Mobile Productivity Blog

WWDC 2011: What does Apple have in store for us next?

Apple products have helped inspire the consumerisation of IT in enterprises around the world, and the next round of products are positioned to continue the revolution. Millions of consumers have bought iPhones and iPads, including the Queen of England and the President of the United States. Enterprises and institutions are also seeing the power of Apple’s products and are overwhelmingly integrating iPhones and iPads into their IT infrastructure.

It is no surprise that the tech world is buzzing with speculation in the days before Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. CEO Steve Jobs is expected to announce a suite of new product offerings in his keynote speech at 10:00 AM on Monday, June 6. Apple has published a press release unveiling three announcements: Lion, the next version of Mac OS X; iOS 5, an evolutionary update to their mobile OS; and a new cloud service, fittingly named the iCloud.

While we don't know very much about Apple's new products, or if there will another "but wait..." moment at this year's conference, we are excited to see what they have to offer. Current rumors suggest iOS 5 will bring Twitter integration and enhanced notifications, as well as widgets to allow quick access to information without launching an app. Both consumer and enterprise mobile application developers who have built apps for iPhones and iPads will want to adjust and update their apps to take advantage of new OS features. The ability to keep apps current and up-to-date is crucial to the long-term success of your mobility strategies, but keeping up with all of the devices and mobile OS updates can be a daunting task.

It seems like every few weeks new mobile devices and OS updates are announced, leaving mobile application developers scrambling to adapt and adjust their apps to best take advantage of new developments and features. Instead of writing code to build mobile apps for each specific device type and OS, developers are finally starting to catch on to how much more efficient and cost-effective it is to use a mobile application development platform so that they can build cross-platform native applications that can be changed and updated in real-time. Rather than build one app for iOS, one for Android, and one for BlackBerry OS, mobile application platforms allow users to build one app that runs on each device type. Now, instead of wasting time, resources and money on three separate development projects for the same mobile application, app engineers can spend time optimizing their apps and reacting to each change in the industry as it occurs.

If you are interested in learning more about building a mobile development strategy that allows you to be flexible and agile, attend a live webinar on June 21 with Philippe Winthrop, Managing Director of the Enterprise Mobility Foundation and Steven Levy, CEO of Pyxis Mobile. Philippe and Steve will be discussing how mobility enables business agility as well as the critical features to a successful enterprise mobility strategy. Sign up now to reserve your spot!

Do you think that Apple will have a “but wait…” moment at WWDC this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!

Ameriprise Launches a Free Financial App for Customers

  Congratulations to Ameriprise on their new consumer facing app! Check out the video to learn more:

Interested in building mobile apps for your customers? Learn how Pyxis Mobile's mobile application studio can make the difference in an upcoming App Studio demo webinar!

Tablets: The Key to Field Service Productivity

According to a recent survey by CIO Magazine, IT leaders see a few reasons to invest in mobile initiatives. 87% cite productivity advantages, 86% cite improving customer service and support, and 84% cite the need for real-time information. Office workers enjoy using tablets to take notes in meetings, access critical corporate data and practice Angry Birds during lunch, but enterprises are also seeing great value in deploying tablets to workers who are always on the move.

Field service representatives are the face of your company and maintain an important relationship with your customers. By deploying tablets to field service reps, enterprises can be sure that their employees are responsive and on top of their work throughout the day. Field service reps that are equipped with tablets and specialized apps are able to access real-time CRM, equipment and service data, allowing them to reach peak productivity by eliminating needless trips and phone calls trying to track down information.

Choosing to supply your field service reps with tablets is just step one. The real value of your mobile initiative lies in your ability to build applications that are specialized for your team. But, mobile application development can be labor-intensive and time-consuming if you don’t choose the right tools. Consider using a mobile application development platform to build apps without code generation. Mobile application development platforms enable users to build native apps that run on multiple device types while also allowing you to optimize the app for each one. So even if all of your employees don’t have tablets, you can give them the access they want by optimizing the app for smartphones. If you are interested in learning more about mobile application development platforms, attend an upcoming webinar hosted by Pyxis Mobile.

Consider a few of the advantages of equipping your field service reps with tablets:

• Connectivity to enterprise systems enables access to important company assets in real-time, ensuring that they can answer any question that comes their way accurately and promptly without having to log on to a computer or call the office.
• Save money and trees by eliminating the use of paper forms by replacing them with mobile forms that adhere to SLA compliance. Your employees will make fewer errors if they are given drop-down options when filling in a report, and you won’t need a handwriting specialist to decipher what they have scribbled down.
• Tablets make it simple to communicate with different departments, inspiring collaboration in problem solving and idea generation.
• Mobile inventory management simplifies this critical business process by enabling employees to track what is in stock and what is in transit, and allows for employees to access data in real-time.
• Encourage more onsite sales by displaying compelling product information and enabling mobile transactions. With the right application, your employees can also capture signatures, making sure to seal the deal.
• Keep employees honest and make sure that everyone is being efficient with their time. With a tablet and a customized app, you can be sure that your employees are staying organized and keeping track of work orders throughout the day.
• Native applications that utilize the GPS technology embedded into tablets enables your employees to know what the best route to each destination is, making sure that they don’t waste any time on the road.

Has your company invested in tablets? Leave a comment and let us know how your thoughts on how tablets are changing the way we do business.

How would you use a tablet for work?
	Read and compose emails
	Take notes in meetings
	Access enterprise systems (i.e. CRM, BI, time/expense)
	View reports
	Give presentations and show slides
	Play games
	Use e-forms to reduce paperwork
Results

Final Round of the Tablet Playoffs: iPad 2 vs. Galaxy Tab 10.1

Welcome to Round 3 of Pyxis Mobile’s Tablet Playoffs. In this three part blog series we will be putting the most talked about tablets up against each other to find out which one holds the most value for enterprise users.

Bloggers and analysts were quick to name 2011 “The Year of the Tablet”, but so far it’s really been “The Year of the iPad”. In the final round of the Tablet Playoffs are Apple’s iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In the weeks since our Tablet Playoffs blog series has progressed, more information has come to light about Samsung’s next release to the market, the Galaxy Tab 10.1. A few of our developers were at Google’s I/O conference last week and were lucky enough to come back to Boston with special edition Galaxy Tabs. To keep our review as current as possible, this comparison will focus on the 10.1, which has been regarded as the first real competition to the iPad 2 and is expected for release to the general market in early June. Does Samsung’s soon to be released Galaxy Tab 10.1 have what it takes to win more enterprise users than the iPad in the second half of the year?

Now, on to the finals…

iPad 2 vs. Galaxy

Apple and Samsung have been hard at work this season building and marketing tablets that live up to high expectations from tablet hungry end-users. Both companies have had the opportunity to learn from the successes and shortcomings of their first tablet devices and come into the finals with a new take on the game. The iPad 2 has taken the world by storm, scoring more sales than any other entrant and gaining a reputation as an agile device that can handle many tasks. Competitors watched Apple’s every move carefully, and from the looks of it Samsung took a few cues from the reigning champ when they redesigned the Galaxy Tab. Both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the iPad 2 are equipped with front and rear facing cameras which enable video conferencing and have batteries capable of powering through an entire workday. The Galaxy Tab weighs in slightly less than the iPad 2 thanks to a plastic backing, and is more comfortable to hold, which is important to users who will be carrying it around all day. But the plastic backing feels less durable than the aluminum shell on the iPad, and enterprises want devices that will stand the test of time. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 10.1 inch screen, which is a little bigger than the iPad 2’s 9.7 inch display.

While it is important to be athletic and strong on the basketball court, it is crucial to have a good understanding of the game and to play smart. Basketball legend Michael Jordan once said, “talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” The same principle applies to the tablet industry. It isn’t just about hardware and features when deciding which device is the best. The operating system, app offerings and brand perception also weigh heavily on which tablet buyers will choose. The iPad 2 runs Apple’s iOS operating system, which has been fine-tuned and optimized for iPad. The iOS interface is intuitive and familiar, but unfortunately we can’t say the same thing about Android’s Honeycomb, which the Galaxy Tab runs on. While it may take users a little longer to get the hang of using Honeycomb, it has a sleek interface and the widgets and multitasking features give iOS a run for its money. Honeycomb shows the power of Android, but it’s not at the same level of maturity as iOS. Enterprises have high standards for the technology they implement, and we’re not sure that Honeycomb is ready just yet.

A main concern for enterprise IT departments is security; a recent study by Infonetics predicts that mobile security software sales will grow 50% on an annual basis through 2014 to become a $2 billion business. Mobile security is a huge concern, and is a deciding factor for many enterprises. Both the Galaxy Tab and the iPad are capable of working over a VPN and support Microsoft Exchange. But, Honeycomb doesn’t have the same depth of security as iOS, and isn’t at the point where enterprises can take full control. While Google will continue to work on solutions to increase the level of security, iOS is currently setting the standard.

When it comes to app offerings, the iPad 2 takes the cake. Apple’s App Store has more than 65,000 apps optimized for iPad. While the Android Market has hundreds of thousands of apps, very few have been optimized for tablets and there is no easy way to find them. There are so many different Android-based devices on the market that it has become a nuisance for developers to build apps that are optimized for each device.  The Android app issues will hopefully be alleviated with the release of Ice Cream Sandwich in the fourth quarter of 2011, but until then Apple’s App Store puts the Android Market to shame.

A Forrester Research analyst recently interviewed in TechNewsDaily summed it up; "A successful Android tablet would need to undercut the iPad on price and deliver the same or better hardware and software experience. Doesn’t sound like rocket science, but we haven’t seen it yet." Until this happens, the iPad will continue to dominate both the consumer and enterprise markets. According to Fierce Mobile IT blogger Lynnette Luna, 99.8% of business tablet customers are using iPads, and our prediction is that enterprises will continue to choose iPads for the remainder of 2011. Miami Heat president and former NBA player and coach Pat Riley once said, “It’s what you get from games you lose that is extremely important.” The Galaxy Tab 10.1 gave the iPad 2 a run for its money, but it doesn’t have what it takes to take the top spot just yet. While Samsung has constructed a beautiful device with similar computational abilities as the iPad 2, it needs a more developed OS to win the majority of enterprise users.

Results from our Facebook Poll:

What tablet is best for use in the enterprise?

Do you agree? Leave a comment and let us know what tablet you think should have won!

 

Tablet Playoffs- Round 2

Welcome to Round 2 of Pyxis Mobile’s Tablet Playoffs. In this three part blog series we will be putting the most talked about tablets up against each other to find out which one holds the most value for enterprise users.

Welcome to the semi-finals! Those of us following the NBA playoffs have seen teams and individual players lay it all out on the court as they fight for the championship trophy and bragging rights. As a Boston-based company, we are crushed that the Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the semi-finals! But, as we all know, in basketball there is only one trophy and just one team gets to take home the glory, raising the stakes and keeping the competition exciting. In enterprise mobility, there can be more than one winner. In comparing some of the most popular tablets, we set out to find which one is best for enterprise users who want to improve their productivity at work, and also stay entertained while at home. While we continue putting tablets up against one another to find out how they measure up, the truth is that your employees are going to be bringing an array of their own mobile devices into the office and will want to be using them to do their work. Read on to find out how to take advantage of device proliferation and the so-called “consumerisation” of IT after the faceoff between the tablets is complete.

Let’s get the semi-finals started…

iPad 2 vs. PlayBook

In the first match up of the semi-finals is RIM’s PlayBook against Apple’s iPad 2. Both companies are big players in the mobile market and both products are quite impressive. The PlayBook will initially find a home in enterprises that are utilizing BlackBerrys, but RIM missed out on the opportunity to attract new customers by rushing the PlayBook to market without native PIM (i.e. calendar, contacts, tasks and email) at launch. For people who love their BlackBerry and have no intention of working without it, the PlayBook looks like a great option. But for those who don’t have a BlackBerry (or have a BlackBerry through AT&T), the PlayBook lacks the features necessary to make it a self-sufficient business tool. While the PlayBook is almost there, it doesn’t have what it takes to take it all. A common adage in basketball is that “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and RIM missed a lot of shots by not offering native PIM apps at release. While RIM made some rookie mistakes with their tablet release, Apple came into the game with veteran knowledge. They made evolutionary hardware modifications by slimming it down to 1.33 pounds and adding on front and back facing cameras that a lot of users complained were missing on the original iPad. To keep up with the competition, RIM recently announced at their BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, Florida that users can expect native PIM apps for the PlayBook this summer. We have high hopes for next year’s team. The hardware is good, but the native software and lack of apps keep the PlayBook from scoring a lot of users.  The iPad 2 is self-sufficient and equipped to play any position it needs to without depending on another device for the full experience. For this reason, the iPad 2 moves on to the finals and the PlayBook lands in 3^rd place.

 

iPad vs. Galaxy

The next two teams in the spotlight are the defending champ, Apple’s original iPad, and the first Android based tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The original iPad went unchallenged in its first season and quickly won over millions of fans. But, its hardware and software have since been surpassed, and like the aging Lakers it doesn’t have enough momentum to carry it through to the finals. The main pitfalls of the iPad are that it lacks cameras and is a little heftier than its younger sibling, the iPad 2. The Galaxy Tab features a micro SD slot allowing users to add an additional 32GB of storage, which is key for storing content heavy multi-media presentations. Samsung also gets points for its investment in enterprise software solutions, including a partnership with Pyxis Mobile to provide enterprise-grade mobile applications for the Galaxy Tab. Perhaps the most valuable part of the Galaxy Tab is the operating system it runs on. The upcoming versions of the Galaxy Tab, expected for release this summer, will be running on Google’s Android Honeycomb OS. The Android OS platform has grown immensely over the past year, and it will continue to do so. Since the Galaxy Tab is running on Android OS, you know that it will continue to stay relevant and hold its value. Additionally, the popularity of the platform means that you can count on developers to keep building apps that the Galaxy Tab can run. Hoping to inspire ingenuity, Google gave all the attendees of their I/O developer conference their very own Galaxy Tab 10.1. Looking ahead, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will be more valuable than an iPad. The Galaxy moves on to the finals to take on the iPad 2.

The “Consumerisation” of IT

After taking a look at all of these popular tablets that are hitting the market, it is important to consider a growing trend that is affecting the enterprise: the consumerisation of IT. It used to be that employees had access to the most advanced technology when they went to work, but that is no longer true. Nowadays, consumers are buying the most advanced smartphones and tablets for use at home and then realizing their potential to make their lives easier at work. This transition, dubbed “The Consumerisation of IT”, holds incredible potential for both enterprises and employees. First came smartphones, with employees bringing in iPhones and Android devices that were more fun than the BlackBerrys they were given to use for work. Now, employees want support for their tablets. Tablets were first adopted by users as “media devices” and most people thought that they would be used predominantly for consuming rather than creating, likening them to extra large smartphones. But, this theory has quickly been disproven and tablets are being used for all sorts of business processes.

One of the catalysts for the consumerisation of highly technical devices has been an industry makeover, inspired by Apple and their madly popular array of devices. In the past, computers and gadgets seemed complicated to non-technical users who didn’t understand how they worked, but the UI of the iPhone and iPad are simple to use and are incredibly intuitive, with many users learning new features, tricks, and uses over time. Now consumers expect smartphones and tablets, as well as the applications that they run, to be simple and user-friendly. The consumerisation of IT has not happened as a result of users having a better understanding of technology, but of technology having a better understanding of its users. So how are you going to best take advantage of this newly developed mobile market? Let your employees use the smartphones and tablets they already own by building them customized apps! As the app market has grown, it has become more competitive and users will only pay attention to apps that are well-designed and solidly built, complicating your entrance into the app-mosphere.

Companies should take advantage of the consumerisation of IT by developing mobile apps that connect to their critical enterprise systems, allowing employees to utilize their own smartphones and tablets to carry out the company’s daily business processes while on the go. While the flood of new devices showing up around the office has made managing sensitive company information a difficult task for IT departments, solutions exist which simplify the process of mobilizing enterprise systems, regardless of what devices employees want to use. Mobile application development platforms are frameworks that allow you to build apps without actually generating code. The most valuable platforms produce apps for multiple operating systems at once, allowing you to create one app that runs on iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices. But, supporting all of the device types is just step one. Your employees don’t just want any old app, they want an app that is well designed and easy to use. Enterprise apps mean business, but that doesn’t mean they should be boring or complicated. The success of your app is equally dependent on the technical aspects that users don’t understand as it is on the design, experience, and features that they see and feel.

The importance of a user-centric design should not be ignored. Instead of solely focusing on what you want your app to do while building it, you should be considering who will be using it. This means building native applications that feel natural and intuitive on each device type, so the BlackBerry version of your app accounts for a smaller screen size while the tablet version of your app takes advantage of the larger real estate. It means finding a way to give your employees access to the information they need without giving them too many options, like overwhelming them with 100 data fields on a smartphone screen.

To learn more about building user-centric apps, sign up here for a thought-provoking webinar featuring a case study on a leading biotech manufacturer, presented by Mark Lowenstein, Managing Director of Mobile Ecosystem and Steven Levy, CEO of Pyxis Mobile.

Tablet Playoffs- Round 1

Welcome to Round 1 of Pyxis Mobile’s Tablet Playoffs. In this three part blog series we will be putting the most talked about tablets up against each other to find out which one holds the most value for enterprise users.

Back when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson dominated the NBA, businesspeople utilized pagers, PDAs and the original Microsoft Windows to stay in touch with contacts and complete various business tasks. But more than just the length of basketball shorts has changed since then. Gone are the days of car phones, rolodexes and Michael Jordan. Efficient business people are still demanding the most advanced and capable enterprise electronics, but now it’s Kobe Bryant against Kevin Garnett and everyone wants a tablet. As competition in the NBA heats up and contenders work out the kinks and pull out secret plays in hopes of taking home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy this spring, enterprises are busy equipping their key players with this year’s hot new business tool, the tablet. Tablets are lightweight and portable, and have overwhelmingly been accepted into every level of the enterprise. In fact, 75% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying tablets (ahem, iPads) to their workforce.

Tablets have replaced menus at restaurants, show off PowerPoint presentations in meetings, complete CRM and BI management processes on the sales floor, generate forms and compose emails on-the-go, diagnose patients and mobilize EMR systems, and help consumers find the products they want in stores. Their usefulness has been proven in every industry, and employees are eager to integrate tablets into their daily lives.  

At first only one tablet team came to play, Apple’s iPad, a revolutionary device that “changed everything” and has sold more than 19 million units worldwide. The iPad certainly brought the heat in its debut season, but it is no longer hanging out at the courts alone. A few viable competitors have laced up their kicks and are keen on winning enterprise-user market share from Apple. Tablet manufacturers have been hard at work since last year figuring out their game plan, reviewing tapes to avoid making mistakes, and largely trying to learn from Apple’s success. With so many competitors showing up to play, it will be an intense competition for market share this year. Users expect a visually pleasing and technically capable product, equipped with all-star apps and hardware they can count on that will carry them through overtime without needing to be recharged. Any tablet that wants to compete is going to have to pull out all of the stops to win over today’s demanding enterprise users.

In basketball, the best teams boast a combination of brains and brawl. They are athletic and domineering in the paint, but also play smart and run the right plays enabling them to sink baskets and win games. Like the champion basketball team, the victorious tablet will need to be fast, consistent, and effective in order to stay in the game, but they’ll need a lot more than that to take home the championship trophy. They’ll also need sturdy and dependable hardware that can handle a full day’s work, a capable OS that is optimized for tablets and should come equipped with plenty of native apps that can be called on to complete a wide range of business tasks to make your employees the most efficient players in the market.

Let the tablet playoffs begin…

Vote for your favorite tablet on Facebook! (and like our page while you're there!)

Round 1:

iPad vs. Slate

The original iPad defined the tablet industry, setting the bar high with a sleek UI, intuitive layout and abundant app store. In its first month on sale, the iPad sold close to 1 million units. Last year’s champ faces the HP Slate 500 in the first round of the playoffs. The Slate is positioned towards professionals who need to “stay productive in a secure, familiar Windows environment”. The tablet/PC crossover device runs Windows 7, so any application that works on a PC will work on the Slate. Both devices have screens that are worthy of showing presentations and nicely displaying charts, documents and graphics. The iPad has a battery life of 10 hours, which dwarfs the 5 hours of power that the Slate provides.  Busy professionals want a tablet that will entertain them during lunch, not one that needs to be hooked up to a power source before powering through an afternoon of meetings. HP’s entrant has a capacitive touch screen that also works with a stylus, a plus for users who want to be able to take notes by hand. But they didn’t include a place to keep the stylus when it’s not in use and the handwriting recognition software is in need of improvement. The Slate surpasses the iPad in video chatting, with front and rear facing cameras where the iPad has none. But even without cameras the iPad will win over app-hungry users with the 75,755 iPad apps available through Apple’s App Store, and buyers on a budget will like that Apple has knocked $100 off the original price since releasing the iPad 2. The iPad walks away with the W in this match up.

 

PlayBook vs. TouchPad

RIM’s first entry into the tablet game, the BlackBerry PlayBook, sold an impressive 45,000 units on its opening day. The PlayBook, which runs QNX (an OS that RIM bought last year), is targeted towards both consumers and enterprises, but its strengths will be put to best use by the latter. The PlayBook is up against the HP TouchPad in Round 1. The TouchPad, which runs Linux-based webOS, has similar features to the PlayBook and is ready to be used for work or play. Rumor has it the TouchPad will go on sale this summer. Both tablets have tethering-like features that utilize a Bluetooth connection to sync email, contacts and calendar info from corresponding smartphones to their partner tablets (i.e. a BlackBerry to a PlayBook or Palm Pre to a TouchPad). The PlayBook’s version, the BlackBerry Bridge, wipes all emails and other data from the tablet once the connection is broken; a win for your IT department because they won’t be worrying about securing data on yet another device. The TouchPad claims to be enterprise-ready with the ability to work over a VPN and is enabled to run QuickOffice, Google Docs, Dropbox and Box.net. The TouchPad looks like it is going to be a capable tablet and has features which will provide value to many enterprises. But, there are too many unknowns (battery life, price, data contract obligations) and with such a late release date it won’t make it to the game on time. The PlayBook therefore wins by default and moves on to the next round.

 

Galaxy vs. Streak

Samsung entered the tablet game with the 7 inch Galaxy Tab, which sold over 600,000 units in its first month on sale. Inspired by the iPad 2, Samsung has also announced  thinner, 10.1 and 8.9 inch Galaxy Tabs to be released this summer. The Galaxy Tab is up against the Dell Streak, available in 5 and 7 inch screen versions. The launch of the Streak 5 was characterized by misinformation from Dell which created consumer confusion, and while Dell hasn’t disclosed their sales figures, we can imagine that they aren’t very high. The 7 inch Galaxy Tab is targeted towards users who want a “compact communication and entertainment device” and features front and rear facing cameras for video chatting. The Galaxy Tab runs Android’s Honeycomb OS and comes with access to the Android Market app store. Samsung gets extra points for TouchWiz UX, a customized layer on top of Honeycomb which allows you to resize widgets and reskins various applications such as email. The Streak runs Android 2.2 a.k.a. Froyo, an OS optimized for smartphones, which is almost fitting because the 5 inch version fits easily into a pocket and feels more like a big smartphone than a true tablet. According to Engadget’s review, the Streak 7 was only able to run for 3 hours and 26 minutes. It seems like Dell half-heartedly entered the tablet market, releasing a weirdly sized product with an outdated OS. In basketball coaches often tell their players to “be quick but don’t hurry”. Dell hurried. The Galaxy Tab easily moves on to the next round.

 

iPad 2 vs. Xoom

Apple continued to impress with their next release to the tablet market without mixing it up too much. In its debut weekend, consumers flocked to the Apple Store buying more than one million iPad 2s. The most noticeable adaptations to the hardware are that it slimmed down to 1.33 pounds from 1.5 and they added on rear and front-facing cameras to enable FaceTime video chatting. They also designed an innovative game-ready new uniform called the “smart cover” which wipes away those pesky fingerprints that drive touch screen users crazy, and doubles as a stand when you don’t want to hold it any more. The iPad 2 takes on the Motorola Xoom in the first round of tablet playoffs. The Xoom was the first tablet to be released running Android 3.0 a.k.a. Honeycomb, an operating system designed for tablets. The Xoom’s native browser is a tablet version of Chrome that feels and functions like the desktop version, letting you open as many tabs as your heart desires. The Xoom is almost a great tablet, but awkwardly positioned volume and power controls, and software that one blogger claims feels like it is still in beta give the iPad 2 an advantage. It’s a close game between the Xoom and the iPad 2, and it’s hard to say that enterprises will be disappointed in either. In its first month on sale, 100,000 Xoom devices were sold...impressive, but not as impressive as the one million iPad 2s sold in its first weekend. The iPad 2 moves on to the next round.

 

Tablet and smartphone proliferation probably has your IT manager’s head spinning. How are they going to be able to support and maintain so many different products? The market is evolving at a rapid pace, and although the iPad has enjoyed it’s time at the top, new tablets and devices are constantly getting introduced. Businesses need to be prepared for a perpetually evolving market by choosing agile solutions that they can count on to be one step ahead. Your employees want the best hardware, and they deserve the best software to go with it. Is it possible for your company to maintain software for all of the leading device types? Yes. Check out our recorded webcast featuring Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone, "3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM on Smartphones, iPads, and Tablets" to find out how to simplify your mobile initiatives by choosing the right development platform.

 

Do you agree with our predictions? Vote for your pick on Facebook and let us know what tablet you think should win!

Marathon Monday: Miles to Mobility

Each Patriot’s Day, Boston welcomes thousands of the world’s most talented and practiced long-distance runners to participate in the Boston Marathon, a 26.2 mile journey over the hills and through the woods of Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline to the streets of Boston and the finish line at Copley Square.

As this year’s hopefuls pounded the pavement and conquered “Heartbreak Hill”, Pyxis Mobile tweeted the “26 Miles of Mobility”; 26 facts you should know about enterprise mobility, one for each mile of the historic race. Check out all of tweets by searching #mobility26 on Twitter and be sure to follow @PyxisMobile if you haven't already!

1. 80% of Fortune 500 companies have deployed or are deploying the iPad to their workforce http://clicky.me/5009
2. Enterprise mobility best practice: Know the objectives and expectations of your mobile initiative before you start building
3. Enterprise mobility best practice: Use mobile apps to reach employees, customers and value and supply chain partners
4. Enterprise mobility best practice: Consider which features and functionality your users will expect
5. Enterprise mobility best practice: Decide which device types, capabilities and hardware you need to enable
6. Enterprise mobility best practice: Before you start building, think about how many applications you need
7. Enterprise mobility best practice: Do a needs assessment before you build to find out which back-end systems your users need
8. Mobile application platforms give you the power to build an app without writing code or contracting programmers
9. 1 in 5 smartphones will have NFC by 2014 http://clicky.me/501Q
10. Gartner predicts that Apple will dominate the tablet market through 2015 http://clicky.me/50iO
11. Enterprise mobility best practice: Consider which business activities and processes mobility could make faster & more efficient
12. Enterprise mobility best practice: Have a strategic implementation plan with policies & procedures for your entire company
13. Enterprise mobility best practice: Expect and prepare for continued OS and device proliferation
14. Enterprise mobility best practice: Check out how your competitors and companies in other industries are using mobility
15. Major trends in enterprise mobility: consumerisation, cloud computing, tablets & mobile collaboration  http://clicky.me/501q
16. Enterprise mobility best practice: The ROI of your mobility program rests on your investment in the right tools
17. Enterprise mobility best practice: Implement authentication, encryption, authorization, audit trails and anti-theft measures
18. Smartphone market share breakdown: Android 38.5%, iPhone 19.4%, BlackBerry 11.1% http://clicky.me/500B
19. Enterprise mobility best practice: Incorporate productivity management systems into your application
20. Enterprise mobility best practice: Prepare for the union of fixed & mobile communication by transitioning to an IP network
21. “The use of apps will become an integral part of the workflow and as a result will facilitate better collaboration.” http://clicky.me/50gf
22. Equipped with the right mobility tools, employees can work productively from virtually anywhere
23. Enterprise mobility best practice: Provide cross-platform support so that Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone users have access
24. Enterprise mobility best practice: Use an app platform to build apps in a matter of weeks rather than months
25. Enterprise mobility best practice: Leverage a tool that allows you to use your current resources to build an app
26. Enterprise mobility best practice: Consider the cost of building and continuously updating an app without using a platform 

Do you have any questions or is there something we missed? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

A recap of Collaborate 11

Collaborate 11, the Technology and Applications Forum for the Oracle Community is organized by three major user groups: IOUG, OAUG and Quest. The event took place this week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. It was an exciting showcase of how companies from across industries are utilizing Oracle Applications and integrating new technology into various business processes. There were also free massages, plenty of promotional plunder and an escapade at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park to make sure that no one was working too hard while in Orlando.

After a successful few days showcasing our app platform’s capabilities, giving demos, attending info sessions and riding roller coasters, we headed back up north having learned a few things:

All the cool kids have an iPad

Attendees from many different industries reported that the iPad has become a common sight in the office and out in the field. Executives and employees at all levels are using iPads for a variety of business tasks; in meetings to take notes, to FaceTime or Skype with colleagues and partners, to check email or social media accounts, to access CRM and other critical sales information, and to play Angry Birds, of course.

“Twitter works!”

The advent of social media has changed the way we communicate and more and more people count on Twitter to be “the grapevine” from which they receive their news. Collaborate 11 was represented by the hashtag #C11 and username @COLLAB_OUAG on Twitter, allowing attendees and exhibitors to communicate and share information quickly and easily, enabled by the widespread use of mobile devices. We used Twitter to let everyone know what was going on at our booth, publicize our survey, and let people know about a drawing we held for an iPad 2. To our delight, a steady stream of people came over to booth 1149 saying that they “saw on Twitter” they could win an iPad or snag a t-shirt. Cool!

Everyone wants to go mobile

There were people from every industry imaginable at Collaborate 11, and we discovered that just about everyone wants an app to call their own. We stayed busy giving demos of CRM, field service, and higher education applications built on our platform to representatives from dairy cooperative Darigold, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Georgia State University, the city of Detroit, the Calgary Board of Education, Wawanesa Insurance and Party City, to name a few. We met people from all over the United States, Iceland, Trinidad and Tobago and countless other places in between, and everyone was excited to learn more about our mobile app platform.

People want to build their own apps

After talking to an array of people from different industries, we were pleased to find that the platform approach to building apps is extremely well received. Instead of hiring highly skilled programmers or relying on another company to build an app for you, app platforms like ours allow you to utilize your current resources to quickly build apps without having to code. And when you're ready to tackle version two, our platform makes it easy to update your app with no code recompilation, generation or regression testing!

For those of you who stopped by our booth and would like a more in-depth demo of our platform, register now for a webinar to learn how to mobilize your Oracle systems and software quickly, easily and cost effectively!

 Collaborate 11 was a great time and we can’t wait for Collaborate 12!

 

What Angry Birds Can Teach Us About Enterprise Mobility

Not many would expect an animated game about disgruntled birds retaliating against malevolent pigs to go viral the way that Angry Birds has. Captivating the thumbs of every demographic, from four-year olds playing on mommy’s phone, to CEOs pretending to pay attention in meetings and college kids bored in class, Rovio Mobile has managed to claim the number one spot in the App Store for most paid downloads in 67 different countries. What is it about the simple game that keeps us coming back for more, bringing in 40 million active users, playing for 200 million minutes each day?  With frequent re-releases, an interesting and interactive user interface and cross platform support, Rovio Mobile clearly knows a thing or two about implementing successful mobile solutions. But, after careful analysis (aka mindless play through multiple seasons, levels, and versions), I realized that these angry birds and evil pigs might have a thing or two to teach us about enterprise mobility.

1. Preparation is key: set goals and consider which tools to implement

In Angry Birds, the goal is to kill all the pigs using the given birds. It is important to consider the best way to do this before wasting ammunition by sending birds off all over the place without a specific target. It is equally important to consider your objectives when initially deploying a mobile application. Think about your mobility targets: Who is going to build the app? How much are you going to spend? Which back-end systems do you want to integrate with? How are you going to support all of the smartphone and tablet platforms your employees use? Before you pull back the bird, make sure you know what to aim for.

2. Launching: utilize your current skill set

Now that you know what to shoot for, decide the best way to deploy and succinctly conquer each level using as few of the given birds as possible.  In enterprise mobility it is equally important to utilize your current resources when trying to reach your mobile initiatives. We learned last week that you don’t have to hire a team of programmers to build apps. Instead, enterprises should use an agile mobile app development platform to build native apps that require no code generation or recompilation and minimal regression testing. You get 3 stars on a level when you use the least amount of birds possible and each remaining bird is worth a valuable 10,000 extra points. Build a 3 star quality app by optimizing your resources with a tool that you can count on to adapt to a perpetually evolving market so that you can focus on what’s really important... finding golden eggs and killing pigs.

3. Leverage your resources: give functionality for individual users

Each bird-type has a different talent: blue birds multiply, yellow birds are speedy, black birds explode, and so on. We quickly learn to take advantage of each bird’s special abilities to work our way through more difficult levels. For example, don’t send a blue bird into a concrete wall it won’t be able to penetrate; instead leverage the blue birds’ ability to burst through blocks of ice. This principle also applies to an organization; each employee has their own job function and a company is most successful when each person’s talents are put to best use. A company needs a mobile platform that’s agile enough to optimize apps for variety of users. Your IT department has strict security requirements, your sales team needs authentication and authorization to access CRM data on-the-go and your marketing department wants a rich, dynamic and native UI. Use an app development platform that gives you the dexterity to implement all of the features your employees want to keep them from turning into angry birds.

4. Overcome obstacles by working smarter, not harder

While the birds are concerned with penetrating a stone wall to destroy a pig, enterprises are worried about building customized mobile apps that integrate with several back-end data sources. What at first seems unattainable soon becomes obvious… don’t aim the birds through the wall, shoot them up and over. Instead of reinventing the wheel by building a mobile app from the ground up and re-writing back-end business logic in a mobile-friendly way, choose a mobile platform that will allow you to leverage existing business rules and workflow. Don’t waste resources incorporating native device functionality once per platform (e.g., write code for GPS and camera integration against the BlackBerry API, then the Apple API, then the Android API). Leverage a solution with technology which allows you to build your app once with support for multiple devices so that you don’t have to worry about the specifics of how GPS coordinates are obtained on an iPhone vs. the Incredible vs. a BB Torch.

5. Levels increase in sophistication: scale your mobility

Angry Birds starts out simple and increases in complexity and difficulty with each level, requiring us to come up with innovative ways to destroy structures and assassinate pigs. We start out with just red birds, but as the game progresses, we meet new ones like the bulldozing bigger red bird, the bomb-dropping white bird and the boomeranging green bird.  This is a great model for enterprise mobility to follow; companies should initially start off small and expand their mobile offerings over time. In a traditional coding approach, companies spend so much time gathering requirements, building and testing that by the time the app actually gets out in the field, close to 8 months later, there are new devices in the market and new requirements from the users. With an agile platform you can get an app out there much faster and still have time to incorporate feedback from the users on an on-going basis. You are productive from day one, and the end result is an app with 3-4 improvement iterations over the course of the same 8 months that it took to roll out the first app (possibly on just 1 platform) in the traditional coding approach.

Interested in learning more about enterprise mobility? Play a few levels of Angry Birds or sign up for an upcoming webinar to find how our angry birds can help you reach all of your mobile initiatives. And if you enjoyed reading this blog, vote for Pyxis Mobile to win a FTF News Technology Innovation Award for Effective Use of Social Media!

Beware of Mobile Myths! The Top 5 Mobility Misconceptions

Even though April Fool’s Day only comes once a year, there are certain mobility myths that stick around all year long. Don’t be fooled by them - on April 1st, or on any other day of the year!

Mobile devices and operating systems have evolved rapidly over the past few years, giving companies the opportunity to mobilize their workforce and interact with consumers through a new channel. The bar has been set high for new apps and companies need to pick the best solution for achieving their mobile initiatives. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions about building mobile apps. But don’t you worry…I have compiled a list of the top five myths so you can rest assured that you are making all the right mobile moves.

1. You need an entire team of developers or need to hire outside developers to build a native app.…FALSE

It’s true that writing out the code for an application for each OS is a labor-intensive endeavor which requires highly skilled and specialized programmers. But companies that attempt to custom code native apps for multiple device types and operating systems one at a time are wasting both money and human resources. They should instead look to a solution that doesn’t require any coding or new hires. Smart companies will choose a MEAP- a mobile enterprise application platform. MEAPs enable people who don’t know code to build one app that runs natively on multiple operating systems. Instead of a team of developers, your current IT staff can build applications on a MEAP using their current skill set.

2. If you want cross-platform support, you need to build an app for each platform….FALSE

The “configure once, run anywhere” strategy associated with using a MEAP is cost-effective and reduces the amount of manpower needed to build cross-platform native apps to just one person. Building apps from scratch for each OS is a major project, and even the most talented programmers would need a few months to complete each application. In contrast, those who use an application platform to build apps can actually build and deploy apps for each platform in 2-10 weeks depending on the complexity.

3. Web-based apps provide the same user experience as native apps….FALSE

Some people think that HTML5 is a magic bullet because of its ability to display universally across OS and device types. While HTML5 is an important new technology that will serve as an important tool in the proverbial toolkit, its ability to support native capabilities is thin. Aside from HTML5, mobile optimized websites and other web-based applications fall far short. Instead of the customized and intuitive user experience we have come to expect from native applications, web-based apps produce a one-size-fits-all interface that lacks integration with native features like GPS, accelerometer and camera, and they can’t fully function without a live connection to the data network because they can't store information offline. Make sure your MEAP enables offline data storage and allows you to develop intuitive, rich native apps that integrate with the device OS and hardware.

4. Once you build an app, it can’t be changed….FALSE

When a company commits to building native apps for each OS one-by-one, they are diving headfirst into  a long-term relationship with each app. Minor changes to the app will now require major recoding, and they’ll have to resubmit the app to the App Store. However, certain MEAPs have the ability to make real time changes without recoding, code generation, recompilation, regression testing, or resubmission to the App Store. The agility associated with such solutions is essential to companies who aim to grow and evolve, allowing them to add new features and tweaks that keep users involved and satisfied.

5. If you want to build an app for your company, you need to pay per app and per user….FALSE

Find a MEAP provider that has a pricing model that scales with your mobility needs. That will enable you to build as many mobile applications as you need at an affordable cost. Rather than paying per app or per user, the platform price should align with the number of CPUs you need to run those apps. That way, the cost of your platform is proportional to the size of your mobile operations, i.e. how many apps you've built, how heavy they are, and how many people are using them. Building cross-platform apps shouldn’t cost a fortune, and now it doesn’t have to.

So, to recap:

1. Designating a team of developers to code apps is expensive, time-consuming and pointless - take a platform approach instead.
2. You don’t need to code apps for each OS to have cross-platform support - that functionality is built into your MEAP.
3. You should only build a web-based app if native capabilities aren't important (GPS, gestures, accelerometer, offline data storage, etc.) and if a one-size-fits-all approach is sufficient.
4. Build small, update often and deploy in real time with a MEAP that supports real time editing
5. Keep cost under control and only pay for what you're using by choosing a MEAP that offers a CPU-based pricing model

Still have questions about mobility? Sign up for our next monthly Application Platform Demo to learn how our solution can help you achieve your mobile initiatives.