7 cool things about CommonTime mDesign Enterprise Mobility Software

1. mDesign is Cross Platform meaning that it works on Android devices, iOS Devices, Windows Phone 7 devices, Blackberry Devices etc.
2. mDesign is already being used by some of the world’s largest organisations and is now available for organisations of all sizes along with ISV’s for their customers.
3. mDesign uses a drag and drop, zero code (unless you want to) development interface to create fully functioning and integrated mobile applications; faster and easier than traditional development methods.
4. mDesign uses HTML5 the latest standard in HTML coding. Favoured by Microsoft, Apple and Google for wider accessibility and compatibility both now and in the future.
5. mDesign is the latest mobile innovation from CommonTime who have been developing mobile solutions since 1993!
6. mDesign applications are fully compatible with Notify MDM for sophisticated device management including, remote locking if a device is lost along with remote tracking of devices.
7. mDesign Applications make use of even the most sophisticated device hardware, including accelerometers, cameras for capture via barcode or imagery and signature capture via touch screens.

For more information on CommonTime mDesign or Enterprise Mobility please see http://www.commontime.com/mdesign or email: info@commontime.com

However, not only are some of these devices quite antiquated and therefore quite cumbersome, they can also be rather expensive for their limited functionality.

We have recently undertaken a project for a customer to develop a more sophisticated and portable approach utilizing Android mobile devices and Bluetooth portable barcode scanners. These devices are much more portable and easy to use and they are also significantly less expensive to implement than traditional apparatus.

These miniature scanners send all of the scanned information to an application designed using CommonTime’s mDesign Studio, a suite to develop applications which run across all platforms. In this particular instance the customer’s preference was Android as that is what their infrastructure is based upon.

The application is used for Asset Management purposes such as inventorying the items or goods in/out processes. This means that this device becomes a much more useful piece of equipment. For example, the application can display real-time analysis of the process undertaken in different formats such as a table of results or a graph which can be accessed by tilting the device to change the format of display.

The inexpensive and compact barcode scanner can be utilized the same way as a traditional scanner gun but these devices are far smaller and the Android device can even be kept in a pocket while the scanner reads the barcodes. Therefore, the process overall helps to improve productivity as the devices themselves are far easier to carry and faster to use.

Enterprise mobility has previously attempted to utilize cameras built into the mobile phones themselves to solve these issues; however, this has proved problematic because of the placement, capabilities and speed of the cameras. Therefore a separate device specifically designed for this process is a better solution as they provide much more accurate results.

Moreover, because the scanners are wirelessly connected to fully functioning Android devices the asset management application does not need to be the only function of the Android device. The device can also install other applications for differing processes, for example sales applications or HR applications for vacation time etc. This means that the employee can perform multiple mobile processes from the single device. The advantages of this are then passed to the organization as they are not tied to any particular infrastructure. For example the current phenomenon of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) means that organizations may wish to allow individual employees to provide their own personal device of preference to perform their duties. Therefore the ability to deploy and manage these solutions across multiple platforms is paramount in the minds of process developers. This also allows organizations to be flexible in their mobility strategy. For example, while the organization may use iOS devices currently, however, they may wish to change to Android later, and with this approach the applications would not need to be redesigned.

Overall this project illustrates how mobile technology can provide new, novel approaches even to existing mobile processes. It is also opening up the technology to new markets and smaller organizations that previously may not have had the budget for an asset management system.

For More information on CommonTime’s Enterprise Mobility Solutions please visit: www.CommonTime.com

Alternatively please email: info@CommonTime.com

James Tomkinson

I read one of the best documents on Social Media in the Enterprise, today. The document from Salesforce provided the best analysis I have seen on why and how organisations should make use of Social Media.

I’m a massive supporter of Social Media within the Enterprise and have made successful use of it in all of the organisations I have previously worked for. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging, they all provide unique advantages to organisations.

There is, however, one aspect which has always bothered me: The metrics for evaluating success.

A quick search online reveals the fairly standard answer i.e. aiming for “X” number of followers, subscribers, comments etc. It’s always struck me that this is such an intangible, unspecific way of measuring success. And at a time where organisations are still cutting down on unnecessary expense, proving an actual return on Investment in this manner is quite difficult. Thankfully, one of the fundamental benefits of social media is that it is relatively inexpensive compared to traditional marketing techniques.

In no way do I think Social Media should be ignored, nor do I question its success, but I think that measuring it’s success is still in its infancy. I often think of the example of telling a 60 years plus, non digital CEO that you have managed to gain an additional 500 followers on Twitter as being quite apt. It’s about relevancy, I know I am regularly asked in response to such reporting “ok that’s great, but how much money has it made me, directly or indirectly?”

And it’s a fair question, one too many social media experts neglect in my opinion. Surely the next stage in the use of social media should be to see how it directly links to your bottom line, because certainly that’s what your financial director and senior management are going to want to know.

I now focus on leads directly attributed to social media as being more important than the number of followers, frankly because it’s unclear how many of those followers are actually relevant. I’d wager that any organisation looking at their followers on twitter will find a large proportion of them are not relevant in a purchasing sense.

This however neglects one of the key benefits of social media, the ability to go viral. If we focus purely on the ones that can turn into leads we neglect those which can potentially be useful for spreading your message. This simply adds to the quandary of how you measure success, or perhaps ultimately what you use Social Media for.

Most accept that using social media is a great way to increase sales and leads and therefore it seems like a waste to not focus on this as a metric for the business. The other option of using as purely a communication means is easier to measure as you can see how many have received your message but I would suggest this is unlikely to please those in charge of the purse strings. Much like PR it can be hard to justify expenditure and time spent on something that does not directly increase bottom line, especially in smaller companies.

So how do we measure Social Media success?

If Social Media is seen as an integral part of a sales strategy, then leads directly attributed to social media have to be recognised first and foremost in my opinion. There needs to be a focus on ensuring leads have a way of documenting how they heard about the organisation, whether that’s through online forms, telephone surveys or other means. It’s still useful to document followers etc and there are a number of ways of automating this which would always be advisable. However, I think there is still room for improvement if Social Media is to be successful long term.

I would encourage any business to invest in Social Media but for those championing its cause within organisations, I would certainly suggest that you get your house in order when describing how you are going to evaluate it’s success as a means of actually making money. Indeed I’ve only touched on some of the ways one can evaluate social media and for further reading I can personally recommend the following book:

“Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment” – By David Meerman Scott.

Moreover if anybody would like to check out the document by Salesforce, it can be found Here.

Thanks For Reading

James Tomkinson

As we discussed in the previous blog, 2011 was an impressive and significant year for Enterprise Mobility with organisations adopting Mobile Strategies like never before and with device capability and selection being at never before seen levels.

Some have even gone as far to suggest that it was the year that Enterprise Mobility came of age, and in truth it’s hard to argue with this theory when you look at the number of organisations adopting Enterprise mobility strategies and investing in mobile devices. We’ve seen  numerous reports of industries such as the Pharmaceutical industry stockpiling mobile devices and companies such as BA testing iPads for their Cabin Crew and Pilots.

So what for 2012 then? Simply more of the same?

Well, it seems to me that, there will obviously be more of the same but more excitingly, there will also be the natural evolutions of organisations strategy: from devices to Apps and device management.

Certainly many organisations will look towards Enterprise Mobility for the first time in 2012, but a great many who have already dipped into the mobile entity will be looking to further develop their strategies. This is likely to mean a greater emphasis on security which will lead to MDM (Mobile Device Management) becoming increasingly important, especially as organisations look to roll out a greater number of users and processes.

Most expect the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) issue to roll on as well, with more and more organisations looking to adopt it as policy. This will have a large impact upon the industry as it will mean that organisations will have to look at strategies which encompass cross platform applications and device management. Moreover, cross platform requirements may not be restricted only to device type, but to version type also, as organisations will have no control over the devices used and which version they are running etc. We will also be able to see how this effects device manufacturers with multiple versions of their own operating systems and software. For example will Google, seek to reduce the differentiation between their software versions?

Most crucially and probably the most interesting evolution is likely to be the focus on new Applications by organisations. As strategies develop and evolve, most organisations will look to further mobilise processes and this is where new and innovative Apps will become more commonplace. Organisations such as ourselves have been developing cross platform applications for a number of years and (I suspect most similar organisations would agree,) the demands on the apps’ capabilities are ever growing and ever more complex, meaning that app providers are constantly testing devices and applications to their fullest extent. App stores are springing up all over with developers preparing pre-designed applications, but from our experience it is the bespoke needs of organisations which most need addressing, (something that pre-packaged apps cannot always do.) Organisations will likely find that in 2012, applications need to be bespoke and developed far quicker to capitalise on diverse customer needs as it is expected that customer demands are likely to increase, both in volume and in complexity.

We are now at a stage where mobile devices have the processing power of modern computers and can perform tasks which are as complex as desktop processes. This again presents an opportunity for organisations to mobilse processes like never before and also an opportunity for developers to take advantage of those requirements.

2012 for CommonTime is looking set to be a big year. We have already had a great start with a large order from a huge international customer and we can’t wait to get started on more than meeting their requirements. Our solution has seen us awarded for our innovation in 2011 and we have developed a detailed strategy to offer it to partners and customers all across the world. We are growing our team to encompass new skills and are doubling our Marketing efforts to ensure that 2012 is another fantastic year for CommonTime and Enterprise Mobility…….. presuming the world doesn’t end of course.

Here’s to 2012!

The general consensus within the Enterprise Mobility industry is that 2011 was the year of the Mobile Device.

We have seen the mainstream publicity of the Bring Your Own device debate along with the recognition of both Apple and Google that they have an opportunity to target the Enterprise along with their more traditional consumer markets.

We have also seen HP decide to bail out of the Computing and Mobile Device Market (and then dive right back in…… unsurprisingly)

MDM (Mobile Device Management) has also dominated industry news with organisations seeking to remotely control multiple devices. This is especially true for those organisations who have recently implemented BYOD as it means that organisations have to manage multiple differing devices to the same standards. This goes to illustrate how organisations are generally looking to implement a strategy for Enterprise Mobility as against just giving staff mobile devices with no aim or objective.

2011 also saw the usual glut of new devices and technological partnerships such as new Android devices like the Galaxy S 2 and the re-imagined Motorola Razr, which has been supported by the acquisition of Motorola by Google.

These new devices have also seen an increase in the technological capabilities of mobile devices with improvements in processing power, scanning and camera resolutions, screen quality and memory sizes. All of these improvements have led to application developers being able to really take applications into the realms of wildest imagination for the first time, with new mobile applications being able to replicate virtually all business processess without the need for workers to return to base to transfer large amounts of data.

Aiding this process has been the strong emergence of HTML 5 which has enabled organisations to develop cross platform applications which are fully integrated in half the development time.

Which brings us nicely to 2012; and if 2011 was the year of the mobile device, 2012 is the year of the mobile application.

With standards for HTML 5 still two years away, organisations such as CommonTime will be seeking to get ahead of the game and develop new innovative applications which enable customers to mobilise their processes like never before. Moreover these organisations will be seeking to further reduce development times and to develop a portfolio of productised applications which can be implemented far quicker.

One would assume that as organisations have been developing an enterprise mobility strategy in 2011 along with purchasing mobile devices; in 2012 they will wish to further explore mobile applications and develop new mobile processes. The development of applications comes as organisations have now realised the benefits of mobile application development which is enabling them to mobilse more and more processes.

Overall it has certainly been an interesting and exciting year for Enterprise Mobility (and long may that continue into 2012 and beyond) and I’ll sign off for the year with Gartner’s little glimpse into the future of Enterprise Mobility:

“By 2015, mobile application development projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4-to-1, Gartner said, with smartphones and tablets represent more than 90% of the new net growth in device adoption in the next four years. In contrast, app development projects targeting PCs will be on par with mobile development this year, Gartner said. Future adoption will triple between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2014, Gartner said, and will result in the vast majority of client-side applications being mobile-only or mobile-first for these devices.”

On behalf of everyone here at CommonTime, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

ZD Net has reported this week that Google are dipping their toes into the MDM (Mobile Device Management) market with a new Goggle MDM for Google Apps. On paper this is certainly an interesting development from the California Giants. It follows recent news that RIM are set to also enter the MDM market.

Google’s offering is likely to cause a certain storm because of the name attached to it, however in reality how much is this likely to affect MDM organisations such as Notify or Sybase?

This solution is currently only designed for Google Apps for the enterprise which is limited in their capabilities themselves. Put simply the applications are not at the stage whereby they can compete with organisations that develop applications which are built around individual processes.

For organisations that do make use of Google Apps however, a Google MDM would be especially useful. Similar to other MDM’s Google’s product allows organisations to manage multiple differing devices remotely from one centralised location meaning that certain users can be denied access to certain information for example.

With recent reports indicating that the majority of Malware attacks being aimed at Android devices, it is possible that Google are simply trying to illustrate that Android devices are safe and secure for the Enterprise. Ironically, this may actually benefit other MDM developers as it will allow for an increase in Enterprise Android uptake if organisations feel that the devices are more secure to use, and it will certainly serve to promote Android as a viable Enterprise option. It would not just benefit Android though, as the Google MDM works with iOS and Windows phones who could also potentially benefit from the advertisement of MDM as a technology and why it is necessary to implement.

Most organisations (certainly of a certain size) will likely not use Google Apps therefore a more substantial and tailored solution may be required. Through our partnership with Notify MDM we have realised that MDM is no different to Application development, the requirements from organisation to organisation are hugely diverse and require you to fully investigate what customers are looking for. Could it be argued that the Google MDM is fine for smaller organisations with a limited mobility element but for organisations that have a much more substantial Mobility requirement it would fall short and a more tailored solution would be required?

At CommonTime, our approach is to develop a complete Enterprise Mobility solution whereby organisations develop applications, management and security around their individual processes. Applications are designed to be cross platform and easy to integrate with existing systems. This can then be teamed with our Partner Notify MDM to provide complete device management for all of the organisation’s users.