Deliver the Wireless Promise - Connect on Demand Offline Mobile Applications
Article by Shrirang Bapat (Feb 25, 2003)
Mobile Computing's Hype "Anytime Anywhere" was, in a sense,
responsible for its failure two years ago. Today even though the network
conditions have not changed drastically in terms of availability and
connectivity - the mobile applications are slowly coming back in vogue. This
article discusses the benefits of deploying offline mobile applications and
suggests that this will be successful model for enterprise deployment of
wireless mobile applications.
The Mobile Wireless Hype of 2000 saw everyone jumping on the boat selling the next generation wireless “Anytime, Anywhere” applications. One of the most important point missed by the early adopters was that the network – which is the most important factor to fulfill the anytime anywhere promise - will not be available “Everywhere”. The Wireless Internet or WAP Applications that were hawked at that time did not live up to the expectations of the end users. This was one of the key reasons for the hype to vaporize quickly into the dawn of reality – “hey, its not anytime anywhere … because the network is not there everywhere”.
Fast Forward 2003 – There are signs that Enterprises are adapting mobile wireless applications even when the network is still not there everywhere. The network is not ubiquitous, but wherever it is there, it is much improved, faster and reliable. The most significant factor for renewed interest in the mobile wireless application is the proliferation of devices that have significant client side computing capabilities. More and more devices are coming out with greater memory, better user interfaces, greater computing capabilities – making the dream of “anytime, anywhere” achievable. We come to realize that wireless and mobile combined does have a real ROI.
For businesses, the wireless and mobile computing power on these new devices means now there are new touch points for connecting with customers and employees. The focus of this discussion is on the enterprise connection – i.e. accessing the enterprise data while on the move. The Wireless Internet and especially “anytime, anywhere” hype has raised expectations of end users – especially the enterprise mobile workers. Within the enterprise, we are used to having applications work without interruptions and the same is generally expected of any enterprise class application. It is human nature to shun something that does not work uninterrupted. “Oh! That wireless application – yeah it is good, but only if the network connection is good!” – Hence the need for applications that work well in an untethered or disconnected mode.
The top three factors that could be attributed to the failure of an enterprise wireless mobile application are – insufficient or unavailable network connectivity, insufficient bandwidth and the inability of the applications to function offline. A fourth and important factor is cost, it is expensive to access the network to seek incremental changes in the information you need – network carriers charge by the bytes – and not by the pipes.
With the advent of new powerful devices with better client side computing capabilities, the days when wireless will deliver are near. Today, the “Anytime, Anywhere” slogan needs one more qualifier to fulfill the promise. “Uninterrupted”. The key to success for enterprise mobile applications is Uninterrupted, Anytime, Anywhere access to the applications.
No Network. No Problem. Connect on Demand Offline Applications are here.
Why go for Connect on Demand Offline Mobile Applications?
1. Cost
Most wireless carriers charge by the byte or by the minute and don’t rent out the pipe. Synchronous wireless application requires frequent access to the network and downloads lot of repetitive information every time you seek and update – there by increasing your wireless bills. The Connect on Demand Offline Application will synchronize incremental data to ensure you have the latest information at least cost to you.
2. Comfort Factor
or the Emotional Quotient – People can do things when they want. The devices that have capacity to store information offline are best suited to provide the seamless mobile application experience to the enterprise users on the move. An application that allows the Field Service Agent to update the service call as soon as he or she is done with the call (or whenever they wish to) will have a far better emotional quotient with the users than the one that allows them to update the call only when the network connection is available – even though both the applications will update the information onto the mother-ship only when the network connection is available.
3. Satisfaction
One of the key factors in measuring the ROI for wireless applications is the Internal Customer Satisfaction. With Offline Mobile Applications, end users can use the application even when they are not connected. Uninterrupted Application Access is the most important factor separating a satisfied end user from others. Devices that are capable of offline information processing will also be able to save user specific data on the device to ensure personalized user experience.
4. Easy Integration
The offline capabilities of application means that in most case the data exchange with host can be done in an asynchronous way. The information exchange with the host application can be done using Host Application APIs if any available. There are large number enterprise backend applications that run on mainframes – and batch integration is better suited for these applications.
5. Adaptability
Use it across the globe and in various ways. The asynchronous offline connection means that the mobile devices can exchange info with mother ship in a variety of ways – wired connection, wireless LAN or infrared – the end user application experience is independent of the connection. The same end user application can be used across the global enterprise regardless of the networks.
6. Increased Productivity
Many wireless applications introduce delays in the way people work. For example, sometimes they are waiting for the network to connect to fetch the next page while they are done with the meter reading they have taken. With Offline Applications, people can do the work without the wait times and connect tones etc. – the application is available 24*7 and works equally fast at all times of the day.
7. Better Privacy
People can work wherever they want and not necessarily come out of the building and do the work facing northeast where the coverage is the best. Lot many times service agents have to go out of the building to a place where the network is available to complete the task on hand. Offline applications give the users privacy to work anywhere and connect to the network when desired.
8. Data Quality
With offline capability and conflict resolution mechanisms, the issues of rework due to bad data that happen when the network connection is poor or patchy are not there.
Connect on Demand Offline Applications are the key to the success of wireless mobile application deployment across the enterprise. These applications provide consistent and rich experience no matter when and where they are used. Running costs are lower due to smart intelligent incremental data synchronization. Most importantly – they eliminate the frustration that end users experience when the network is not there.
Mobile Wireless Delivers.
About the Author
Shrirang Bapat is Head of the Mobile Computing Practice at Tata Consultancy Services (a href="http://www.tcs.com">www.tcs.com). He has
been working in the IT Industry for 12 years. He can be reached at s.bapat@usa-tcs.com
