Mobile computing framework review 1 - HCL Technologies · Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework 2 Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework The desire to stay connected

Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework

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Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework 2

Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework

The desire to stay connected continues to turn everyone towards mobility. According to research by the International Data Corporation, a company that tracks technology market share and sales, Smart phone makers are expected to “ship more than 450 million smart phones in 2011 compared to the 303.4 million units shipped in 2010.” Such research shows that the smart phone market is expected to grow by as much as 50% over the next year. [1]

The need for a company to be equipped with mobility technology to serve their customers is a foregone conclusion. The question is largely how to go about it. You can rush to develop exciting mobility technology that wows the customers and be perceived as a leader. Timing is everything, but before you launch the project, read through a simple checklist for reference. The framework[2]here is a common sense approach using different building blocks or operation models as shown below:

To make the framework a little easier to understand, a sample mobility application called First Notice Of Loss Claims system (FNOL System) is being used. FNOL system on a handheld device allows the claimant of an auto insurance company to file a claim at the time of a car accident. He can take pictures of the accident scene and the damaged parts of the car, collect information from the other party, download the necessary instructions for help during the accident -- road side assistance, order tow truck -- and get hospital information on the handheld device. He can also connect real-time with a representative from the insurance company. He can report the claim by simply (a) scanning the driver license of the other party, (b) upload the pictures he took, (c) fill in a simple form or message the insurance company. Do all this during an interactive session with the insurance company. The claimant can make sure that all the necessary information is collected and the guidance is provided by the carrier.

The grid below takes each column of the chart and provides more details on what the quick checklist is all about.



1. Business Model - What is the Value Proposition and how does it fit in with Long Range Strategy?

Business owner’s view

Business Case @ CXO level

?Mission statement Do you have an overall mobility computing strategy of which the current mobile computing project is a part? Sample statement: “Provide instant help to customers involved in an automobile accident and make the resources of an entire insurance company virtually accessible by the customers at the critical moment. This is the First Notice of Loss (FNOL) system.”

?Mobile Strategy – Is time about time to review and rewrite your existing mobile strategy?

?Payback – What is the value proposition and payback?

?Value proposition - How does it improve business processes and customer perception? Is it for cost reduction, process improvement, giving power to the users, intermediaries, or for social networking presence?

?TCO – What is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for this application on a per capita basis, based on expected adoption?

?Investment horizon – What is the life span of this application before a major upgrade is needed?

?Mobility Policy – What is the policy for access of enterprise data on personal devices? What governance exists between consumer data vs enterprise data, who pays for the devices that the sales people are mandated to use and what standards should be used.

?Legal liability – Do you understand the legal liability issues

around sensitive data, security, and errors in financial transactions?

–

Designer’s view

Business Solution Design Consideration &

Extensibility

?PoC Is it a Proof of Concept (POC) or a permanent solution?

?Extensibility to other functional areas – Is the mobile application intended to be a one-off or the foundation for other applications? For example: Is the claim application just the beginning and mobility will be introduced to other functional areas such as sales, distribution models, and underwriting?

?User experience – How much emphasis is placed on the quality of user experience? What resources are available to ensure that the application is user friendly and ergonomically sound e.g. usability lab?

?Social integration – Is the application purely functional or has a social component to it like Twitter, Facebook. LinkedIn etc.?

–

Implementer’s view

Roll-out Mechanism

?Adoption How do you sustain high adoption rate and stickiness?

?Enterprise Users vs. Consumer – How do you train customers and users? What is the support structure for each class of users?

?Track past web traffic metric – What devices do your customers/ agents use, which browsers are the most commonly used and what features do they visit the most?

?Global roll-out – Is it a single-country roll-out, regional or international roll-out?

–



2. Process Model - What functionalities do the mobile applications provide to customers, and how?


Process Modeling

What business activities are involved in this application? Do you have clearly defined sub-processes both for the mobile application as well as the applications in the back-office supporting the mobile application? For example: Recorder of the phoned-in message about the accident, video storage and retrieval system.

Samples: List the sub-processes for these key activities:

?Locate tow trucks, ambulance, police info and emergency road-side assistance.

?Take video of accident site, pictures of driver licenses, vehicle and witness

?Filing claim @ First Notice of Loss for Auto (Physical Damage/ Personal Injury/ TP Liability)

?Track claim status after filing.

Designer’s view

Processes, Business rules and Workflow

?Can we leverage existing business work flows and business rules currently used in the backend claims system? For example: are there new sets of processes for mobile claim filing and when can we develop them?


System Functionality Delivery

How to automate business processes and turn them into system functions?

?Audience - Is the application rolled out to non-customers as well?

?Speed - Can we do it using Agile methodology? It is rolled out based on features rather than big-bang approach?

?Scale - Is a PoC required or can we go straight to full scale implementation?

?Scope - Are we putting more information than a handheld device can present in terms of screen real estate and processing speed?

3. Information Model - What information is needed and how they are presented to the customers?


Internal & External Data Requirements

Internal & External System Integration Requirements

?Integration to backend - Is data readily extractable from backend systems in a consistent manner?

?Speed of retrieval - What are the challenges in retrieving real-time information?

?External interfaces - What external interfaces are used by the processes and can we make arrangement to obtain them?

?Data integration - Is data integrated across all contact points,

i.e. telephonic, e-mail, fax and direct web entry, for consolidated reporting?



Database performance

?Do you have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for real-time information to be delivered to the user?

?What data compression and synchronization techniques will be employed?

?How well does database provide users and the company against security and privacy breaches?


Database Performance

4. Technology Model - What technology considerations are required to build the mobile application?


Technology Landscape Assessments

?Is the business prepared to invest in additional infrastructure to support mobile application in the long run?

?Is the company prepared to update the technology skills of IT to deal with the different needs?

?Is IT prepared to change the culture to a perhaps more nimble organization to deal with the mobile applications’ future demands?

?What is the strategy regarding device selection, deployment of security patches, support forthe variety of devices, and version upgrades etc. Is there a separate strategy for enterprise users and consumer?

Designer’s view

Technology Landscape Design

How can the technology landscape support mobile computing?

?What development platform (IDE, O/S, Web Browser, Shareware, test tools etc.) is required to implement the mobile technology?

?What additional network capabilities are needed and protocol selected?

?What Mobile DBMS (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server CE) and Centralized DMBS will be used?

?What devices will be adopted for this and other applications?

?Is help-desk capability sufficient to support sudden increase in user base?

?What web analytic tools will be used to monitor web metrics?

Designer’s view

Data Model

Data Model

?Data model completeness - How complete and accurate is the existing data model to support the mobile application? How much change is necessary?

?Synchronization strategy - Can it deal with voluminous data being imported and exported at high frequency?

Data Privacy and Security

?Privacy – Is policy clearly understood by developers e.g. data sharing, encryption, data sensitivity etc.?

?Security – Are there sufficient safeguard in place and the issues understood e.g. authentication and identification, Intrusion Detection etc.?



The burning question you might have at this point is how to get started?

Look at two basic dimensions (1) what is the ROI and value propositions for the first project as mentioned above and (2) how can existing web applications be turned into a mobile application with relatively less effort. Examine the chart below the two dimensions are the X and Y axis. The size of the bubble represents the size of the investment. The top right quadrant is the low hanging fruit, but whether you pick the bible bubble or the small ones, is a matter of risk appetite and desire to be a leader in the market place.


Implementation & Test

?Do you plan to develop the application in-house or outsource it?

?What is the cost market share and technical obsolescence risk of the device if it is mandated (in the case of employee use)?

?Do you have highly secured wireless network for financial

and sensitive data transmission which passes legal requirements?

?Does your test team have special test strategy for mobile computing particularly around (a) network infrastructure (b) database synching and (c) security (d) application on mobile platform (e) devices and browsers?



Summary

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=227367

http://www.gao.gov/bestpractices/bpeaguide.pdf

If you were wishing that your solution will not be a throw away, review the matrix and at least generate a healthy discussion. The list of questions will not be exhaustive by any means, but they should get you started in the right direction.

If you are looking for a proof of concept only, you would still find this a useful guide as there are still costs associated with such an activity. It does not matter all that much whether you go top down or bottom up. At any rate, take your thinking from one end to the other, you would have covered all the bases and the stakeholders in your business will appreciate the due diligence effort beforehand.

Every company wants to have a presence in the market with their real game changer application or at least a token presence at the very least. This time won’t be any different. Here's the compromise -- all the requirements to do the right things don't have to all be done at once. Get the strategy right, and then plan your roadmap one piece at a time.

[1] Worldwide Smartphone 2011–2015 Forecast and Analysis by Ramon T. Llamas, William Stofega, Stephen D. Drake, Stacy K. Crook. Mar 2011 Doc # 227367 Market Analysis

Quote is extracted from web page:

[2] The framework used in this paper is not from any particular published model . The root of this model presented here reflects the author’s past exposure to the Zachman Architecture framework, first published in IBM journal in 1987. Similar thinking can be found in the top framework model such as US Federal Enterprise Archietecture Framework (FEAF) or the TOGAF model . For FEAF See “A practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture” CIO Council Version1, Feb 2001. The article can be found in a published web site.

. For TOGAF model visit their official web site at www.TOGAF.com.

Author Profile

Based in Hong Kong, Steven leads HCL engagements with clients in Financial Services as an advisor for Technology enabled Business Transformation initiatives. As an industry veteran of over 30 years, and with his various accomplishments in leading IT Organizations of large corporation such as Genworth Financial (previously a GE company) as a CIO, Steven is a advocate for customer for services HCL delivered to its clients as well as advisor to customer as to the right solutions for their problems. As a regular contributor and commentator on contemporary industry issues, Steven shares his wealth of experiences at various industry events, printed publications and guides the Solution Development initiatives at HCL.

Steven CheungPrincipal – Financial Services, AsiaPac


Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework8

HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services company, working with clients in the areas that impact and redefine the core of their businesses. Since its inception into the global landscape after its IPO in 1999, HCL focuses on ‘transformational outsourcing’, underlined by innovation and value creation, and offers an integrated portfolio of services including software led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management, engineering and R&D services and BPO. HCL leverages its extensive global offshore infrastructure and network of offices in 31 countries to provide holistic, multi-service delivery in key industry verticals including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Consumer Services, Public Services and Healthcare. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of ‘Employees First’ which empowers our 73,420 transformers to create real value for customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues of US$ 3.3 billion (Rs. 15,160 crores), as on 31 March 2011 (on LTM basis). For more information, please visit www.hcltech.com

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Mobile computing framework review 1 - HCL Technologies · Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework 2 Implementing Mobile Computing within a Framework The desire to stay connected