Volume 2, Issue 2
The Wireless Industry's Dirty Secret
One of the ironic things about "wireless" applications is that they aren't always wireless. Billions of dollars have been spent building infrastructure to support billions of mobile devices (no kidding, 1.6 per person in Taiwan and even more in Scandinavia). And yet you and I can't drive to Starbucks without dropping a call.
Wireless carriers have made heroic (some use less complimentary adjectives)
strides blanketing the earth with cell sites but we all know that "ubiquitous coverage" is a relative term. Consider this: if 98% of the inhabited earth had perfect coverage there would still be a dead zone large enough to fit the city of San Francisco three times - with plenty of room left for all of Manhattan.
As our customers remind us daily, "ubiquitous" often doesn't cover floor 12 and it never seems to make it through ten foot thick concrete walls in the server room. As Wi-Fi and Wi-Max gain momentum that may change but it's safe to anticipate sporadic connectivity for many years ahead.
So What?
What does this mean for you and your business? You'll be out of coverage somewhere between some of the time and all of the time. Your wireless solution shouldn't care. Make sure whether you use devices that are completely disconnected like PDAs or bar-code scanners or "completely" connected like phones and BlackBerrys you're able to use your applications regardless of the strength of your wireless signal. Here are five tips to keep in mind when evaluating the disconnected part of your mobile solution:
TIP 1: Make sure when changes made offline are pushed to your application the record can be timestamped based on when the change was actually made. This is important in environments with SLAs.
TIP 2: Choose a solution that doesn't discriminate among network types. Don't get locked into a Wi-Fi-only solution or a GSM-only solution because the people managing your network and your devices certainly aren't.
TIP 3: Make sure the same management tools you use to configure wireless applications can be used to configure applications for disconnected devices.
TIP 4: Test for compatibility with your hardware. Make sure no programming is required to support new devices.
TIP 5: Load test your applications. Make sure performance doesn't degrade as you download more information for use offline.
Aeroprise Index of Wireless Activity
The wireless gods looked kindly on IOWA this month, a direct result of the [pending] acquisition of AT&T Wireless by Cingular. Stocks soared and prolific pundits pontificated as wireless grabbed front page headlines nation-wide.
For the month, IOWA increased 6.2% to close at 131.15.
Overheard
"Aeroprise is an amazing, powerful application. For once, a product actually lives up to the sales hype!" -Bruce Steinberg, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Aeroprise in the News
Mobile Enterprise Magazine: "Among the benefits that Dartmouth has enjoyed are: a 50-percent reduction in time per service call, reduced travel time, reduced end-user downtime, reduced cost per technician, productivity improvements, eliminated redundancy and increased accuracy in real-time inventory updates by up to 80 percent."
The 451 Group, analysis by Tony Rizzo: "Aeroprise focuses on mobile workflow management and finds a ready market..."
Tip of the Month: Get In Sync With Aeroprise
If you're using a sporadically-connected device like a BlackBerry or phone, click "Go Offline" to download information from your rule list to your local device. Make changes while offline as you would any other time. When you're back in coverage click "Go Online" and your queued changes will be pushed to your application.
If you're using a disconnected device like a PDA without Wi-Fi or a handheld bar-code scanner, sync the information from your rule list by cradling your device. The same tools you use to develop your wireless applications are used to develop your disconnected ones. Any changes you make in your Personalization Console or Administration Console will be reflected in your mobile applications after you sync.
You'll be hearing more about Aeroprise disconnected solutions in the near future. For more information, contact your account manager or an Aeroprise reseller.
Trivia Question: Always-On Nation
Question: Of the following countries, which has the highest number of mobile phones per person?
(a) Luxembourg (b) United States (c) France (d) Iceland (e) Australia
[answer in next month's newsletter]
Last month's question: What does "GPRS", the popular wireless data access protocol, stand for?
(a) General Phone Relay Service (b) General Packet Radio Service (c) Generic Phone Replication Scheme (d) Gentle People Rarely Swear
Last month's answer: (b) GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service. The GSM family of wireless protocols - GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and WCDMA - represents about 72% of the world's digital wireless customers today. There are 825 million GSM customers globally on 640 networks (469 operators) in 175 countries.
Resources
Aeroprise Newsletter Archives
Mobilizing Your Applications: A Primer
Aeroprise online demo
Aeroprise customer case study
Aeroprise Partner Portal
Questions
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f: +1(650)404-1185
information@aeroprise.com
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