This blog follows on from the one I wrote at SAPPHIRE in May 2012 where SAP laid out their vision for the future, now 40 years old they had a guess at what it would be like in another 40 years.
This is a series of blogs that look at each of the 5 pillars that SAP want to dominate in (App, Database and Technology, Analytics, Mobility and Cloud).
This one focuses on what to do in the Mobility space.
I see 3 adoption patterns with Mobility and SAP.
The first is to have a really well defined Mobility Strategy and Business Case - armed with this making the case for the swiss army knife of the SAP Mobility Platform is easier. With a good strategy in place you will probably have identified all the different use-case you require and will be able to exploit the capabilities of the various tools available (SUP, Afaria, Gateway etc).
The second is to stick to on-line mobility by choosing to use Gateway and SAP Portal 7.31 to create an HTML5 based user experience which accesses backend suite data. It is easier to adopt this strategy on a case by case basis waiting until you need more complex integration patterns which may required the full SAP Mobility Platform.
The third way is to look at the package apps available from SAP and SAP partners via the Mobile SAP Store. This approach sees those parts of the SAP Mobility Platform required by the various apps being deployed as required, leaving the door open for an enterprise licence model in the future.
The path you take will depend on how you are approach mobility and your approach to risk.
Hopefully that has given you plenty to think about.
These other blogs look at Apps, Database and technology, Analytics and Cloud.
