Cloud, Mobile, MBaaS… How do we make sense of it all.

Folks,

this post will be a long one...

 This week I spend a lot of time on this topic with several clients and I sense that our client have a notion around positioning Mobile application and services in cloud context. I have always believed that for us to success we ought to have an adaptive and multi prong cloud strategy when it comes to mobile. So this week I will attempt to discuss the evolution of mobile-cloud landscape.

I will start with cloud discussion to set the stage. So what is a cloud-computing platform? Is it simply automated provisioning systems coupled with a resource virtualization, where the workload is policy driven, and resources over committed and any resource contention handled by policy driven resolution? As it turns out technologies that provide provisioning, virtualization and policy enforcement form the building blocks of a true cloud computing platform, but not any one technology is a cloud offering in and of it self. The efficiency goals of cloud are not only towards costs savings but also are defined by the business requirement usually driven by external market forces and availability of various enabling technologies.  

Cloud computing as a platform is amalgamation of such enabling technologies. While the concept of cloud computing is not new, efforts such as net (work) computing and various hardware and software virtualization technologies in the past have attempted to address the need for ‘unlimited' resource pool capable of handling varying workloads. Let's explore what this means. A true cloud platform provides an illusion of infinite computing resources available on demand. The notion of on demand infinite computing resources requires a systemic approach that includes sense and response subsystems, with a tie into a system level monitoring subsystems which is front ended by a rich user interface and all tied together by a robust governance sub system. These sub systems can be further classified as a complete and inseparable components of a cloud computing platform. Cloud computing is a new consumption and delivery model nudged by consumer demand and continual growth in internet services. 

Cloud computing exhibits the following 6 key characteristics:

a.       Elastic Environment

b.      Provisioning Automation

c.       Extreme Scalability

d.      Advanced Virtualization

e.       Standards based delivery

f.       Usage based equitable chargeback

The terms described below have evolved to provide a structure and concept consumption around Cloud paradigms:

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service (Essentially HW + OS + Other Network services)

PaaS – Platform as a Service (IaaS + Platform technologies such as Middleware/Directory services etc)

SaaS – Software as a Service (Bring your Mouse and yes.. your brains.… and provision and configure/consume services)

Now let  us surface the Mobile computing driven trends that may tip the scale in driving the cloud patterns to new heights. But before we discuss these trends and technologies we need to understand drivers responsible for the resurgence in cloud consumption… all driven by Mobile computing and it’s derivatives.

a.    Software and Data Ownership –There is  a complex relationship between the data ownership and software ownership. Clients want to own the data and not the software ( due to licensing costs and maintenance). This leads to interesting conversation around traditional hosting/resource provisioning and ability of an enterprise to just create Mobile application services and provide an integration point to the enterprise.  This model allows the enterprise to control data access and ownership and yet keep up with the modern trends in the industry at relative low costs without extensive capital investments into software ownership. Think of this more like a “Software rental”, a concept that  lends itself to Hoteling or multi-tenancy.

b.     Burden of System Management – With IT systems and managers driving for efficient consolidation  adding another tier of system management to address Mobility can be a daunting task, besides monitoring and analysis of critical business objectives gets the time share. So the notion of provisioning, managing and monitoring system like Mobile device management, MBaaS services ( Mobile Backend as a  service) is preferred to be managed and maintained in cloud.

c.    Continually evolving Mobile Eco-system – Our clients have, in the past, spend time and money to harden the  infrastructure and handle the evolution  in middleware Infrastructure and platforms. There is little or no appetite to deal with a much rapid force of changes with in Mobile Eco system that has direct impact on the existing infrastructure. The assumption here is that the cloud based services will keep up with eco system evolution such as notification systems, MobileOSs, and new and emerging mobile-social integration points ( such as OpenAuth, Social updates and notification and API economy) and enterprise get to use and keep up wit the changes by association. Thought to ponder  upon here is how do Mobile Infrastructure Cloud service provide keep up with this rapid change? What are their challenges?

d.    Ephemeral nature of Mobile Application landscape – As discussed earlier rapid shift in the mobile landscape driven primarily by the MobileOS vendors and Mobile services ( NFC, Payment, Notifications etc), many client hesitate in locking in an on premise platform as many question the ability of these vendor provided platforms to keep up with the changes in marketplace.

e.    Changing mindset around investment and consumerization of Mobile platforms – As our clients are still in process of  defining their ROI expectations and as business evolve to adapt to Mobile way of doing business, there is clear lack of leadership and the idea of disengaging or switching providers not only makes business sense but also addresses the long term capital justification concerns. Mobility in cloud seems a more palatable and economically viable option. Unless there is a  defined business value or a ROI around ownership of mobile platforms, this will be  a “rent vs. buy” discussion.

f.     Social ’ization’ of Mobile APIs – With emergence of Mobile API services offered by the social media eco system, and other vendors like Twillio, Google etc clients have eased into “service virtualization’ concepts and are more comfortable with cloud based models. After all many B2C application rely on this emerging and burgeoning API economy.

Now that we discussed the drivers, I would like to take this discussion in understanding the Technical landscape that surrounds Mobile Cloud discussions. To grasp this concept I’d like to device a  classification system so we can understand the technical landscape.  Broadly speaking there are 3 models of Cloud engagement in Mobile context:

1. Traditional Cloud  - This  goes back to our IaaS,PaaS and SaaS model where our clients are thinking  :

a.  on premise and off premise or even Co-location

b. Provisioning Automation

c. Configuration Automation

e. HA (High availability) and DR ( Disaster Recovery)

f. Consumerization of IT and enterprise resource reuse

Imperatives:

This goes towards our traditional model of cloud based provisioning and consumption  of services. The ROI models are similar to that of previously used Middleware ROI models where “consolidation” and “ time to market” are primary drivers of cost efficiency. This also applies to clients and typically large enterprise clients which is either due to regulation or choice or business decision choice to maintain and control their own infrastructure – on or off premise or CoLo.

Some Terms, concepts to be familiar with:

1.OpenStack

2. CloudStack

3. Chef and Puppet

4. Cloud IDE

Some notable Companies to be aware of:

1.    IBM Smart Cloud

2.    Amazon  Cloud Services

3.    Rackspace

4.    Heroku

5.    Cloud Foundry

6.    Red Hat’s Open Shift

7.    Cloud9 IDE

Inference:

Focus here from a Mobile middleware, infrastructure and components is on provisioning, configuration automation and management of the various Mobile components. Platform ought to have the ability to be developed, deployed, and managed with full automation tooling integration with an ability to monitor all the components that are deployed.

2.  MBaas and API Management  -- I tend to classify these together. There is a  reason for this. MBaaS which is “Mobile  Back end as a Service” is a  emerging model to provide the app developers to interface the back end service such as a storage, data access, services access and other mobile specific services such as Push, social network services and SMS. API Management on the other hand is a mechanism to publish, share and meter the usage of yet another layer of service interface. In the Mobile API economy these go hand in hand. Think of these as not only an integration layer but also a tier to manage Mobile interaction with the enterprise.

Imperatives:

This is becoming increasingly common  concept in mobile parlance. We often use the term Mobile Middleware, and I think the term MBaaS will take prime seat in Enterprise Mobile discussion as  a service integration layer. The primary drivers behind this is the rapid rate of evolution, and crowding of competing and complimenting client technologies in marketplace is driving our clients toward a decision model that separates the client architecture from the server architecture and yet induce mobile specific interoperability. This interoperability relies on not only the understanding of the client technology but also the data structure. JavaScript is not only accessible but also easy to use which contributes to its ubiquitous use in mobile application. This allows for Mobile device to connect and fetch data. This data ( or service) can exists in cloud or on premise. As long the server architecture provides a Mobile friendly interface (JavaScript) and data structure (JSON). Use of JavaScript on server enables an enterprise to exploit and repurpose current web development skills to develop, deploy and manage the mobile middleware or MBaaS. Some notable companies  as LinkedIn, PayPal, Intuit, yahoo and eBay etc, are already validating the use and growth of MBaaS on Node.js. The possibilities are immense ranging from use of Node.js in the heart of the enterprise to the edge and periphery of the enterprise. The model is bound to grow in popularity due to the decoupled model that has a direct cost implication on the development and maintenance of the Mobile application infrastructure.

Inference:

The notion of decoupling the client ( application on the device) and server gaining momentum. This idea of decoupling implies that regardless of client technology ( Android, iOS-Xcode, MS – visual studio or JavaScript framework like jquery, Dojo Mobile, and sencha etc and other framework like HTML5 Cordova and Appcelerator etc) the server side technology should be independent and unaware of client and provide client a Mobile specific middleware services such as a Push, SMS, data and storage integration and access to other enterprise specific APIs.

Some examples and framework to Know are:

•Data Binding: Backbone, AngularJS, Node js. Dojo Observable

•Routing: dojo/router, Backbone, Node

•App Controllers: Backbone, AuraJS

•Sync: component/model, AngularJS services, Backbone Sync

Some companies to be aware of:

1.    Rackspace

2.    Strongloop (Loopback)

3.    StackMob

4.    Parse

5.    CloudMine

6.    ScottyApp

3. Emerging Mobile API Economy –These are services that provide services to Mobile application. Services such as sending messages to users, payment processing, track analytics, cloud data storage,  and cloud based governance etc. Some examples include-  Twilio, Google Digital wallets, Stripe, square, Uber, TaskRabbit, AdMob ( Google), box, etc.

Imperatives:

These technologies and services allow application to delegate a task such as a storage , authentication , payments etc and minimize the need for an expensive infrastructure and design work to accomplish the same. These service invocation can be a pay per use model or a “All you can eat” model.  The idea here is  to increase time to market, enhance developer productivity and reduce costs on specialized services with virtually zero cost of maintenance.

Inference:

Gartner predicts the revenue of these application service providers to rise to $25 Billion this year. This is a growing economy and an eco system and we will need to pay attention to this. While this may not fall under traditional sense of Cloud, this is a cloud based service delivery and consumption model.

Some notable Companies to be aware of:

1.    IBM API Management

2.    Mashery

3.    Apigee

4.    Google API

5.    Twilio

Conclusion:

So obviously there is a  lot  to consume and understand  around Cloud and mobility. In conclusion, I would say this - it is absolutely futile the working against these trends, instead we will need to understand where do we play and what is our place in this growing and changing eco system. We need to provide  “Design” thinking  to our clients from a business perspectives and lay the technical foundation needed to absorb the eco system changes and drive the business imperatives. What we need to address from a technical design perspective is the around data – it’s storage and retrieval – surrounded by enterprise quality of services such as security, scalability etc. From a Business perspective we ought to understand the drivers. The obvious business drivers are costs and time to market, but other drivers may include ( but not limited to) availability of skills, lifespan of the mobile initiative, legacy data and processing systems and current mobile and social presence, and so on.  Mobile is a natural extension of cloud, in the evolutionary computing paradigm cloud computing is not only essential for growth of Mobile computing but together they set the stage for the next era.

The question to ponder upon is – what is that next era? and how technology integrates wit the way we live?

  

Reference readings:

1.    StrogLoop – Loopbacl Node.js - http://strongloop.com/strongloop-suite/loopback/

2.    Twilio – commnication voice based API  http://www.twilio.com/

3.    Web API management - http://www.informationweek.com/whitepaper/Business-Intelligence/Business-Process-Management/web-api-management-new-rules-for-a-new-economy-wp1367342058?articleID=191708409&download=true&popup=true

4.    Mashery - http://www.mashery.com/

5.    Apigee - http://apigee.com/about/

6.    Rackspace Cloud Mobile Stack -http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/mobile-stacks/

7.    IBM Bluemix - http://www-01.ibm.com/software/ebusiness/jstart/bluemix/index.html

8.    Forrester MBaaS - http://blogs.forrester.com/michael_facemire/12-04-25-mobile_backend_as_a_service_the_new_lightweight_middleware

Here are a Few of my thoughts: on Role of Telco with Emerging Mobile eco-system

I have realized two things that are vital to understand:

1.    There is an  “External Eco System” that “Enterprise Mobile Application” need to consider – thing’s like Mobile services, Push Notification, application store, social –Mobile Integration and so on.  AND
2.    Every Mobile Initiative needs a “Platform” – that enables integration, and assembly line to create, host and integrate these Mobile Applications with the rest of the enterprise.

Every Enterprise need to understand and adapt Both -- Platform( to efficiently develop, integrate, manage and deploy) and Eco-system ( to adapt, play and be relevant).

Telco -- In mobile space have a special role. I draw an analogy of  the  shippers like UPS and FedEx who have transformed from a shipping business to a value chain business where they are now in business of computer repairs and logistics management ( order fulfillment and returns etc). I view Telco who are essentially application packet carriers  to provide "Mobile Application Logistics" services  to enterprise and transform their business from telecommunication related services to Application services. They would need not only a robust platform that keeps up with the eco system but also a platform what can integrate with enterprise (legacy or new platforms) and scalable service that is performant.

example : Connected vehicle project and other such projects will have to rely on Telco to provide networks not just smart devices but other "Things" and that data would have to be collected and send through "business system" (Like BPM etc) -- one needs to a mobile middleware to easily fit into this model like WebSphere and application server did a decade ago.

Other example:
API management is extending into the software defined networking market to connect data infrastructure operations. Mobile computing on the rise will eventually converge with services exposed in software defined (networked) marketplaces and evolve into the ecosystem that Mobile application will learn to rely upon. We absolutely need to find synergies between our own offerings before we begin to event attempt play in the emerging open API marketplace. (Think IBM Worklight (and many of MobileFirst portfolio) and IBM API management) – MA (PI) aaS – Mobile API as a Service. This is what Companies like ATT and Deutsche Telekom are doing -- creating a eco system on worklight to create adapters or  API that can be consumed ( and eventually metered/billed etc) to provide access to Mobile specific services:

 (ATT: 1)AT&T tech talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vdQGG_wS74&feature=youtu.be 2) The URL for past recorded tech talks including this one:

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mobile/mobile-techtalks/recorded.html

Deutsche Telecom

http://asmarterplanet.com/mobile-enterprise/blog/2013/09/small-businesses-get-a-mobile-boost-from-deutsche-telekom-ibm.html

http://www.businesscloudnews.com/2013/09/25/ibm-and-deutsche-telekom-partner-on-mobile-app-cloud-service/)


Why "Mobile Middleware":

I think we ought to work on "Discussion framework" - where we lay out the ecosystem , classify it and move on the 'solution' part of the discussion.  IMHO with this approach we maximize our time in understanding issues, collecting requirements and not a religious debate between frameworks and application types.

Note: Now, there are trade-offs when a client chooses all native (i.e. no code re-use, more development expense, etc) but I prefer to stay agnostic and guide and lead our clients into setting the right strategy for their "mobile" business and their individual apps

           Why Mobile Middleware or 'Mobile Platform" : I think since we are in enterprise space and will eventually have to address the enterprise integration challenges for mobile applications, I think it is vital we center this as a part of our discussion. Some Arguments I have used are as follows:

1.We want a completely agnostic approach to our clients that can do "native" , hybrid, or mobile web because the real value is in the platform, administration, up-keep, security, adapters, and integration layer we provide better than anyone else. - Integration

2.Mobile Middleware provides a layer of indirection, which allows for the back end services to be shifted without affecting the end point. - Flexibility

3.Ability to surgically enable and disable Application specific to a platform, administratively provide platform specific messages - Control.

4.Mobile Middleware also arms the enterprise to adapt and fit into to current Enterprise Security platform ( authentication, authorization and security policy enforcement etc) - Security

5.Mobile Middleware also provides an avenue to exploit existing services ( SOA Model) and since these services were design for Web Application, Mobile middleware allows for filtering and altering the content, prior to sending the response back to end use. - Flexibility, control and reuse and Optimization of existing enterprise services.

6.Mobile Specific Services - Unified push notification, SMS and devices specific notifications etc, provide an avenue to address these via platform.
and more….


Other Telco Industry related market observations:

1.    Verizon and Vodaphone – Capturing it’s own 45% market share and access to some EU markets, Verizon aims to capitalize on the network investment and boost it’s mobile services. Think of the ‘Infrastructure’ needed for expanded Mobile Services. I have always believed that TELCO will play a pivotal role in our Industry and Mobile space, and seeing boost in investment from all major Telco is not only encouraging but also indicative of an industry trend.


Additional Thoughts:
--> Maturity in M2M or M2X and ‘Connected’ vehicle is seen a trend that will change the way we live. Sprint /ATT/Verizon's of the world are gearing up to provision the bandwidth and special 4G LTE offering and GM/Chrysler/Fords are ramping up the  “Connected Vehicle’ offering. Industry see's this to be an $8b industry in 2014.
 
Google This:  M2m Multi-Operator alliance – include NTT Docomo, Etilsalat, Telefonica are promoting a common standard.  Real ‘Smart cars” – Fords AppLink lets driver do interesting things with Glympse app. GM announced 4G LTE technology in their cars, Volvo ‘Connected Vehicle cloud’, Toyota ‘Friend’ – trends indicating that Cars may be ultimate Mobile devices and possibilities for commerce, retail, automobile and other are immense



I am open to thoughts and Critique....

Have a great week!!

:)
Nitin

Enterprise Mobility is lot more than bits on a device and delineating between Platform and ecosystem

Topic: Enterprise Mobility is lot more than bits on a device and delineating between Platform and ecosystem and yes Mobile apps have to be pretty and smart as a design imperative.

Folks this post is long overdue, so I will attempt to pack as much of my learning as I can in this post, and try to make it meaningful.

I spend a month in UAE to better understand mGov (Mobile Government Project), and  I wanted to share some experiences and learning’s. But before I start I must applaud the UAE government for Hyper focus on government services, where rest of the world is cutting back on government services UAE is raising the bar on government services. For instance, UAE has 24 hours  government services (criminal defense, Immigration, Visa services etc) via phone, all services are online and their next quest is to mobilize all government services by 2014. So Kudo’s for the initiatives and a reminder for all of us on opportunities in UAE to be lead by examples and references.

It is evident that  any Enterprise Mobility is lot more than a bits on a device and it does challenge an enterprise on Mobile readiness. There are many considerations such as existing services, the payload of the existing services, (as many of them are designed for Web), security models (less invasive but adherence to same enterprise security standards), and inclusion of things like Maps (decision to use Google or enterprise ARCGis maps or even cloud ARCGis services. So on..

The Mobile Application design considerations spans from:

a. Intelligence (this includes data, integration and enterprise awareness – all required for least amount of data entry by the user on a mobile app/device) …to

b. Beauty – The Mobile apps would have to be pretty with regard to color, UI design, functionality and include Map services etc.

and

Everything else in between – hosting, middleware, network, integration, external services, and all related IT functions.

This where I would like to take an opportunity to distinguish between

1.     Platform AND

2.     (External) Eco-system

Now Eco-system is a complex community of frameworks, MobileOS, Mobile services (telecom, SMS, LBS Push etc) and its environment functioning as an ecological unit. This is something we do not have control over. An enterprise can survive, even thrive and play in this eco-system by adopting frameworks and adapting to the evolution. Think about it…”Evolution” --- which is at a very rapid pace in the Mobile ecosystem.

Platform on the other hand is something an enterprise uses as a standard to launch technology, services and applications. A platform can a Operating system like Unix or Middleware like WebSphere Application services that provides and avenue to connect, integrate and consume other “Platform” hosted services or legacy services via some sort of transformation. For instance their a few fundamental ways we connect and integrate various platforms (database, web services and JMS (Messaging)). Platform is something we have full control over as the enterprise develops, deploys and manages application, services and integration.

I make this distinction, for the following reasons:

1.     Client discussions – we need to discuss what we can influence and what we cannot. This keeps the project discussions realistic and productive.

2.     Because we now in Mobility space, we need to better understand the eco system and how our platform and MobileFirst Portfolio differentiates and absorb the eco-system and as a single enterprise ecologic unit.

3.     Define the ability of a Platform (full control) to adapt to the ever changing eco-system. This is vital discussion point and a competitive differentiator.

4.     Unlike and traditional enterprise application space, the Eco-system is playing a more dominant role as the mobile OS vendors and device manufacturer are setting the tone of innovation and technology landscape. The faster a platform can adopt and adapt to the change, an enterprise can gain a competitive advantage in marketplace.

And…

Sound smart --- our knowledge of the eco system will help us better position products and solution.

The role of Mobile Middelware:(Ideal characteristics)

1. Mobile Middleware provides a layer of indirection, which allows for the back end services to be shifted without affecting the end point. - Flexibility 
2.Ability to surgically enable and disable Application specific to a platform, administratively provide platform specific messages - Control. 
3.Mobile Middleware also arms the enterprise to adapt and fit into to current Enterprise Security platform (authentication, authorization and security policy enforcement etc) - Security 
4.Mobile Middleware also provides an avenue to exploit existing services (SOA Model) and since these services were design for Web Application, Mobile middleware allows for filtering and altering the content, prior to sending the response back to end use. - Flexibility, control and reuse and Optimization of existing enterprise services. 
5.Mobile Specific Services - Unified push notification, SMS and devices specific notifications etc; provide an avenue to address these via platform.

AND

Ecosystem provides the value add services to the app that is developed and managed in our environment can "Play well" or Integrate well with that eco system. like ISIS/GDW etc. So we need to think in terms of API services or API Management ( we have a product, but I am focused on concept here) that amalgamates that service tier.

As always I welcome your thought and critique ..either on this forum or via e-mail.

Have a great week ahead.

:)

Nitin

Why would our clients invest into Mobile Computing Platform?

 Topic – Why  would our clients invest into Mobile Computing Platform?

 Folks,

             Like many of  us, I have been in travels and visiting clients, and as  I speak to  many clients, I wanted to take a step back and reevaluate our approach to Mobile Computing Platform.  I use the term Mobile Computing Platform because I think Mobility as a term is too loosely defined  and we need to take a step back and understand the drivers and investments  that  our clients are willing to make into mobilizing  ‘a Initiative’. One thing I have been pondering on is that, I think Mobility has fueled a lot of creative applications, and every enterprise has a loose vision, but are we really paying attention to the design that includes back end plumbing as well? or is it expected for these new paradigm to be Ephemeral?

So I begin with  a basic question,  apart from the clamor from iOS7 release, geo location, Samsung’s auto scroll function  and many such ‘cool’ features. Why would our clients make a decision to Invest into Mobile Platforms? And  will the traditional ROI models suffice to  make  a level of investment that mimic’s investments made into traditional Enterprise application. One school of thought is that the mobile investment is mere extension of enterprise application infrastructure and hence is an incremental effort, and so is the investment.

So looking at the reasons on why our clients and enterprise will invest into mobility is broadly categorized into 3 areas:

1.     To Monetize – Simply put, a Mobile application/platform will generate new revenues, and becomes strategic go to market strategy. Example  retail, cruise lines etc.

Constituents – B2C and B2B in some cases.

2.     To make people productive – This includes ensue that employees in office and field, be is sales or oil rigs can do their job and add to efficiency factor.

Constituents: B2E or B2F(ield)

3.     To provide better customer service – This category, the enterprise may not be able to monetize or have direct impact on bottom line, but need to provide a channel that is in tune with times. This is simply cost of doing business. At times it is hard to put numbers behind goo customer service.

Constituents: B2C or even B2E

Business drivers	Monetize	Enhance Productivity	Better Customer Service
Technology	Hybrid	Native	Mobile Web/Responsive Web
Constituents	B2C, B2B	B2E, B2F	B2C, B2E

Figure 1: Think of this as a matrix, where the Business drivers/constituents and technology can be chosen, there is not strict tie with technology choices. Which I think in many cases depends on the use cases.

So Why are we not talking technology? – what about Mobile Middleware, Mobile Device management, iOS7 – iPhone 5s/5c, Samsung Galaxy, Worklight…. And more… Well I have learned that unless we realize why we do  and what we do? And how much investment our clients will make? our effort to capture Mobile interests will simply go into educating our clients. So I feel that it is very important for us to have a surgical approach towards enterprise Mobile Computing platform.

So an Organization where we do expend energy? – This has been a hard question for me, as I think our chase to keep up with the industry and evolution in Mobile OS is not only important, but resource intensive with  return that involves volume. Not to mention the competitive pressures we face from open source frameworks (with software sales) and boutique firms ( with software services). So I have been pondering on where we compete and where do we leave off the low-lying  run of the mill projects for others. This IMHO is the area we will need to innovate and understand from an offering perspective, as to providing a comprehensive platform where NOT only our clients can address the notion of ‘extending’ or ‘Mobilizing’ existing enterprise application but tap into innovative areas of business where ‘Mobile context’ can ‘transform business’ and provide new avenues of growth and revenue. This is where IMHO is  where we can prove with a sustainable ROI models and venture into areas that neither Open source or any of the 1000s of the boutique firms can penetrate because of they lack “Enterprise IQ’ and thought leadership.

In my next post I will expand on this, as some of my thought are still raw and I  will need to refine some of it with research.

Until then…please send me your thought and critique on this forum.

;)

Nitin

MS buys Nokia, Verizon regains Vodaphone, ‘Google Now’ is all about Context, and 85% of large corporations will have API programs….Is all of this driven by Mobile imperatives!

MS buys Nokia, Verizon regains Vodaphone, ‘Google Now’ is all about Context, and 85% of large corporations will have API programs….Is all of this driven by Mobile imperatives!

Folks...

This week started off with some amazing headlines. From mega mergers to not so headline worthy news, and it may be my imagination, but I think all of these big and small headlines are not just indicative of industry evolution, but also driven by Mobile imperatives. So let me discuss some of these:

1.    Microsoft buys Nokia – Now this may be either strategic merger or a life line for both Nokia and Microsoft, but one thing is for sure Windows Mobile Operating system is going to be relevant. Not just in GMU (Growth Markets) but the existing presence of Microsoft in their current accounts. The Value of an integrated product (we have seen with Apple (iOS)) is immense. It will be interesting to see how this will evolve Microsoft itself and innovation it will bring to the market. And YES we need to understand this, as we have a Mobile Platform that aim to address all Major Mobile OSs.

2.    Verizon and Vodaphone – Capturing it’s own 45% market share and access to some EU markets, Verizon aims to capitalize on the network investment and boost it’s mobile services. Think of the ‘Infrastructure’ needed for expanded Mobile Services. I have always believed that TELCO will play a pivotal role in our Industry and Mobile space, and seeing boost in investment from all major Telco is not only encouraging but also indicative of an industry trend. IBM as a technology and enterprise software provider with our MobileFirst and Middleware Portfolio can play a major role here.

3.    85% of large corporations will have API programs – Past few of my posts I have discussed the importance of API management. Recent news of Apigee raising capital, layer 7 being acquired by CA, Mashery being acquired by Intel, is not accident that large companies have figured that API management is fairly important. I have discussed this before, and I reiterate that - API management is extending into the software defined networking market to connect data infrastructure operations. Mobile computing on the rise will eventually converge with services exposed in software defined (networked) marketplaces and evolve into the ecosystem that Mobile application will learn to rely upon. We absolutely need to find synergies between our own offerings before we begin to event attempt play in the emerging open API marketplace. (Think – MA (PI) aaS – Mobile API as a Service.

4.    Google is testing a local news “card” in its Google Now service - Google Now is a logical vehicle for local news because one of its primary functions is knowing where you are and providing information that is “contextually relevant” to you, as specified by your interests, the time of day, and your location. We have always known that Mobile application discussions are always about deepening engagements with contextually relevant engagement. There is a lot of work Google is doing with its Google services and Google Glass platform, to bring contextually relevant engagement to fruitful reality. Imagine U are wearing Google glass and participating in social crime watch and alert systems, or sharing an exciting offer with peers. So there is a lot of potential, we just need to advocate a platform that can be the plumbing system or engine of sorts to capitalize on this technology.

5.    European mobile revolution and IBM is very much a part of it - In Europe we are once again partnering with Visa to revolutionize the mobile payment solutions.  We will provide software, technology services and consulting to help power these mobile ambitions. No reason why we cannot replicate in other markets like US, LA and GMU. We just need repeatable pattern (and may be a product combination). Mobile banking and mobile payments have both been perennial conversations in financial industry and still is relevant.  We should look at our financial services point of view and address platform and security challenges.

I have discussed a lot of business and technology related to our industry. I do want to spend some time talking about what I have learned with my recent engagement.

1.    Clients do NOT want to have a product discussion they NEED a solution discussion. This has become a norm with Mobile discussions. Approach that I have used recently is the Enterprise Capability Maturity Model  discussion (I have discussed this in the past). Basically approach is:

a.    Describe key initiatives, characteristics, and components of a world class mobile enterprise

b.    Partner LOB and IT stakeholders across the enterprise on mobile initiatives

c.    Create a gap analysis, identifying areas of strength and areas where the return on investment is the most impactful

d.    Deploy a progressive business and technical strategy to adopt the technology, tools, and mindset needed to become a MobileFirst enterprise

2.     Mobile Discussions are still tiring, and this is because everyone has an opinion on mobile apps, one thing we should focus on is the fact that Mobile initiative is far beyond “bits on a mobile device” discussion. So we should curtail a wish list discussion to the enterprise mobile objectives discussion.

3.    Deconstruct Mobile application Landscape. Broadly speaking we should breakdown Mobile ‘External Eco system” (Stuff that we externally interact with) and Mobile Platform (Stuff that we need to do to enable enterprise Mobile platform and services)

a.    Mobile Application Design and development

b.    Mobile Application test environment

c.    Mobile – Cloud –External eco system

d.    Mobile Device management

e.    Mobile Security.

These are broad areas of discussion, but we absolutely either need to structure our conversation or device a boundary. IMHO this will make our discussions more productive and go beyond story boarding.

I think I have rambled enough for this post. As always I welcome your thoughts, critique and opinions.

Have a great week ahead!

:)

Nitin

References:

1.    http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/31/enterprise-api-programs/#!

2.    http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/31/apigee-raises-35m-for-api-management-platform/#!

3.    http://qz.com/110493/google-is-testing-a-local-news-product-for-google-now/#!

4.    http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/qq_netflix-algorithm/#!

5.    https://testflightapp.com/sdk/android/doc/1.0/

6.    http://www.bankingtech.com/162072/visa-europe-ibm-and-monitise-plan-european-mobile-revolution/#.UicinZyq3mk.twitter