Why It Is Important To Ensure Your Business Website Is Mobile Compatible

As technology continues to advance, more and more people are checking their email and browsing the internet using mobile devices. A late 2011 study revealed that of all the browsing activity that takes globally, 7.1% takes place on a mobile device (smart phones and tablets).

Though this number may seem small, it is actually a 1000% increase in mobile device use based on a similar 2009 study! Therefore it is clear that users are adapting to smart phones and tablet devices, utilizing their functionality to access the internet wherever, rather than waiting to go home.

Mobile device users whom are away from home will continue to use their smart phone or tablets to access websites in the future. Perhaps almost exclusively while they are away from home. There no longer is a limit to simply check email while on the road. Users will shop, read reviews, use mobile applications, play online games, and research products / brands and services before they commit to buy.

Considering a great deal of websites were developed prior to the Mobile Device age. It is likely that portions of a website are distorted or even unusable when viewed on a mobile device.

For these reasons, it is important to consider testing and making changes to your website. Why lose business or recognition from a customer because your site is not accessible to them when they need it.

Businesses that sell products or transact commerce online, need to pay attention to the mobile market. It is not uncommon for mobile device users to search online for sales and better costs for products. Odds are, whom-ever has the better deal will get the sale. If a customer visits your site and that of your competitor, and only one of you offers the ability to buy-online and buy-online through a mobile device... guess who will get the sale!?

Likewise there always exists the possibility that a mobile device user will visit a website, see a higher price and be willing to pay it because it is easier then shopping around.

Mobile websites offer convenience while also being easy to navigate and use. They should be clear and concise in design and layout. They should not be cluttered. They are not full of images.

A well designed mobile website will render quickly and show only what is pertinent to the user. Most mobile sites will have a Contact Us section, sometimes a direct dial button and normally an About Us section. Everything else beyond that is dependent on the site and it's intended use.

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How Mobile Apps Can Make Your Business Run Better

Mobile apps for business are one of the most important innovations of the recent past. Mobile apps and smartphones together have created a shift on how data is accessed and shared at workplace. Already many businesses have included smartphones in their list of critical productivity tools. According to recent study by Forrester, around 13% of information workers are using smartphones for work at least once a week. From e-mail to collaboration, there are many types of mobile apps for professionals that enable them to do the most sophisticated tasks more easily.

Development options
With the increased need for apps has come a boom in the mobile app development industry. There are more options for building than ever before. Those options fall into two different categories - off-the-shelf development and custom development.

• Custom-development: In this case, a company pays a development shop or hires an in-house team to create customized apps for its own business. This is often the best option for companies that are building mission-critical pure native apps. However, this process of development is expensive. Hence, most businesses, especially the small ones, cannot afford them.

• Off-the-shelf development: If you do not have the resources or budget to build a custom app in-house or with a development shop, you may be able to purchase, at a much lower cost, off-the-shelf apps. You can use them for everything - from email and scheduling to data collection to CRM.

Common mobile apps in enterprise workplace
The following are a few of the most commonly used mobile apps for the enterprise workplace.

• E-mail apps are one of the most basic and commonly used apps in business mobile devices. They enable e-mail usage on smartphones and tablets. A Forrester survey reports that 92% of information workers have an e-mail app on their smartphone.

• Schedule planner apps have a calendar that can record and remind users of important events, meetings, etc. According to Forrester survey, around 80% of information workers have calendar apps.

• Customer relationship management apps manage and share interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects by integrating sales, marketing and customer support information into a single, centralized database and software system.

• Service and support automation apps enable workers in the field to capture real-time service information using mobile phones and tablets and transfer it immediately to back-end systems through wireless connectivity. They also allow you to access this data instantly at any point of time.

• Near field communication apps establish radio communication between two smartphones within a certain range.

• Financial apps can access your financial data like payments, expenses, pending bills, customer accounts from your mobile phone. You can also use these to share or record the financial data whenever required.

• Apps for healthcare industry help in managing product and patient information, prescribing medication, checking drug interactions and even billing using smartphones. These can also be very helpful in epidemic outbreak forecasting and monitoring.

Future of mobile apps in business space
Improvements are still being made to mobile productivity apps. With more and more companies encouraging use of smartphones in their workforce to enhance productivity, there is a lot of potential for development of business mobile apps. Further, with cloud computing technology enabling easy development of mobile business apps, businesses can greatly leverage them for their operations.

Mobility is the trend and apps are quickly overtaking traditional software development. Choosing between off-the-shelf and custom development of apps entirely depends on requirement and budget of the organization. Though a lot of progress is seen in business app development in the recent past, there still remains a large scope for improvement.

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An Introduction to Mobile VPN

The following article aims to provide a brief introduction to the concept of mobile VPN, how it works and its potential applications in business and the public sector.

Mobile VPN

A Virtual Private Network or VPN is a mechanism which allows users to securely connect to local networks from remote locations across public networks using encrypted parcels of data and authentication at each end point.

The term mobile VPN, or mVPN, refers to systems in which users of portable devices such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops connect securely to fixed local networks from remote locations, across the internet, by connecting initially to wireless networks or mobile phone carrier networks. The key challenges for mobile VPNs relate to the fact that the user and their device will, by definition, be mobile. They will need to be accessing their VPN connection from differing networks, often roaming between networks as they are on the move and occasionally experiencing moments offline between these networks (or as they put their device to sleep). The aim of a mobile VPN is to allow the device to be authenticated when connecting from this variety of networks and to maintain the VPN session as the user and their device roam.

The problem this poses, however, is manifold. Firstly, the IP address of the client device will vary depending on where they are accessing the network from, making authentication harder. The device may be assigned a dynamic IP address anyway (which will therefore change every time they connect), regardless of its location, but in addition the device's IP address will change each time it connects from a different mobile or wireless network (Wi-Fi hotspot). What's more, when the user is roaming across networks, the identity of the device end point will be changing each time they do switch from one to another. Secondly, the moments when the device is offline when the it is in a location without an available network, is switching from one to another or is idle can result in the suspension of the VPN session.

How Does It Work?

The classic model of a VPN involves the creation of a secure tunnel (in which information is encrypted) through the internet, essentially from one IP address to another, usually with the IP addresses of each end point predefined. This mechanism creates two problems for mobile users. Firstly a mobile system cannot utilise IP verification if the IP address of the connecting device changes on each occasion, which negates one of the authentication methods, removing a level of security for the VPN. Secondly this tunnel would break each time the IP of an end point changed or when the device goes offline. Mobile VPNs therefore overcome this obstacle with VPN software that assigns a constant static IP address to the actual device rather than relying on its network assigned IP address. In addition they can utilise a virtualised VPN session which is kept open as the status of the device changes and then an automated login to reestablish the connection when the device reconnects.

Where Can It Be Used?

Mobile VPNs can be beneficial for any profession or industry where the client is on the go, working from various locations; particularly where the information that is being accessed and transmitted is of a sensitive nature and therefore needs to be kept secure. In the public sector, for example, mobile VPNs can allow health professionals to communicate with central networks when outside of the surgery or hospital (i.e., in the field), to view and update patient records. Other public services whose jobs also require them to be on the move constantly, such as the police can employ the technology to the same effect to view centralised databases.

Whilst being initially popular in the public sector the technology is becoming vital to the private sector too with enterprise realising its value in allowing output to continue seamlessly for employees within businesses where travel is a necessary element of the work. Examples form the private sector can include transportation and delivery services, utility employees and travelling salesmen.

As the cost and productivity efficiencies of working securely on the move are realised by both business and the public services, and with the continuing proliferation of smartphones and tablets, the adoption of mobile VPN technology is set to gather significant pace and consequently become commonplace throughout many aspects of our lives.

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2012 Will Be the Year of Mobile Advertising

With estimates of half the population now accessing the Internet with mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, the year 2012 could be the tipping point for mobile advertising. Indeed, this is the year when combined tablet and smartphone access will reach the tipping point of 50 percent.

Although some studies had indicated that the tipping point would come last year, it didn't. Instead, 2012 seems to have been the point when:

50 percent of the population is using the Internet with devices other than computers, such as smartphones and tablets Tablets have gone mainstream. As they have, the law of supply and demand has kicked in and as the numbers of their sales have increased, their prices have come down Tablets are expected to replace PCs and laptops as the keys to ecommerce, news access, Web access and email High-end IT operations are going to have to optimize their facilities for Cloud computing and an almost insatiable desire for bandwidth. Social sites are going to continue to dominate and increase their use of spectrum and their Web traffic will increase.

The first firm to make a name for itself with a smartphone device, Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturer of the Blackberry that uses a proprietary operating system, looks like it may be in trouble now as firms like Apple, Google and Samsung are taking market share away from RIM. Apple's smartphone is its iPhone, another proprietary system smartphone, using iOS. The other major players include Samsung/HTC/Google, which use Google's open Android OS. RIM has a tiny window of relief, right now. You see, each of the other operating systems offers huge numbers of features, but if RIM finds the "killer app," it may be just enough to save the Blackberry from shriveling on the vine.

Aside from the usual applications such as streaming video, audio and apps that allow viewing of high resolution video offerings, the "killer app" could be contractless payments through NFC and the Virtual Wallet. It could, some analysts believe, do away with credit cards and like devices. Security analysts worry that storing so much information either in "the Cloud," the invisible drive where smartphones and tablets store their information or on the device itself, as part of the app, could lead hackers to try to access this goldmine of information. The jury is out on this.

A recent study put the pointed out that consumers will likely spend more than $15.9 billion in 2012 for social media applications.

What types of apps are consumers using? The study found they are using social media and the Internet primarily for streaming audio and video. For example, the Pandora app, written to stream audio to Apple products has become such a standard that non-Apple clone apps, written for Android systems, are offering Pandora routinely.

Meantime, though, there are more than 19 portals that have appeared this year and they are not only working hard to make themselves known, but they are also working with established sites so they can trade advertising space. And, in another twist, there are many firms that already recognize the value of localized advertising, and are using social media to get their message across.

For example, Chevrolet seems to have purchased a large block of media at the right hand side of many social media sites and then when their app sees the location of the device logging in, it presents you with a listing of the available cars and specials at your local Chevy dealer. It's a great idea and shows how, as they say, "the early bird does get the worm," because it is only now that other carmakers are following their lead.

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