Network Magazine critiques

Network Magazine India’s online version is running a nice piece by Shivani Shinde this month that takes a look at some trends in mobile-enabling enterprise-wide applications on the subcontinent. As Shinde sees it, such applications are strongly divided among Indian industrial sectors. ERP, he maintains, “has been adopted the most,” but other enterprise-wide applications have found homes in specific vertical markets only.

CRM is installed in only the banking and retail verticals, SCM in manufacturers’ outlets, and sales force automation in FMCG, pharmaceutical and media companies. “The only enterprise wide application that has truly gone mobile,” writes Shinde, “is SFA.” PDAs have long been popular in India, says the writer, but synchronization to a landline or base station has not always been easy.

In fact, it rarely has until extremely recently, and only now does “the need for mobile applications [stem] from the need to enhance productivity and efficiency in the workplace” in India. Ravi Subramanyam, Mobile One managing director explains in the article that in 2004 people were not aware of the concept of mobile applications, while 2005 was the year that saw investments in pilot projects across verticals, and “2006 will see some of these pilots moving into the mainstream.”

Network Magazine credits Smartphones with having solved the connectivity and applications problem, with having kicked off adoption, and with mobile-enabling SFA applications. Most SFA systems are mobile-enabled via SMS. Today, SMS remains the most-often used in India and most everywhere. Although PDAs are well-suited for mobile-enabling EWA, smartphones are being touted as India’s new solution, because they “can do that and handle voice.”

Looking at the industry, Shinde says that, “apart from ERP and SFA, CRM initiatives in many verticals have also gone mobile” and that “CRM to a large extent is the part of the SFA initiative.” For connectivity, says Shinde, GSM and CDMA are the most preferred, with GPRS and WAP features.

Wi-Fi hot spots are another area for experimentation by many organisations, especially those that are trying to implement RFID, or in a retail outlet. Naturally, no piece can talk systems today without mentioning Microsoft moves. In India Microsoft is working closely with ISVs such as Mobile One and Sybase to come up with solutions for the Indian market.