Enterprise Applications

Enterprise applications go mobile

Technologies such as GPRS (2.5G) and 3G are good delivery vehicles for wireless data services. Software majors Microsoft, IBM and Oracle have come out with solutions for this segment. Gaurav Patra finds that the only ingredient missing is cost-effective GPRS access. Once that’s available, the task of unwiring the enterprise will proceed full steam ahead

Cellular service providers are offering IP-based data networks and these networks, in turn, rely on wireless-ready software. Some of the big names in the software space have introduced solutions for service providers and enterprises. IBM and Microsoft have introduced wireless-ready versions of their enterprise messaging products. Oracle has a light version of its relational database for mobile devices.

The Indian scenario

Today, outdoor mobility solutions, especially connectivity over GPRS, do not have too many takers except for the odd notebook user dialling into the corporate network or accessing the Internet through a GPRS connection. "With the bandwidth situation improving and high class infrastructure being deployed by mobile operators, we see a significant increase in end customers in this space," says Bikram S Bedi, country manager, Websphere, IBM India. S P S Grover, director, eBusiness, Oracle India says, "There is keen interest in the market from all sectors and wireless data services are becoming core to IT strategies being framed both at the corporate level and in e-governance initiatives."

Potential customers for such services include medical sales representatives, insurance agents and sales people servicing the FMCG and consumer durable markets. Another potential target segment is law enforcement agencies and government functionaries who need to update and track key data as they move and operate at the district and village level.

Today, voice traffic rules on wireless networks. WAP did not work out as it was too slow and you needed to stay connected for the duration of the session. GPRS, though a much better technology, is expensive. Airtel in Karnataka offers GPRS 999, a scheme where the mobile user pays a monthly rental of Rs 999 with a data transfer limit of 10 MB. Hutch on the other hand has a monthly tariff of Rs 249 per month but you have to pay extra for downloading polyphonic ringtones and games. On the positive side, GPRS enabled handsets are available for as low as Rs 6,600 (Sony Ericsson T200) and enterprises have started looking at creating a mobile workforce by pushing sales force automation (SFA) applications to mobile phones and PDAs.

"In the next two to three years, as GPRS develops, we will witness more mobile applications on the data side, which will help in the growth of this space," informs Daniel Ingitaraj, senior marketing manager, Microsoft India. He also predicts that there is going to be a big leap in the future and people are going to use more data than voice on their mobile devices.

Microsoft India

Microsoft is bullish on mobile computing applications. "We do not want to keep waiting for things to happen. Instead, we have started building competencies on the mobile applications front," informs Ingitaraj.

Windows CE.NET is the successor to Windows CE 3.0. Built to deliver a robust, real-time operating system for devices such as handheld personal digital assistants, Windows CE.NET lets developers quickly bring to market smart connected devices that take advantage of the latest wireless and multimedia technologies. Devices supported: Windows-powered mobile devices such as the Pocket PC and Smart Phone.

IBM India

IBM has the Websphere suite of products, mobile connectivity solutions and wireless handheld solutions.

One of the offerings of the company is the service provider offering (SPO). It is a solution for securely extending e-business to a broad range of wireless and mobile devices that include WAP phones and wirelessly connected personal computers and other devices. In the days to come the company will continue to focus on this segment and will also continue its research activities, with its alliances and partners, and launch new products and services to meet the growing demands of a mobile enterprise.

The WebSphere family includes applications such as Voice Server, a piece of middleware that lets you develop and deploy voice-enabled e-business solutions that use speech recognition and Text-to-Speech (TTS) for more natural customer interaction. Other wireless applications in the WebSphere suite of products include Everyplace Embedded Software, a software solution for extending e-business to pervasive devices and Everyplace Subscription Manager, a middleware that provides the necessary functions and features for service providers to enrol, authenticate, service, and support their customers.

Oracle India

Oracle supports development and deployment of offline mobile applications on various mobile devices using a lightweight, fully relational database—Oracle 9i Lite. And it also addresses the requirement of synchronisation of data by thousands of simultaneous mobile users with central applications as well, ensuring that data is secure while it is synchronised with central applications. The company also offers pre-integrated and out-of-the-box mobile applications as part of Oracle e-Business suite 11i to help customers deploy various aspects of enterprise applications the mobile way automatically as a part of SCM and CRM application deployment.

Oracle’s 9iAS Application Server’s wireless capabilities allows enterprises or providers to offer network and device independent access.