VDC Research: Enterprise & Government Mobility Market Blog

BYOD in the Government Sector - the USDA's Large MDM-Oriented RFP

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently issued a multi-million dollar RFP for a variety of integrated MDM-oriented mobile solutions. As stated in their RFP and PWS, the Agency plans to award its next-generation and enterprise-grade mobility contract to a single vendor via a blanket purchase agreement (vendors may propose a proprietary solution or one built through partnerships with other providers). The document makes it clear that the agency recognizes that its workforce is being impacted by BYOD:

"new boundaries are being established within USDA that support the mobilization of our workforce and that blur the lines between personal computing and corporate resources."

Several key and core mobility management components are desired — specifically a solution that tightly integrates:

• MDM (the agency expects to grow its current footprint of mobile devices from 3,000 to 100,000 in "the next few years")

• MAM (the agency has specified that it requires a solution that can accommodate the deployment of both in-house and commercially developed applications).

• Secure Container (the agency seeks a solution that allows Government data to be securely isolated from personal data while being managed from the MDM solution it decides on).

While the Agency expects its workforce to be relatively stable in the coming years, it expects mobile devices to play an increasingly important role in the future. It expects BYOD to account for the lion share of the device growth within its workforce in the coming years — however, government furnished equipment (GFE) will also increase. The Agency's RFP reveals the device diversity (3,600 mobile devices are currently being managed, consisting of: iOS, Android 2.2+ and Windows Phone 7) that it must contend with, and also makes it clear that it recognizes the importance of preserving the user experience:

"everything must appear “seamless” to end-users while delivering significant business value in a secure manner."

According to the solicitation documents, organizational experience with the USDA and its primary service provider (International Technology Service or ITS) is preferable — the RFP appears to be open to all federal business opportunity vendors. While the experience requirement could potentially eliminate many smaller vendors, the reality is that there are a limited number of vendors whose solution range spans MDM/MAM/Secure Container that can claim the "tight integration" capabilities that the Agency demands. The fact that the USDA recognizes that participating vendors can propose a proprietary solution or one built through partnerships is notable, and speaks to the Agency's recognition of the state of our mobile ecosystem.

The RFP also reveals that McAfee is the incumbent MDM vendor putting them in an advantageous position for the contract (the company also has recently enhanced its MAM capabilities). However, there are other MDM vendors of note who possess the key criteria that the USDA is looking for (AirWatch, SAP, and MobileIron) as well as others (e.g., Boxtone and Zenprise) who are well positioned to partner due to their ability to tightly integrate with best-in-class MAM vendors such as Apperian and AppCentral, and secure container vendors such Good Technology and Bitzer Mobile.

There is certain to be aggressive per device pricing proposed from the vendors vying for this business — we'll be keeping an eye on this large contract, and will continue to blog about it as details emerge. VDC will also will be publishing a comprehensive MDM Report later this month.

The Attack Surface Problem on Mobile Platforms

In comparison to desktop PCs, the number of threats on mobile platforms is actually low (today), but the pace of device proliferation has changed the traditional definition of a network endpoint, and has made smartphones and tablets an attractive target for those seeking to do harm. While device manufacturers continue to enhance the embedded security that resides on their hardware with each successive release, cyber criminals are altering their tactics and are keen on taking advantage of flaws in mobile platforms and applications. Another complication for corporate IT is the fragmented state of today’s mobile OS landscape. While RIM continues to struggle, our data indicates that on average, organizations support more than 2 OSes (we anticipate this to be the case for the foreseeable future as well). This is problematic from a security and device management perspective, and increases the complexity associated with effectively administering a multi-platform mobile environment.

For the criminally minded, information such as personal email, contacts, passwords and other stored personal and/or corporate data, all present a potential treasure trove of high-value information that can be exploited. Scams such as phishing (where passwords and other personal information can be stolen), location (GPS) tracking, and financial malware, are all opening the door to illicit and potentially criminal activity. Invariably, new technology platforms introduce new vulnerabilities, which often enable new attacks by increasingly potent adversaries. The challenge organizations that recognize the strategic advantage available to them from investing in mobility solutions will be to prioritize investments in technologies and practices which can best protect assets and maintain operational efficiencies without disrupting business innovation. This will be an essential top management issue as mobile workforces continue to expand.

A common characteristic of mobile devices is their multiple connectivity options (depicted below), this is distinctly different from traditional PCs which appear as a single end-point on a corporate network. The robust connectivity options make mobile devices extremely powerful, and data retrieval and information sharing painless; however, they expose mobile devices to a variety of security threats, particularly when deployed in corporate settings.

Bottom line – understanding the attack surface on mobile platforms is critically important for companies as they expand thier mobile workforce. Moving forward, developing a threat vector based defense-in-depth architecture will be required – the battle for who provides these security solutions has, and is sure to intensify. The best protection to “future proof” mobile technology platforms will be to not only appropriately invest in the staffing and training of IT personnel, but to arm them with the powerful software solutions that continue to mature and provide the level or protection that is necessary in today’s mobile ecosystem.

A growing number of vendors are acutely aware of the attack surface problem, and are emphasizing their security-orientation as they compete in the enterprise mobility market – if you represent an organization with a mobile-oriented enterprise-grade security solution, I'd welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your solution(s).

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Some Enterprise Mobility Acronyms are More Important than Others ...

Why BYOD is en Vogue

Chances are if you work (or have worked) in a marketing, product management, or IT role, you've come across your share of acronyms — the mobile boom we are in the midst of has the enterprise mobility ecosytem in full acronym bloom. While this isn't a surprise given the astronomic growth in adoption of smartphones and tablets that we are seeing, if you've been in the workforce for say a decade or more, you've seen your share of acronyms come and go. However, as a long-time industry watcher I can say that there is one salient acronym that will also eventually "go" but whose impact will be felt in the modern workplace for years to come — no surprise, I'm referring to BYOD.

"The Genie is out of the Bottle" is a tried and true expression that folks like me like to use, and it couldn't be more applicable to what is happening in enterprise mobility today. BYOD (many prefer the term "Consumerization of IT", yes another acronym — CoIT) is prolific in the messaging from mobile-focused vendors for good reason, it refers to the increasing influence that consumers are having on the technology which we expect to use at work. This concept, along with the mobile device proliferation that is common in business environments today is bringing both challenges and opportunities for IT organizations. While IT is accustomed to “pushing back,” increasingly it is the employees who are doing the pushing, and they are regularly getting their own personal mobile devices supported on corporate networks. This trend has brought the need for investment in solutions to control and manage their increasingly mobile workforce. Clearly there is a significant opportunity in front of the growing number of vendors that are sharpening their focus on enterprise mobility — while many startups are "mobile first", traditional ISVs are positioning their product roadmaps (often via acquisition) to attack the enterprise mobility segment.

Acronyms all have their day (DOS, DSL, Y2K etc.), and BYOD will fade to obscurity as well, but as of Q3 2012 it is having a profound impact in the enterprise — see our "SWOT" analysis of it's impact below:

Be sure to Register for an Important Webinar Discussing the Impact of BYOD on July 19th

If you'd like to learn more about this topic, I welcome your participation in an important webinar I will be co-hosting with Bitzer Mobile (@bitzermobile) next week — you can register for it by clicking here

Hangar 14’s Streetwise CADlink Application to Support Adoption of Consumer-Grade Tablets into the Fire Department

Recent conversations with various public safety units – including police, EMS, and firefighter – highlighted a key barrier that has slowed adoption of consumer-grade tablets into the fire department – the lack of Android and iOS applications to support key workflows in this market.  Many police departments, on the other hand, have experimented more with laptop and tablet technologies, and thus have drawn more attention from commercial vendors offering applications and hardware packages.  In order for fire department units to take advantage of the more cost-effective consumer-grade tablet device, we will need to see a stronger ecosystem of apps develop to further the utility of these devices when firefighters bring these devices into the field.   

One FD IT department we spoke with expressed the challenge this has presented for their department in deploying tablets.  This unit explained that they would likely deploy Android tablets – largely because the application Streetwise CADlink is currently available for this OS.  The Streetwise CADlink was developed by Hangar 14 Solutions – a company led by firefighting veteran Phil Kouwe.  

While small, this startup appears destined for strong growth in coming months as this solution enters the market.  As Phil Kouwe explained, many fire departments currently have deployed Toughbooks or other netbook form factor devices – these devices often remain closed, and are thus not truly mobilizing these workflows or enhancing productivity in the field.  The Hangar 14 solution for Android tablets is designed to integrate critical response information, enabling firefighters in the field to access incident information, maps, turn-by-turn directions, hydrant locations, satellite views, and the locations of other units responding to the site.  As the Streetwise CADlink application gains increased visibility and potentially expands to support iOS devices, we expect this solution to significantly impact the adoption of consumer-grade tablets into the firefighting market.

Mobile Payment Market Welcomes Swiff

As the market gets flooded by mobile payment solution providers in the recent years, the receptivity for accepting mobile payments has increased. Based on our end-user research, 37.1% of the retailers claimed that they are either using or currently evaluating mobile payment/ POS solutions. While the interest for more consumer-oriented solutions such as location based services is higher, the security and compliance requirements for mobile payment solutions are a lot more complicated.

PayPal recently introduced PayPal Here in the past couple of weeks and is now a strong competitor to Square-like solutions that have been emerging. Last week, the market welcomed another entrant, this time an Asia-based solution, Swiff. The company offers secured mobile payment with its mobile card reader dongle. While the increasing competitiveness in the mobile payment market should be part of an another blog, we thought the Singapore-based Swiff was worth noting given the interesting approach they are taking.

Instead of directly targeting merchants (i.e. mostly SMBs) that are interested in accepting card-based payments, Swiff is partnering directly with banks and financial institutions. The company is not just building on the existing relationships that these organizations have with their clients, but also targets to earn their trust much more easily. So, instead of having a PayPal-like company accepting the payment from the customer and paying the merchant, Swiff is enabling banks to be the medium in accepting payments. Given the high demand for mobile banking in regions such as Latin America and Africa, as well as emerging country markets like India, we believe partnering with banks could be a good differentiator. It is also worth mentioning that the flat-rate business model that is followed by other providers like Square, PayPal and Intuit's GoPayment, that is roughly around 2.7% to 3% based on the solution provider could potentially be a better move than the varying rates applied by Swiff - which varies between 1.6% to 3%. It is interesting to see new entrants trying to distinguish themselves from the competition and we expect the mobile payment market to continue attracting such interest around the globe.

Enterprise Mobile Workers: Tracking Tomorrow's Mobility Opportunities

Today's workforce is undergoing some significant changes, and mobile workers are at the epicenter of many of them. In VDC's most recent report, we project that the mobile workforce will grow to 1.2 billion workers by 2014 - or roughly one third of today's workforce. No other workforce segment is as large or growing at the same rate. The segment spans virtually every industry and organization size.

In addition to this major workforce shift, the GEN Y/ Millenial generation, who has a very different relationship with mobile technology, is now entering the workforce. What makes this significant is that this generation is driving expectations regarding what types of mobile solutions are available from prospective employers and how they want to communicate and interact with co-workers.

To learn more, you can read our most recent research note here or tune in to The Global Mobile Workforce Quickcast.

BIG Again! NRF's 2012 BIG Show Brims With Traffic

National Retail Federation Expo 2012 took place in NYC this week and highlighted the future of retail. The attendance from solution providers including hardware, software and services providers was highly significant as well as visitors. Following a strong 2011 performance complemented by the holiday sales, the general outlook for retail remains strong, while the pace is expected to be slower than 2011. Nevertheless, NRF is projecting retail industry growth of 3.4% in 2012 to $2.5 trillion.

Members from VDC's Mobile and Wireless Practice spent Monday at the show meeting with a variety of established and emerging vendors. Some of our early impressions include:

Apple exhibits at NRF!

While Apple does not do tradeshows, based on the bevy of iOS devices on display at the show it clearly does not have to. A perhaps not so outrageous prediction of ours for 2012 was Apple's (and specifically iOS's) continued expansion into the retail market. Much of what we saw at NRF certainly confirmed this expectation. From customized sleds that convert the iTouch or iPhone into a secure mobile payment platform to sophisticated business intelligence applications designed for iPads, Apple's presence was widely felt. Secure payment solution providers such as Ingenico and VeriFone introduced their solutions targeting the iOS platform which are capable of processing both credit and debit cards, making them usable globally. While the mobile vendors typically selling into the retail segment continue to debate the Windows vs. Android scenario, Apple/ iOS - with no major push of their own - is establishing itself as a strong retail mobile platform. This only confirms another trend we are tracking in that Chief Marketing Officers are usurping power from traditional IT decision makers when it comes to which mobile solutions to deploy for highly visible and customer facing retail applications.

Are tablets right for retail?

The uptake in tablets appears to be noteworthy given that small form factor devices have traditionally dominated retail. In addition to small form factor vendors like Motorola which has been among the leading vendors in retail with their rugged handheld solutions debuting their ET1 tablet, rugged large form factor vendors such as Panasonic and Motion Computing are also going after the highly promising retail market with their recently introduced rugged tablet solutions. While tablets clearly have a role to play in retail operations - especially for customer facing applications and for solutions such as interactive displays - retailers are still evaluating the true potential of these devices. A recent survey did not perceive store associates equipped with tablets as providing superior service in comparison to those equipped with other mobile computing and communications solutions. While we expect tablets to represent a strong platform for certain retail workers and workflows, 2012 may bring more pilots and evaluations rather than large scale rollouts.

Consumer WiFi, mobile payments and mobile scanning providing more immersive retail experience

Similar to themes we have been discussing throughout 2011, customer engagement is expected to play a huge role in this move. More and more store associates are being equipped with mobile devices in order to lookup customer and product information during their interaction with customers. Most retailers we spoke with also talked about public WiFi for their shoppers to drive a more interactive experience while evaluating next generation presence applications.

Likewise, mobile payments and mobile POS solutions were in high demand during the show as many solution providers introduced their newest products. Not only answering the customer's product-related questions but also completing the transaction at that point of contact is becoming highly valuable for retailers as the traditional in-store environments which may have limited number of POS machines can result with long lines and lost revenue for these organizations. Thus, this enables the associates to not only sell the inventory in a particular store but to also order an out-of-stock product through their online/ mobile site and have it ship directly to the customer or the store based on the customers' preference. Hence, the up-sell and cross-sell opportunities that can be achieved through this interaction are very significant. Tracking how traditional retail POS vendors respond to this trend will be especially interesting as many of these have the most at stake. One interesting solution was from Wincor Nixdorf - a leading brand of traditional POS solutions. They are extending their mobile capabilities with their TP Application Suite, which provides two hardware independent modules: TPiSCAN supports all self-service solutions in the checkout area. TPiSHOP offers the possibility to implement mobile self-scanning either on retailer-owned devices or on individual smartphone of the customer.

Following a dynamic 2011, expectations for retail technology solutions - especially customer facing mobile solutions - remain robust in 2012.

Mobile Impact: Vertical Market Spotlight - Transportation and Warehousing

The potential for efficient, flexible and effective coordination of transportation processes and networks lies in the emergence of internet-based information and communication technologies. Technologies such as RFID, e-commerce and telematics provide proven potential for the improvement of efficiency in coordination and transaction processes. In particular, these technologies provide opportunities for improved flexibility in coordinating supply and demand in dynamic supply network environments.

Warehouse processes

Mobile solutions have been helping organizations optimize basic warehouse processes for some time now – key processes such as reception, put-away, picking, shipping, and inventory management. Most importantly, these technologies are enabling organizations to reduce and/or eliminate human intervention. RFID-enabled products are playing a significant role, as multiple items can be read at the same time, eliminating the need for individual scans of pallets or cases. RFID can significantly reduce or eliminate problems due to human errors, which warehouse and transportation environments mainly relate to product counting and stock control, particularly in receiving and picking activities. For example, RFID can eliminate manual and visual verification of each received product, and speed up the receiving process and help to avoid bottlenecks at distribution centers, warehouses, and store entrance docks. Additionally, RFID integration into warehouse activities can promote cross-docking business models, where products move from inbound vehicles to outbound vehicles without any need to be stored, thus significantly reducing labor intensive and costly activities such as put-away and picking.

Given the potential of mobile technologies such as RFID to improve warehouse operations, numerous trials have taken place to verify the potential in supply chains of transportation intensive organization such as CPG manufacturing and retail. Publix Super Markets Inc., a Florida based supermarket chain has been actively using Electronic Product Code (EPC*) labels to improve the distribution of produce as it moves from suppliers to multiple distribution centers. Another notable example is Ballantine, a large fruit supplier – the company has been using RFID tags with their produce shipments to retailers like Walmart in order to gain competitive advantage and to deliver a fresher, more consistent product to consumers.

Fleet management systems

Fleet management systems enable logistics managers to monitor the daily distribution process of goods to customers (e.g. retail outlets) while monitoring important parameters (e.g., load temperature etc.). These systems record the position of the delivery fleet and the product temperature in real time (via temperature loggers), using a telematic unit that is fitted in each vehicle. The position of the vehicle is then relayed back to a central monitoring centre using GPRS technology. The data received is typically stored in a database and can be displayed on a variety of platforms, including mobile.

Fleet management systems are critical for the supply chains of CPG manufacturers and in retail distribution, were GPS/GPRS hardware is routinely integrated with refrigerated containers and/or trailers. By monitoring their assets in real-time (for any changes, such as refrigeration status and human or system errors) and using fleet management systems to predetermine routes and delivery times, these organizations can proactively detect any route violation(s) and have alerts generated an alert at their control center – allowing dispatchers to take necessary action(s) to avoid longer transportation times, which might affect the quality of the products.

Vehicle-routing systems

Vehicle-routing software is critical for transportation intensive organizations – these solutions enable firms to optimize their vehicle usage (e.g. minimize transportation time, distance travelled, etc) while bringing the ability to maximize vehicle / capacity usage.

The principal advantage of using automated vehicle-routing systems is that they can take into consideration a larger number of constraints and calculate more alternative solutions than can ever be done manually. Vehicle-routing software incorporates advanced scheduling methods (routing algorithms) that can generally be relied upon to provide very efficient solutions. For mission-critical scenarios, a vehicle-routing system can enable the scheduler to make fundamental changes to existing routes to allow late or urgent orders to be planned into the schedule while the system checks for any implications (missed delivery windows, legal infringements, etc.).

To learn more about the enterprise mobility opportunity in transportation and warehousing, click here for the executive summary to our recently published (November 2011) Report.

Can the FDA Regulate Mobile Device/ Applications Without Stiffling Innovation and R&D Spend?

The increasing number of smartphones and media tablets deployed to the health care environments, has resulted in an influx of mobile apps targeted for patients and health care professionals. While the success of Apple's iPad is the main driver for tablet deployments in the industry, multiple mobile OSes for smartphones and tablets have also flooded the market. Based on our end-user study that we fielded in 2011, 36.9% of health care respondents stated that their organization has evaluated and decided to deploy media tablets, with an additional 42.3% planning to evaluate. As a result of the rapid mobile device proliferation occuring in the health care industry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently proposed a draft guidance to regulate mobile medical apps. With this proposal, the FDA sought to solicit input on some of the mobile medical apps that may represent a potential risk to patient health in case they do not work as intended.

While the general consensus is that the FDA should be regulating some of the mobile medical apps that are specifically designed and used for diagnosis and clinical treatment purposes; the gray areas that have been identified in the proposal could cause potential disruptions in the industry. The agency encourages the technological advancements and further development of mobile medical apps that can provide health care professionals with highly valuable patient information. Hence, some of the mobile medical apps related to medical devices have already been cleared by the agency prior to the proposal. However, it remains to be seen whether the FDA can actually keep up with the latest developments in mobile technology and ensure patient safety without stiffling innovation and R&D spend.

More information on the impact of the FDA on mobile developments can be found in our Research Note that will be published in the next couple of days. In the meantime, please click here to access our most recent QuickCast  - Taking the Pulse of Mobility in Health Care.

IBM’s Mail Triage - a Peek into the Potential Future of Mobile Email

If we were to estimate the proliferation and popularity of various internet platforms and applications, judging solely by the ratio of news and industry coverage dedicated to each, we would see Google, Twitter and Facebook tower over other applications, such as email.  And yet, according to research conducted by Smarter Tools, the total number of posts on Facebook and Twitter combined comprise no more than .2% of email traffic.  This trend has carried over into the mobile world as well, with approximately 82% of smartphone owners regularly checking and sending mobile email.

So how is it that email, which has developed into a staple of personal and business communication, falls short in attracting the attention and recognition these statistics would suggest it has earned?  Lacking a serious challenger to threaten this nearly 50-year old technology, email has not been as driven to evolve and innovate to maintain relevance in the digital age – particularly for users in business settings where smartphone adoption continues to ramp.  

This may soon change with the introduction of a revolutionary new mobile email technology by technology giant, IBM.  Recognizing the importance of adapting email to the evolving needs of an increasingly mobile user base, IBM has been working on developing an improved user experience targeted to satisfy the unique demands inherent to the use of mobile email applications.  IBM’s Mail Triage Project enables users to “triage” emails, or sort them by the degree of urgency and intended follow-up.

Incoming emails will initially fall into the “Untriaged” box, indicating that the user has not yet addressed these messages.  Whereas traditional email clients generally identify “unread” versus “read” messages, analysis of consumers’ mobile email behavior inspired IBM’s researchers to dichotomize users’ new and unread messages.  Although mobile email users check their inbox throughout the day, these individuals frequently assess these messages without opening them.  Thus IBM’s email client enhances the value of the “inbox” screen by identifying several characteristics of the email.  Seen below, a blue background indicates a new message, while a blue circle to the left identifies all unread messages.  Additionally, another circle serves to illustrate the number of recipients, with a green circle indicating the email was intended only for this user, a half circle showing it has few recipients, the clear circle revealing many recipients or that this users was Cc’d, and no circle identifying an email in which they were Bcc’d.  

 

Source: IBM

The functionality of this mobile email client extends to the desktop computer, where users may address emails they had determined to “defer” until reaching a computer email client.  While IBM’s Triage product may not represent the future of mobile email, this evolution of email to suit a mobile environment is a significant milestone for the email application.  The eventual launch of IBM’s Triage will likely drive further innovation and adaptation of email applications and the emergence of competitor products to better serve our increasingly mobile lives.  

IBM revealed some of the capabilities of their Mail Triage client back in the summer of 2010, when the company opened its Mass Lab in Littleton Massachusetts. The company has done well at playing the part of  a vendor/device agnostic participant in the mobile ecosystem, and is now emphasizing its software prowess – this can be evidenced by the Mail Triage client as well as a bevy of tablet oriented apps that were revealed just this week.

Check back next week for an upcoming blog post discussing business-grade tablet applications …