments sector; examining the current market, scope of services, business models and future opportunities.

The event was rounded off with an interactive panel session chaired by Helen Keegan of Beep Marketing and The Women in Mobile Data Association.

Speaking about the event, MDA Chairman, Steve Reynolds, said: "While predicting future development is always challenging, the considered analyst insight and challenging questions from the floor combined to make the event a great success. Talk of green shoots was tempered by a need for all points in the mobile value chain to work together. "On the evidence of this event, the mobile industry is in good shape and well positioned to continue to grow, but a commitment to innovation in everything we do is essential."