Mobile enterprise
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Introduction
Mobile Enterprise is a new breed of Interactive Enterprise or Business Applications made possible by Mobile Broadband. Cellular Networks such as GPRS and UMTS are connected to the Internet with Media Gateways. Mobile Enterprise is further enhanced by the launching of HSDPA and HSUPA.
Many business functions that can already be executed using Mobile Enterprise are Project collaboration system (PCS), Document management system (DMS), Customer relationship management (CRM), Point of sale (POS), Human resource management systems (HRMS), Accounting software, Enterprise resource planning (ERP), including sales order, sourcing, tendering, quotation, purchasing, shipment, receiving, warehousing, inventory control, delivery, invoicing, customer service order, production monitoring and control, work orders, as well as basic utilities such as corporate calendar, corporate address book, corporate bulletin board, notes and internal messaging.
Benefits
With the Mobile enterprise platform in place, entire businesses can be easily, quickly and economically moved onto the internet. Enterprise databases can be remotely updated from anywhere in the world, at anytime, with any device equipped with a Web Browser and by anyone with permission to access the service. Mobile Enterprise is real-time and fits the Just In Time (JIT) business strategy. Mobile Enterprise leverages existing Internet installations. It is economical to implement and easy to use. Mobile Enterprise is not limited to mobile handsets. It is convergent technology, whereby the applications are, at the same time, accessible using laptops and desktops over land lines.
ASP revival
Corporate databases and business applications can now be hosted as Software as a service (SaaS), giving a new lease of life to the Application service provider (ASP) option.
How it works
The back-end of a Mobile Enterprise is a Web server and a Relational Database such as MSSQL, MySQL and Oracle RDBMS, hosted in a Data Center with Internet connection.
At the user end is a Web Browser such as MSIE, Mozilla Firefox, Opera (Internet suite), Safari (web browser) and NetFront.
Menu items are linked to programs written in PERL CGI (Common Gateway Interface), Java (programming language), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Active Server Pages (ASP) and PHP, JavaScript and AJAX, with embedded HTML form elements and database queries. When the form is submitted http requests are sent to the web server using the HTML post or get functions. With the help of ODBC, JDBC or DBI database connection interface, the web server runs the program, executing the database query to the database. The program is also responsible for channeling the query results as an HTML file and sent back to the user. The applications can be used to read, add, update, delete database entries.
Minimalistic approach
As for all mobile applications, simplicity and minimalism is of utmost importance to minimize upload and download time for best user experience. Images are best avoided because of the client devices such as mobile handsets and PDAs display size limitations. Icons may not be readable in small displays.
Security issues addressed
Security is enabled by the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL), with 128 bit encryption, a client-less security solution supported by most Web Browsers and Web servers. Since the Server is hosted in a Data Center under lock and key and subject to stringent access control imposed, moreover, the data can only be accessed via the applications, it is considered to be more secure than traditional hosting in the customer's own premises using IPsec VPN. A Server Log provides added security assurance.