Topic Dossier Mobile Enterprise Success Factor Boundlessness A Lünendonk GmbH publication in cooperation with
Table of Contens Editorial... 4 Introduction T-Systems... 6 Mobile Enterprise: More than a Mobile Workforce... 7 What Are the Keystones of a Mobile Enterprise?... 11 Provision of Information and Applications Anytime and Everywhere... 16 Mobile Enterprise: Examples of functions... 17 Aspects of Deciding in Favour of the Mobile Enterprise... 20 Market and Perspectives for Mobile Enterprise Applications... 26 Paths of Implementing the Mobile Enterprise... 29 Ten Tasks for the Rollout of Mobility in the Mobile Enterprise... 31 Expert Contributions and Interviews... 32 Introduction... 33 Quo Vadis Mobile Enterprise? A Customer Perspective... 35 Mobile Enterprise Dissected Lego with Three Basic Building Blocks... 37 First Building Block: Mobile Device Management: A mixed Bouquet and a Structured Operation... 40 First Building Block: Mobile Security: Safety at the Expense of Application Potentials?... 43 Second Building Block: Mobile Applications Store: Paving New Ways Together... 47 Second Building Block: Mobile Applications Innovation: Rather from Life than out of the Laboratory... 51 Third Building Block: Mobile Processes: Where Time and Money is Saved!... 53 Last but not Least: Mobile Enterprise Admits no Delay!... 56 Company Profiles... 57 T-Systems... 57 Lünendonk... 58 3
Editorial well as the structure of companies and even the entire society. Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Business Partners, Thomas Lünendonk, Proprietor Lünendonk GmbH Lünendonk Topic Dossiers have become well established and are very well received by professionals in business, science, politics and other fields. These professionals appreciate that relevant, topical issues and challenges are clearly outlined, presented in an intelligible manner and substantiated with descriptive examples from practical experience. With this issue Lünendonk GmbH expands the previous focus of the Topic Dossier series from management consulting to the field of information technology (IT). These two business-to-business service provider markets have been drawing closer to each other for several years now. These days hardly any change is taking place without a distinct correlation between strategy, organisation and IT. The Lünendonk Topic Dossiers "Mobile Enterprise" and "Cloud Computing", both published at the same time, are dedicated to technology topics that are decisive for success and demand a premium advisory and implementing competency. Moreover, these two technologies and communication innovations are more markedly changing the working methods as The Topic Dossier "Mobile Enterprise Success Factor Boundlessness" looks at the evolution from a self-contained corporative organisation and communication to a business communication style that is spanning companies and countries. It is already many years ago that a company s communication was strongly oriented to the internal processes and organised behind clearly demarcated walls and fences. Access controls, gatekeepers and other hurdles are still there, of course, to refuse unauthorised persons entry to a company. By contrast, barring unauthorised persons from access to the mobile world of communication poses much larger challenges to companies. This situation is also reflected in the early phase of information and communication technology, when within a company only authorised persons were able to communicate with each other. It was the time of closed networks and clearly defined user groups. Following the success of the internet and the possibilities which came with it, that time was drawing to a close. New media like email, web portals or interactive knowledge bases were suddenly used not only for internal corporate communication but also for external communication with service providers, clients and other business partners, and for marketing as well. New rules had to be established for these new forms of corporate communication in order to safeguard companies, their data and the personal rights of employees and business partners. Current debates about compliance and publicity rights show the sensitivity surrounding this issue. Firewalls, passwords and other security measures were introduced to protect 4
the organisation and to ensure that the unlimited possibilities of corporate communication remain within the scope of legal and safety requirements and can still be controlled and managed. Emails, electronic transactions via the ICT infrastructure, as well as linking partners, suppliers and clients to the ICT processes have become state-of-the-art. But especially the trend to use of emails in every workplace rapidly expanded the communication possibilities of each and every employee; on the flipside, the safety demands on the ICT infrastructure increased accordingly. When employees were allowed to send and receive emails they were initially able to exercise this right only within very tight limits.this kind of communication largely took place between work stations installed within a company. In the next phase, mobile computers (laptops) and front-end systems gave employees access to the business processes of their company from outside locations. However, the mobility was relatively limited because often the laptops were still heavy and unwieldy, and getting connected was also difficult in the early days. This changed as mobile terminal devices steadily became lighter and with the expansion of broadband networks and UMTS/LTE which made it possible to use mobile telephony systems also for communication between stationary and mobile computer generations. But that, too, was just an intermediate step on the way to Mobile Enterprise as we know it now. A multitude of mobile devices, their current state of perfection represented by high-performance smartphones und tablet PCs, led to the final breakthrough. What previously was possible only for small target groups and a few private individuals with considerable financial wealth, has since developed into a mass product. Corporate boundaries have been done away with for good. Mobile accessibility of applications for smartphones and tablet PCs strongly influence this development, as employees expect to be able to use their private terminal devices at the workplace on a daily basis, and vice versa. Previously stationary and constrained corporate communication has turned into communication "on the go". This also poses totally new challenges to the CIO and will permanently change the corporate ICT environment. The catchphrase is "BYOD: Bring Your Own Device". Everybody anywhere can communicate with anyone, and not only in writing but also orally, with pictures, videos and via audio files in a private or professional capacity. The Topic Dossier at hand deals with a topical management and technology issue. During the past years it has rapidly gained in importance for society, the economy and the concrete business success of companies and organisations, and this development is not yet over by a long shot. We trust that you find this Dossier enlightening and useful. Sincerely, Thomas Lünendonk Proprietor Lünendonk GmbH 5
Introduction T-Systems These highly qualified employees are particularly important for corporate value creation. Mobile solutions therefore have to contribute to further increase the flexibility and productivity of mobile staff so that their potential can be better utilised. Dear Readers, Dietmar Wendt, Managing Director Sales, T-Systems International GmbH First the Industrial Revolution, a good 100 years later the internet - and now we are in for another technology revolution, says Emily Nagle Green, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Yankee Group. She believes that companies and employees who are interconnected always and everywhere are more productive and could be able to raise a value creation potential worth several billions. A key to that is mobile connectivity. Companies should now start to plan their work processes and product range for the interconnected world. Some are already producing at several locations worldwide, cooperate with international partners and sell their products to customers on all continents. Experts work together in transnational project teams. Their mobility is increasing. Apart from sales and distribution staff, managers and specialists now also spend increasingly more time out of their offices. Even today some 32 percent of ordinary staff in Europe already works on the move. According to IDC estimates, by 2013 the number of mobile workers will rise to about 565 million in Western Europe and around 1.2 billion worldwide. Thus the mobile workplace is turning into an essential factor for business success. Analysts believe that companies are aware of this, but those who have a long-term mobility strategy in place are still in the minority. Persons in charge of ICT do not have adequate budgets and investment plans do not exist either. As a result they sit with the dilemma that the efficiency of mobile staff suffers, despite an acute need for action. Mobile solutions offer much more these days than just mobile access to personal data such as contacts, appointments, tasks or notes which has long since become standard in around 80 percent of companies. With their mobile devices employees are able to access applications which previously were available at the office only. Even though mobile ERP or CRM applications optimise business processes, they are so far only found in one out of five companies. These gaps have to be closed in order to fully utilise the potential of mobile staff. Through managed platforms the various terminal devices and operating systems can be integrated into the ICT environment safely, rapidly and flexibly, while the business outlay remains reasonable. Sincerely, Dietmar Wendt Managing Director Sales, T-Systems International 6
Mobile Enterprise: More than a Mobile Workforce All figures in millions 250 200 150 215.5 212.8 118.9 83.2 100 50 0 96.5 +34% Illustration 1: Increase in mobility in Western Europe 2008-2013 (Source: IDC according to T-Systems, White Paper Mobile Enterprise. The World of IT is changing, 2010) 129.5 2008 2013 Nonmobile Workers Mobile Workers Growth of Mobile Workers Just a few years ago LAN parties were a trend among young people whereby they lugged desktops weighing 12 kg plus the accessories around for enjoying games together. Business people often smiled at them indulgently while they themselves lugged 4 kg laptops through customs, arrival and departure procedures spearheading the mobile workforce. Both models are history. By organising companies into value creation networks and models of work division, communication and collaboration become increasingly important. The trend towards urbanisation anyhow forces us to come up with new solutions for mobility. By making use of digital mobility, people and the environment no longer have to be exposed to mobility born from necessity (commuting, business travel). Enterprise mobilisation is a means for doing that. In this context mobility means flexibility in choosing the location where work is done for the respective employer or client. Thus the concept of mobile workforce is taken a step further and becomes Mobile Enterprise. What is this concept about? OUTLINING TRENDS HOW MOBILE DO WE WORK TOMORROW In order to understand the inevitability of the trend towards Mobile Enterprise one needs to realise to what extent information communication technology has penetrated just about all sectors of the economy simply take the PC as an example. In the EU comparison, an average of more than half of all employees in all sectors and fields of activities use a PC at their workplace. This also includes manually oriented activities. Added to that, the share of activities close to the production level is constantly decreasing. Prognos AG expects that in Germany this type of activity will have decreased by almost 17 percent by 2030. In return the share of work based on knowledge together with administrative and organisational jobs will increase to 47.3 percent. 7
Mobility type Job site At desk On site Off desk On site At desk Off site Off desk Off site "Field representative" Teleworker and home office user Frequent travellers Quasi field staff Permanently mobile within the company Occasionally mobile Classic desk worker Illustration 2: Mobility characteristics of different user profiles in the Mobile Enterprise (Source: Based on IDC according to T-Systems, White Paper Mobile Enterprise. The World of IT is changing, 2010) At the same time these ICT (Information & Communications Technology) supported activities are conducted by an increasingly mobile workforce. The International Data Corporation (IDC) expects that already in 2013 there will be almost 130 million "mobile workers" in Western Europe. With a share of 61 percent they will clearly outnumber the "non-mobile workers" (see illustration 1). This mobile workforce will work together in a totally different manner: working hours become more flexible and will be arranged according to work-life balance requirements or the time zones of flexible teams; this does not only apply to self-employed people and freelancers, but also to the permanent and fluctuating staff. Cooperation within a company s own teams, with business partners, suppliers, open networks, and also with clients, becomes more diverse. In principle everybody is able to cooperate with anybody at any time and any place. traditional designated workstation, which anyway has been rapidly going out of fashion in organisations with a strong emphasis on sales and distribution. So, where will employees be working in the future? Looking at two basic categories of employee mobility (mainly in-house mobility against mainly on-site), there are several mobility types whose requirements have to be supported by a workable concept of Mobile Enterprise (see illustration 2). CATEGORY 1: PRIMARILY IN-HOUSE: Classic desk workers, mostly with their own workstation (accounting, graphics, production controlling, etc.). Occasionally mobile staff that sometimes change their workplace within the company (stand-ins, assistants). Permanently mobile staff within the company, e.g. internal service technicians who typically spend most of their working hours in different parts of the company. Consequently the place where the service is rendered also changes and in many cases it is no longer the 8
Mobile terminal devices Mobile infrastructure Middleware Back-ends in the cloud Back-ends in companies Smartphones, PDAs Tablets Netbooks Laptops RFID Machine-to- Machine communication RFID chips Carrier (wireless) LTE NGT Carrier (wired) Roaming Hardware WLAN Administration Applications: Provider (e.g. Payment service) Field mobile conservation (FMC) Unified communication (UC) Near field communication Synchronisation/ replication Interface management Data Security Virtual Private Networks Cloud administration CRM Logistics Tenders Cost enquiries Purchase orders Placing orders with suppliers Goods in Warehouse administration Databases: Suppliers F&E Staff SCM ERP, including: Inventory Delivery orders Production scheduling Operating cycles Dispatch Invoicing Products Customers Illustration 3: Layers of a Mobile Enterprise concept (Source: Based on Mobile Enterprise-Solutions Stand und Perspektiven mobiler Kommunikationslösungen in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen. Study on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), wik-consult GmbH, 2006) CATEGORY 2: PRIMARILY ON-SITE Teleworkers and home office users who spend most of their working hours outside the company. Quasi field staff that usually work outside the company but from time to time need a base inside (consultants, for instance). Field representatives who typically work mostly outside the company with customers (e.g. customer advisors, technical field service, sales). Frequent travellers who spend most of their working time at other plants or branch offices, with customers, cooperation partners, at conferences and trade fairs. An efficient concept for a Mobile Enterprise has to meet the requirements of all possible job sites of the employees as much as taking the different employee mobility types into account. What, then, does a Mobile Enterprise achieve, and what are the basic elements of a successful mobile company on the market? ABOUT THE TERM "MOBILE ENTERPRISE" The concept of Mobile Enterprise is the answer to the question how companies can operate on the market in a more mobile manner: In-house communication: Being contactable at any time via bundled communication channels (email, voice, SMS, MMS, IM). Communication among employees within the company becomes faster, free of media disruption and more instantaneous. In this context the catchphrases are: mobile unified communications (server-based integration of mobile terminal devices), fixed mobile convergence (FMC; merging mobileterminal devices with the fixed line structures of a company) 9
In-house collaboration: Linking employees to the company s databases and knowledge stores with access to calendars, databases, telephone directories, order book databases, CRM systems, ERP systems, social media software. In return, external employees have to add fresh information to these company resources and keep them updated. Joint communication or, as the case may be, collaboration: Expanding the concept by involving suppliers, cooperation partners and customers by opening corporate communication and cooperating with suppliers, partners and customers by unifying many different communication channels and social media software. All information from the company s environment is carried immediately and synchronised permanently. A Mobile Enterprise requires the integration of mobile ICT solutions for companies. Mobility in this case refers to all of the company s resources and processes, i.e. staff, work equipment, services and products, software, processes, knowledge and information. Enterprise mobility makes staff mobile in the sense that they are able to access company data at any given place from emails to current warehouse stocks. ENTERPRISE MOBILITY THE CAPABILITY Enterprise Mobility is the sum of the mobile capabilities which a company has acquired in order to render its services. Forrester therefore defines enterprise mobility as "the ability for an enterprise to communicate with suppliers, partners, employees, assets, products, and customers, irrespective of the location of these components." MOBILE ENTERPRISE THE STRUCTURE Some authors see Mobile Enterprise as an ICT (Information & Communication Technology) solution for organising a conventional company in a more mobile manner. However, a Mobile Enterprise is basically a company which avails itself of the latest ICT solutions in order to be able to efficiently render its services. A Mobile Enterprise uses internet structures and broadband connections so that employees can communicate and cooperate with one another and with business partners almost in real-time. The necessary information and applications are provided at the respective job site. Means of communicating include voice, email, SMS, MMS, IM (instant messaging) and conferencing technologies, while cooperation is supported by Enterprise 2.0 tools (calendar, address books, blogs, podcasts, forums, networks, wikis, whiteboards, etc.). Mobile business applications include classic backend applications which previously could only be accessed from within the company (e.g. document management, customer relationship management, human resource management, accountancy applications, enterprise resource planning). 10
What Are the Keystones of a Mobile Enterprise? Construction of a Mobility Infrastructure Intranet Mobile Device Management Business Applications RIM (email, contacts, calendar) System Admin SAP CRM SAP ERM Microsoft Sharepoint Microsoft Exchange Mobile Middleware Exchange Archive Sync. Mobile Security Layer Firewall Encryption Proxy Server Internet Mobile Communications @ Smartphones: access to email, calendar and contacts Mobile communications: WLAN, GPRS, UMTS, Internet encrypted data transport Mobile device management: administration and security at devices Push mail: connection to the customer email system (exchange) Web portal for processing orders for provision, changes Illustration 4: Makeup of a mobility infrastructure (Source: Based on IDC according to T-Systems, White Paper Mobile Enterprise. The World of IT is changing, 2010) Unified ways of using the various terminal devices, the convergence of the different communication channels, as well as high-performance broadband networks and middleware for the smooth linking of back-end systems (see illustration 4) are some of the essential prerequisites for the efficient implementation of a Mobile Enterprise. EMPLOYEES HANDHELD DEVICES: SMARTPHONE, TABLET, ETC. The simultaneous use of many communication solutions results in fragmentation of access and thereby paradoxically makes communication more difficult. The range spans from telephone and fax to email, audio and video conferencing to teamwork 11
Operating system 2011 2015 2011 2015 CAGR Android 39.5 % 45.4 % 23.8 % Windows Phone 7/Windows Mail 5.5 % 20.9% 67.1 % ios 15.7 % 15.3 % 18.8 % BlackBerry 14.9 % 13.7 % 17.1 % Symbian 20.9 % 0.2 % -65.0 % Others 3.5 % 4.6 % 28.0 % Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 19.6 % Illustration 5: Development of market shares of smartphone operating systems worldwide (Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 2011) areas. These forms of communication are used after linking them to the PC or mobile terminal devices. An elegant simplification is the bundling of all forms of communication in a single terminal device, a smartphone, for instance. However, the basis will remain diverse even if only a single class of device is used. If the solutions offered by Google, Microsoft, Apple and RIM assert themselves as smartphone platforms (see illustration 5) it is likely that the future market for smartphone platforms will be shared by four major providers. The development of the super-phone has already started. There may also be the operating systems of netbooks, tablets or other web-enabled mobile devices. What makes the mobile sector so fascinating are the new growth cores which are just starting to evolve in the mobile data services industry especially those for business applications. They will provide many new revenue opportunities for the various players in this field. UNIFICATION OF COMMUNICATION "WITHIN" THE COMPANY Employees have to communicate everywhere at a single desk or in an open-plan office, with the customer and in the factory hall, during telephone conferences, while travelling or in their office at home. This has made corporate communication more complex. FIXED MOBILE CONVERGENCE (FMC) As a first step, so to speak, Voice over IP (VoIP) the packet-based transmission of voice data as data packets unified voice and data transmissions. The second step was fixed mobile convergence (FMC), the merging of landline and mobile networks including the corresponding terminal devices. For voice and data files FMC removes the media disruptions between mobile and stationary networks and services. For the user this results in services which are easy to handle with a unified, convenient user interface. The user is allocated a single platform number and a central answering device/mailbox. 12
Team work places Integration of applications Instant messaging and VoIP Calendar management..... Unified Communication Email and fax Across devices Web and video conferences Across networks Illustration 6: Unified communications unites all data formats, all channels and all terminal devices (Source: T-Systems, 2011) FMC ensures the mobility of terminal devices and services and thus the personal mobility of employees: Terminal device mobility allows the user to take and use his personal terminal device anywhere. Service mobility provides the user with a package of consistent services (personal information management, database access, applications access) irrespective of the terminal device, the access network and the location. Personal mobility ensures that the participant can be contacted anywhere at the same platform number. Roaming between various networks is also included. UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS (UC) Unified communications (UC) is the third step towards convergence of corporate communication. The company manages its entire digital communication centrally and independent of devices. The user receives voice mails, emails, SMS, IM or faxes via a single access point (see illustration 6). With unified communications the company s entire communication is handled via a single platform. In addition, as a decisive building block for the Mobile Enterprise, organisational software (such as office applications, calendar, etc.), productivity software (collaboration software) and process applications (ERP, SCM, CRM) are also integrated. This makes the integration of all components of the Mobile Enterprise possible: Diverse networks (fixed mobile, voice data) via a standard (IP, Internet Protocol) Terminal devices (PC, telephone, mobile phone, fax) All message formats (telephony, email, video conferencing, instant messaging, SMS) 13
Company IT or Cloud Middleware Access types Mobile devices Mobile device management Central address books Central calendars Authentication Wired Smartphones Planning dates Synchronisation Wireless PDA SCM Data VPN Tablets Production dates Applications Laptops ERP Security/firewall CRM Illustration 7: Distribution of services and applications on to the layers of the Mobile Enterprise (Source: Lünendonk GmbH, 2011) Organisational and productivity software (calendar, email, collaboration software, text processing) and process applications (for instance, enterprise resource planning software, customer relationship management software). Unified communications is a decisive building block for the Mobile Enterprise. Communication takes place anywhere, with any type of terminal device, time-delayed or in real-time, and the company s supporting applications can be accessed. Thus the divide between "within" and "from outside" the company becomes as permeable as never before. BACKBONES: THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSMISSION NETWORKS Complementing this development, the enormous improvement of transmission rates (bandwidths) in mobile communications during the past years established another pillar for the Mobile Enterprise. While it still took up to one hour to transmit a video clip via the GMS systems, transmission time was reduced to less than a minute by UMTS. And with Long Term Evolution (LTE) the development is pushing forward into yet another dimension. The demand for bandwidth continues to increase and so does the need for availability and security. Systems of 100 Gigabit help to meet the requirements. 100 Gigabit is equivalent to 90 million SMS per second or 100,000 MP3 files per minute or transmitting more than 15,000 HDTV channels simultaneously. This technology was already tested under real conditions in 2010 by the technical universities in Dresden and Freiberg together with T-Systems and Alcatel-Lucent. MIDDLEWARE A special mobile middleware enables employees to access and use the data and applications in the back-end of a company. Mobile middleware ensures communication between the terminal device and the server and allows fast and easy access to company data supporting numerous business processes. In reverse, sales staff working in the field keep updating company data, for example, while they are still with a client or while travelling. The middle layer also includes security applications such as VPN tunnelling, encryption and firewalls (see illustration 7). 14
COMPANY BACK-END OR CLOUD AS THE FOUN- DATION OF THE MOBILE ENTERPRISE In principle, Mobile Enterprise has two options with regard to mobile deployment of applications and the organisation of data traffic between company headquarters and the periphery: either the classic way within the company s own IT or projecting the future trend via Cloud computing. Cloud computing with outplacement of computing processes, deployment of computing performance and applications via the internet and virtual memory space on unspecified servers seems to be a reasonable addition to the Mobile Enterprise concept. Germany s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) also expects that due to its technological and economic potential the concept of Cloud computing will assert itself on the market as soon as the question of adequate information security has been solved. This issue will be discussed in more detail in the paragraph "Dangers for the Mobile Enterprise concept". 15
Provision of Information and Applications Anytime and Everywhere Mobile Enterprise solutions can basically be applied to any part of a company s value-added chain. This refers to supporting activities (cross-sectional applications within the company) as well as the primary activities of procurement, production, distribution, marketing and sales, and also service and after sales support (see illustration 8). In 2009 the proportion of companies who use collaboration solutions increased to almost 70 percent. However, the majority of the solutions applied are email and calendar functions, which represent only the basics of ICT-assisted communication. But the huge potential of collaboration solutions consists of the possibility to link office communication with other channels such as web conferencing, instant messaging or presence information and to integrate business applications like SAP or CRM, project sites or databases. Based on Mobile Enterprise solutions and devices, what do companies plan to do? According to a survey conducted by Forrester in 2010 among more than 2,200 decision makers, the vast majority of functions are still used for communication and as a base for cooperation (wireless, email, calendar and contacts). The medium range contains applications which support field staff and customer contacts. Only when that is in place the utilisation of classic business applications is planned, applications which assist logistics and the supply chain, management of inventory and capital assets the supreme discipline of the Mobile Enterprise, which probably adds the largest contribution to value creation once it has been fully implemented. In which way can companies rearrange their functions and work processes while implementing a Mobile Enterprise? Several examples are shown in the next chapter. Corporate infrastructure Supporting activities Human resource management Technological development Internal logistics Production Procurement External logistics Marketing & sales Service Margin Illustration 8: Value-added chain (Source: Porter, 1985) Primary activities 16
Mobile Enterprise: Examples of functions The potential possibilities of Mobile Enterprise for the company s value-added activities can be classified according to Porter s value-added model. In this model the possibilities are based mainly on unified communications and Enterprise 2.0 tools. Enterprise 2.0 functionalities offer collaboration solutions to employees. UC solutions bundle available communication channels and all messages at one access point, irrespective of voice (fixed line and mobile phones), IM or email. INFRASTRUCTURE: BASIC COMMUNICATION Presence information, which employee is available or busy Messaging (SMS/MMS), reading and processing emails with mobile terminal devices Instant messaging (IM) speeds up communication but its suitability for complex content or nonverbal information is limited. ACCESS TO DATA AND APPLICATIONS Mobile access to centrally stored information (e.g. addresses, calendar, tasks and notes from office organisation programmes) Remote use of applications for business management (e.g. enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, production planning, logistics, materials management, archives, knowledge databases, wikis, etc.) Mobile office applications: utilisation of office software (text processing, calendars, spreadsheets, visualisation programmes, etc.) Expense management: Reports are compiled and despatched while travelling. Travel management: Reservations, accessing itineraries and planned routes, cancellations, capturing travel costs from outside the office. COLLABORATION WITHIN THE COMPANY AND BEYOND Portals increase the efficiency of communication and cooperation. Conferencing solutions save time and travel costs. Collaboration solutions enable members of a decentralised working group to update documents simultaneously. Virtual project sites make it possible to participate in projects and work on files jointly and simultaneously. Internal wikis explain terminology and describe processes or services company-wide. Blogs report on new developments and allow commentary; employees are able to discuss market developments or projects together. Corporate social networks which reach a critical mass of users make it easier for employees to contact one another. Contact partners within one s own company are easy to find and to get in touch with. Enterprise content management (ECM) systems bundle the latest versions of information and documents at a time. Desktop sharing allows for remote servicing of computers. Home office becomes more productive through digital communication and access to business applications and software solutions via company VPN. SUPPORT FUNCTION: Human Resource Management Human resources: Planning and recruitment, placement, training on-the-job and further training of employees is supported by mobile technologies and access to central planning systems. Training: Individual further training can take place outside the company or at the training centres irrespective of time. 17
SUPPORT FUNCTION: Technological Development Wisdom of the crowd, crowdsourcing: These days, consumer feedback is taken into account already during the development phase of many products. Consumers or users are being actively involved in the development of new products. Quality management: Mobile applications assist quality controllers with planning, conducting and evaluating tests "in the field". SUPPORT FUNCTION: Procurement Procurement and purchasing: Recruitment of suppliers, evaluation of offers, brokering the terms, ordering all done online and mobile expand the possibilities of modern procurement. Assessing demand with mobile terminal devices and passing the information on to suppliers speed up and optimise the supply chains. PRIMARY CORPORATE FUNCTIONS: Logistics Transport management: Data on vehicle locations, load factors and expected times are captured by mobile devices and forwarded to the ERP systems for updating. Fleet or car pool management: The use of mobile terminal devices and tracking systems optimises route planning as well as car pool management. Operations Business Intelligence: Employees have access to the key figures of finance, accounting, distribution or IT while out and about. Distribution Orders: Through mobile access to warehouse stocks and delivery times in the back-end system it is possible to give the customer authoritative information on delivery periods at any time. Sales Opportunity management: Following up on sales opportunities Planning and tracing of contacts with customers Customer intelligence: Customer data is captured on the way or at the client via mobile terminal devices and transferred to the back-end systems; aggregated and analysed customer data is available to the employee at the client. Recording of orders: Direct mobile data capturing and transfer to the back-end systems. Mobile distribution applications: using special distribution software (e.g. customer relationship management, order management, order tracking) Time management: Field staff records working hours with mobile devices and store them in the back-end system. Purchasing orders are accepted and processed using mobile devices. Mobile commerce/mobile payment enables the customer to order or pay for products/services at any time and any place. MARKETING Market intelligence: Wisdom of the crowd, crowdsourcing: users are actively included in the composition of new products. Consumers retrieve product information from forums and communities. Information which was previously limited to the circle of personal acquaintances can now be published via Web 2.0. Augmented reality: Services which depend on a particular location provide data related to the respective location (e.g. addresses of service providers in the vicinity). SERVICE & SUPPORT Customer service: With their mobile devices service technicians can check repair orders, change the status of repair jobs and reschedule services while still out "in the field". 18
Mobile order tracking: Companies increasingly offer the possibility to enquire about the progress of an order by mobile devices. Remote controlling and remote servicing: data capturing and exchange with vehicles, machines and technical systems outside the company (performance data) Claim settlement including remedying of damage through replacement or repair (managed repair) and assistance (in terms of insurance) Building inspection in facility management becomes easier with mobile recording and communication, e.g. reports on the condition of buildings. CONCLUSION There are enough possibilities to introduce applications in a company which will gradually turn it into a Mobile Enterprise. The implementation of a few single applications can be done without great effort. But developing a comprehensive concept for fully utilising the opportunities of Enterprise Mobility requires a somewhat bolder leap forward. 19
Aspects of Deciding in Favour of the Mobile Enterprise Attack on functional chain Wiretapping Attack on individual systems Access security Virus attacks WWW WWW PC/Notebook Mobile & SIM Mobile network WEB Gateway WAP server Internet Web server App server Mob. services VPN Illustration 9: Weak points in mobile communication (Source: Mobile Outlook, 2010) Fundamental upheavals, such as those brought about by the transformation into a Mobile Enterprise, naturally encounter valid objections as well as quite a few emotional reservations. This is shown by a survey of small and medium-sized companies in Germany. Their reservations can be grouped into several clusters. By far the biggest concern is about security the question of unsafe transmission channels, data security and possible susceptibility of the entire system which is largely based on the internet. Furthermore, mobile terminal devices are far more likely to be lost than stationary machines. Due to the size of mobile devices it is not necessarily noticed immediately when they have been lost. The higher the user s degree of mobility, the smaller the likelihood that the device can be found. If personal data or company data are stored on the terminal device only, its loss can cause considerable damage. Costs are the second largest barrier, split into purchasing costs, introductory costs, installation and operating costs. It is quite possible, however, that especially small and medium-sized enterprises tend to weight these costs particularly high in comparison to expected yields. Among staff, within their own cultural circle and to a lesser extent among respective customers, approval of Mobile Enterprise applications also seems questionable. Larger companies, however, will continue to conduct formal cost-benefit analyses 20