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INTRODUCTION Mobile Enterprise is a new breed of Interactive Enterprise or Business Applications made possible by Mobile Broadband . Cellular Network s such as GPRS and UMTS are connected to the Internet with Media Gateway s. Mobile Enterprise is further enhanced by the launching of HSDPA and HSUPA . Mobile messaging technologies, such as SMS and mobile-email, also support enterprise mobility. Many business functions that are already executed using Mobile Enterprise include Project Collaboration System (PCS), Document Management System (DMS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Point Of Sale (POS), Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Accounting Software , Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), including sales order, sourcing, tendering, quotation, purchasing, shipment, receiving, warehousing, inventory control, delivery, invoicing, customer service order, production monitoring and control, work orders, as well as basic utilities such as corporate calendar, corporate address book, corporate bulletin board, notes and internal messaging. BENEFITS With the Mobile enterprise platform in place, entire businesses can be easily, quickly and economically moved onto the internet. Enterprise databases can be remotely accessed and updated from anywhere in the world, at anytime, with any device equipped with a Web Browser and by anyone with permission to access the service. Mobile Enterprise is real-time and fits the Just In Time (JIT) business strategy. Mobile Enterprise leverages existing Internet installations. It is economical to implement and easy to use. Mobile Enterprise is not limited to mobile handsets. It is convergent technology, whereby the applications are, at the same time, accessible using laptops and desktops over land lines. On mobile decision support, Linus Parker, UK managing director of ERP company Intentia , says: 'Sales teams will be able to check stock levels, undertake product configurations and order processing - all in real time. In the area of finance, there will be the opportunity to check the status of debtor days and cash flow.' Mini case 7.2 Mobile decision support 1 The future is mobile. As workforce mobility takes on a bigger role in Asia, SMBs can no longer afford to ignore the critical business benefits of going mobile. Their employees get to make use of their time effectively, and also remain relevant in the ever-changing marketplace. It is important for SMBs to embrace the concept of workforce mobilization if they want to remain competitive in the future. Says Grace Ho Director, Business Segment Solutions, Asia Pacific for Mobile Communications Business Division at Microsoft in her article "The power of mobile computing for SMBs" (06-Aug-2007) 'The ability to provide services over the air affords a competitive advantage in the speed to deliver, and the pricing of, services. This untethered connection has a broad appeal to both the consumer and the enterprise. It enables the delivery of business, personal, social and entertainment services to areas that would not normally have been able to receive such services. In business, the benefits of a ubiquitous network connection lie in the immediate access it provides to corporate networks outside of the office walls. The untethered feature of wireless extends the enterprise and aids productivity'Characteristics of Wireless Access Networks Chapter 6: Wireless Access Networks 2 SMS is also a good tool for enterprises to enhance corporate communications. Because SMS is ubiquitous, simple and a low-cost technology, as well as having a large user-base around the world, companies can implement SMS tools easily, through PC-based SMS tools and/or integrated SMS applications (through API - Application Programming Interface ). Enterprises can integrate SMS also into mission-critical processes and applications in several fields, such as logistics and operations. ASP REVIVAL Corporate databases and business applications can now be hosted as Software As A Service ( SaaS ), giving a new lease of life to the Application Service Provider (ASP) business model. HOW IT WORKS The back-end of a Mobile Enterprise is a Web Server and a Relational Database such as MSSQL , MySQL and Oracle RDBMS , hosted in a Data Center with Internet connection. At the user end is a Web Browser such as MSIE , Mozilla Firefox , Opera (Internet Suite) , Safari (web Browser) and NetFront . Menu items are linked to programs written in PERL CGI ( Common Gateway Interface ), Java (programming Language) , JavaServer Pages (JSP), Active Server Pages (ASP) and PHP , JavaScript and AJAX , with embedded HTML form elements and database queries. When the form is submitted http requests are sent to the web server using the HTML post or get functions. With the help of ODBC , JDBC or DBI database connection interface, the web server runs the program, executing the database query to the database. The program is also responsible for channeling the query results as an HTML file and sent back to the user. The applications can be used to read, add, update, delete database entries. See live demo site Download Mobile Enterprise Development Program MINIMALISTIC APPROACH As for all mobile applications, simplicity and minimalism is of utmost importance to minimize upload and download time for best user experience. Images are best avoided because of the client devices such as mobile handsets and PDA s display size limitations. Icons may not be readable in small displays. SECURITY ISSUES ADDRESSED Security is enabled by the use of VPN . A Server Log provides added security assurance. In short, it is, at least, as secure as Mobile Banking . REFERENCES Chapter 3 Mobile Computing 3 Chapter 6 Online Auctions, Virtual Communities, and Web Portals 4 Part II Wireless Internet Applications 5 9 Applications 6 Chapter 4 The World Wide Web without Wires 7 8 10.4.4.6 Mobile Integration 9 Telecommunications Magazine ''Where's the SLA on Mobile Data'' IT Week ''SMS Gears up for Business Users'' |
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