What last year tells us about enterprise mobility in 2013

People turn to vastly different sources to predict the future.  A crystal ball.  Tea leaves.  The Mayan calendar.  Industry analysts.  Those sorts of things.

For IT trends, I like to look at patterns from the past year.  It may not be 100% foolproof, but we all know how the predicted Mayan end-of-the-world thing turned out, so I figure it’s worth a shot.

Here are some things we wrote about in 2012 that I think are going to play a big part in shaping enterprise mobility in the year we’ve just started.

In 2013, I think:

Mobile device innovation will be marked by incrementalism.  Tablets and touch-based smartphones already exist as categories, and they now seem to be evolving, rather than shaking the industry to its foundations with every new announcement.  The iPhone 5 announcement didn’t revolutionize the phone.  The iPad Mini filled in a form factor that someone else had tried first.  Neither shocked the world.  In fact, they both drew some collective yawns at the time.

This trend will continue.  Devices won’t create new categories, but rather fill in all the holes and niches in the market that look like they might work.  Some actually will.  Given some of the sales numbers I’ve heard, the iPad Mini is already proving this to be true.

New ways of looking at enterprise mobility will get increased visibility. The existing approaches weren’t built with mobility in mind.  It’s going to be rough to retrofit.  Application development for new platforms isn’t free.  So, organizations will look for compelling new alternatives.

For example, Gartner helped coin a term for a new category last year – workspace aggregators – for one of the new software approaches to mobilizing applications.  It’s still very early days, but 2013 should see a bit uptick in interest and attention for new alternatives to things like VDI and existing attempts at enterprise mobility.  I'm betting workspace aggregators will be one of the innovations in the center of that discussion.

Microsoft will begin to make its mark on mobile, but not necessarily how the market – or they – expect.  The folks from Redmond announced and delivered the Surface last year to a bit of fanfare as well as a bit of skepticism (including from some of us here at Framehawk – though not our CTO).

It’s a pretty tricky offering.  It’s certainly not as simple as the iPad, but maybe that’s the point.  2013 will be the year that Microsoft has a real impact on this space.  We’ll start to find out whether they are playing the right game, or whether it’s going to be rough going.  I’ve seen at least one glowing review of the Surface Pro coming out of CES already.  I’m betting on a slow but steady bit of progress into enterprise mobility for them, as they try to weave mobile into their existing business model.

Actual usage of the new iPad, iPad Mini, Microsoft Surface, and others will begin to make some waves -- industry-shifting waves.  While the tablet category isn’t brand new, it’s having a real impact:  PC sales are down.  And, tablets are causing workers themselves to evolve and change the requirements for how they want to use their devices and do their work.  IT is facing a choice as to whether they want to just “pave the cow paths” by simply letting things happen, or do a strategic re-think about what these devices mean – and how they can best be included in the enterprise environment, regardless of whether they are corporate- or personally-owned.

Speaking of ownership, BYOD will continue as a red-hot topic.  Enterprises will have to give up ignoring it or going through bizarre contortions.  IT will have to address BYOD head-on.  Phones are one thing, but it will become especially important to sort out BYOD policies for tablets.   It might take lawyers.  But IT will be best served making the answer low-touch for the employee and non-disruptive.  These employees of theirs are just trying to do their work in new, more effective ways, after all.

The question for 2013 will be how to make untrusted devices secure enough.  “Trust” for mobile devices was certainly on peoples’ minds last year (and definitely goes hand-in-hand with BYOD), but some clear paradigms will likely shake out this year.  Mobile device management (MDM) in its current form will be seen as only an early step into mobile-enabling an enterprise.  Eventually.  I’m betting the MDM vendors will still have a great year, but enterprises will start to realize that a broader answer would be better.  The MDM vendors already realize this.

When it comes to mobile application development, there will still be lots and lots of questions.  Organizations will continue to question whether they should re-build or modify existing apps for mobile access.  And what approach they should take for brand-new applications.  There are lots of options that need evaluating still.

Oh, and the  HTML5 honeymoon will be over.  Facebook very publically turned its back on HTML5 this year and decided to build their system as a native app.  Salesforce did the opposite.  Many, many enterprises will be able to get a lot of benefits out of HTML5.  They certainly would like to.  They just have to realize it’s not the silver bullet they crave for mobile application development.

As for Framehawk in particular, we have big things planned.  In 2012, we came out of stealth, picked up a “Peoples’ Choice Award” at the Under the Radar event, and one of our customers (UBS) had some great recognition for the work we’re doing together.

Hopefully, this is all just the beginning.  We have big plans for 2013 and expect that when it comes to mobility, most enterprises do, too.  Watch this space for more details about us, and commentary on the fast-moving enterprise mobility space as the year progresses.

And check back next year at this time to see if we were at least more accurate in our predictions than the Mayans.

This post also appears on the Framehawk blog.

A BYOD Christmas Carol: "Bah humbug" is not an option

The ghost suddenly appeared from behind the bed curtains, rattling the old Ethernet cables dangling from its arms.

“Wh-who-who are you?” Scrooge gasped.

“I am your old IT guy, Jacob Marley.  The one who left to take a job at that hot start-up…”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to warn you, Scrooge,” the ghost moaned emphatically.  “You must see the error of your ways.  Your hardworking employees must not be chained to their desks over Christmas or any other time.  Including that Bob Cratchit guy.  Enterprise mobility is your business.  And that means BYOD is your business!”

“Bah, humbug!” scoffed Scrooge.

“You will be visited by 3 spirits this night!  Beware…”

As the clock struck one, the Ghost of Mobility Past clunked around the corner, wrapped in Palm Pilots and dragging Blackberry chargers and belt attachments.

“Scrooge!  Look at these happy scenes from your past.  You and the IT department are in control of employees’ mobile devices.  People can pick any one they want – as long as it’s a Blackberry.”

“Those were happy times,” sighed Scrooge.

“But your employees left you, Scrooge.  You chose to ignore what they loved: Apple products.”

“But I just wanted to save a little more money…I wanted us to be secure and happy…!” rationalized Scrooge, as the ghost faded away.

As the clock struck two, the Ghost of Mobility Present swiped into view, sleek and shiny with aluminum trim, black glass touch screens from head to toe.  An eerie yet friendly white light shone from an Apple logo on the ghost’s back.

“Scrooge!  Employees are bringing iPads, iPhones, and now even iPad Minis.  They want to use these devices today, right now…with your existing enterprise applications!”

Scrooge covered his eyes.  “No, I can’t look!”

“You must look, Ebeneezer:  over the holidays, all of those employees of yours are trying to get work done remotely, out of their offices.”  The Ghost pointed here and there as they flew over home offices and vacation sites.  “They want to get things done when they have a free minute using these wondrous, beautiful new devices.”

“It’s not possible!”  Scrooge insisted, grasping his sleeping cap tightly.  “These applications aren’t built for touch interfaces!  And we don’t have a BYOD policy…”

“Oh, but it is possible, Scrooge,” countered the Ghost of Mobility Present.  “I’ve seen companies big and small starting to do this…but like those from your past, your employees –and now your competitors – are leaving you behind.

“In fact,” the 2nd Ghost continued, “I hear that Bob Cratchit fellow is actually doing quite well.  He even has a financial advisor from UBS who uses an iPad to access wealth management tools and client portfolio information.”

“Bah, humbug!” insisted Scrooge.

And this ghost, too, faded away.

As the clock struck three, the Ghost of Mobility Yet to Be arrived amid a swirl of phablets, styluses, and a rainbow of neon Microsoft Surface covers.  With every wave of an arm, cheap $25 Android tablets tumbled from the ghost’s robes.

“Speak to me, ghost!” implored Scrooge.  “I know I must learn to avoid my terrible fate!  I see more tablets, everywhere!”

The 3rd Ghost was silent, so Scrooge continued, desperate to find the answer himself:  “I…I see the true cyber-Monday – the day everyone gets back to the office after Christmas break.  That’s the day we in IT truly dread!  It’s the day everyone tries to log into the corporate network using the brand new mobile devices they found under their trees Christmas morning.  I see chaos!  Anger!  Does it have to be so, spirit?"

The ghost shook its head.

“And…and…I see a very messy application development and infrastructure budget.  With all these many, many devices, I see that trying to do native development for every individual mobile platform for every enterprise application – it will just be too costly and too time-consuming!  I was wrong, Ghost!  I see that now!  I know what I must do!”

With a flash, the Ghost of Mobility Yet to Be returned Scrooge to his bedroom.

Scrooge burst into the snow-covered city street and dashed to the Cratchit home.  He arrived out of breath, his arms overflowing with presents, including tablets of all shapes and sizes, perhaps even including a Kindle Fire.

“Cratchit, I’ve seen the light!  I’d like you to help me take on a new mobility strategy for our enterprise applications.”

“Oh, Mr. Scrooge,” said Cratchit.  “It’s about time!  You know...we need to think this through carefully.  We’ll need a way to enable mobile access without rewriting all those existing applications.  And, we’ll need a way to make sure we don't but any data on the mobile device – no matter which device people pick.  And, of course, we need to make sure this has the performance and user experience that people will love the whole year through.”

“Yes, yes…I see all that now,” said Scrooge.  "I've had a busy night, you know."

“True," said Cratchit.  "Now…Tiny Tim says there’s this start-up company named Framehawk that is worth checking out…”

“Let’s give ‘em a ring, Cratchit,” said Scrooge.  “Without it, I think it's safe to say that BYOD is frightening enough to scare the Dickens out of anyone.”

Amusing note:  when I was about to post this, I saw that Palador's Benjamin Robbins (@PaladorBenjamin on Twitter) had just gone live with a very similar idea.  Nicely done.  They obviously thought of this far enough in advance to shoot a video with multiple locations, multiple actors, and a script that extensively quotes Charles Dickens.  You can go here to see A Connectivity Carol.  Happy holidays, every one.  If you are interested in an e-Guide on BYOD we did with Computerworld, you can register here.  And, be sure to let us know if you are interested in that solution Scrooge was talking about...

[This post also appears on the Framehawk blog.]

It’s not about the desktop anymore: the new role of workspace aggregators in enterprise mobility

If there’s one thing that the proliferation of the iPad, Microsoft Surface, and other tablets has proved, it’s that the place people do their work is no longer limited to their physical desktop.

That now goes for your computing desktop, too.  The mobilization of enterprise applications means metaphors are shifting fast and furiously and IT orgs and the users they support should take note.

Here’s the hard part: how do you describe this newest shift?  What’s the new metaphor that correctly describes the new tablet-driven computing work environment?

I recently heard analyst Chris Wolf present Gartner’s description of a new category intended to explain exactly this – something he, Mark Margevicius, and other folks at Gartner are calling a “workspace aggregator.”

I think it’s a pretty good label that’s worth considering for what tablets are enabling.  Here’s why:

Tablets change your computing behavior

Instead of wanting to ship over an entire desktop environment to your device, iPads and other tablets are enabling “quick hit” computing.  You get in, do a few things, and get out.  What you need is access to your key applications and the relevant data, without an arduous start-up process.  The enterprise, of course, still requires security and data integrity.  How do you deliver this?

“We don’t believe the traditional desktop experience is the end goal,” Chris told his audience at a November Gartner briefing in San Francisco on mobility.  “You have to adapt to the ad hoc way that users are consuming applications and data.  You have to meet users in the middle.  We think workspace aggregators are the direction of the future.”

The workspace aggregator term emphasizes applications

When Chris explained this new workspace aggregator category (something he also did at both their Catalyst and Symposium events), it sounded almost like a mobile version of a portal.  The emphasis is on providing access to a mix of Windows, Web, SaaS, and mobile applications – and to make sure there’s adequate security for enterprise content.

“Up to this point, these were all managed in individual silos.  There was no way to simplify user experience,” said Chris.  “What we’re trying to do to bring all this together: Windows apps, Web apps, mobile, and social data.”

Gartner describes this new term as a way to give users a consistent client computing experience, with an eye toward security and management, regardless of your location, network, or even device.  Early interest, they say, has been around cloud and SaaS services, but the promise includes these alongside existing applications behind the firewall.

I like the workspace aggregator term that Chris and his Gartner colleagues have started using.  The phrase represents the fact that it’s not the desktop (or its virtual instantiation) that is the important thing for your employees and users.  It’s the applications.

IT has a strong value prop with workspace aggregators

This also highlights a nice benefit from workspace aggregators for the IT department as well.  They give IT central control over a diverse set of applications, data, and cloud services from anywhere inside or outside the firewall, capable of being delivered to whatever mobile device the employee is using.  In a world where IT is fighting to show its value, using a workspace aggregator allows IT to show that value without seeming draconian to the user.  In fact, IT might even get some positive vibes out of the deal.

Honestly, I have to also admit that Chris’ description of a workspace aggregator is also a pretty good description of our current Framehawk Canvas offering.  He also mentioned Citrix, VMware, ASG, and Centrix working to offer solutions in this space.

Vendors working to provide a workspace aggregator capability, said Chris, will differentiate on their approach to application delivery, data delivery, management, security, and user experience.  The areas of importance that I heard Chris emphasize were around:

• Content and how it is delivered
• Primary processing location – on the device or remote
• Communication mechanism (which he said comes down to the protocol being used when considering scalability & performance)
• Security

If you’re interested in digging a bit, you can read about what we think our own Framehawk differentiators are in relation to these points.

A new approach with value for enterprise mobility

Why is a new approach even necessary?  Because employees are using different, often personal, devices to get their jobs done (thank you, BYOD).  “Solutions should be designed with the expectation that users will do their own thing,” noted Chris. “If we keep pretending that users are under our control, we’ll keep doing the things we’re doing and we know how well that’s working.”  In other words, something has to change for enterprise mobility to really work.

In general, I like the workspace aggregator term.  I think this new concept deserves a place in the industry debate about the right approach to enterprise mobility.  This is especially true for a discussion that has so far been dominated by old paradigms (like VDI) trying to adapt to a world of new mobile devices and new usage patterns that actually have many vastly different requirements.

Hopefully, having Chris, Mark, and others at Gartner starting to talk about a new approach to enterprise mobility – and give a name to it – will open up the eyes of IT organizations to the possibilities that arise when you unchain yourself from both the physical and virtual desktop.  We’ll keep you posted on our perspective of this new approach as we watch it (and help it) evolve.

This post also appears on the Framehawk blog.

A different type of growth for this start-up for Movember

Sure, the Framehawk team is working hard on our software, bringing mobility to enterprise applications.  What you might not know (without being here in our San Francisco offices) is that we’re also working equally hard on something else at the same time:

Our mustaches.

Yes, we are once again proudly participating in Movember – the international effort to raise money for men’s cancer research.

Here’s how it works:  at the beginning of November, those participating shaved off any facial hair and began in earnest growing (only) a mustache for 30 days.  Each of us then gathers donations to support his unshaven efforts.  The Movember organizers have made it easy for each person – and team – to set up a photo gallery and a simple way for people to donate to the Mo of their choice.

Last year, the Framehawk Movember team (“Mo’ Hawks”) brought in $10,100 for cancer research, looking like a motley assortment of used car salesmen along the way.  Hey, we even sold some software in spite of our ‘staches.

We’ve been charting our progress this year on the Movember Framehawk team site and on our own Mo’ Hawk Wall of Fame.  We’ve had a few disqualifications so far, from beard infractions to bizarre hair-removing caulking accidents.

But, this is for a good cause, so we soldier on.  We’ve had great support from our Framehawk Mo’ Sisters, with us in spirit, if not in facial hair growth.

And we’d love support from you as well.

Any donations to cancer research on behalf of the Framehawk team or particularly worthy individual Mo’s are welcome and encouraged.  Go here to donate.

But hurry.  This is the final week.  Come December 1, I’m betting there will be a run on razors.  And several of the Mo’ Hawks will likely be first in line.  Thankfully.

This post also appears on the Framehawk blog.