SAP Enterprise Mobility Tweetchat: Apps, Tablets and More [Transcript]

As promised (threatened?), Philippe Winthrop of the Enterprise Mobility Forum and I exchanged views about enterprise mobility this morning during SAP's inaugural Tweetchat.

I think it went pretty well: we answered almost 30 questions from and went for a full hour (we were originally scheduled for just half an hour).

In between, Philippe and I cracked wise. For those keeping score at home, Philippe aka The Heel (bad guy in pro wrestling jargon) bore the brunt of Eric The Face (good guy)'s verbal body slams (I kid, I kid).

If you couldn't make it this morning and are interested, below is an edited transcript of our discussion. Thanks to SAP's Kevin Cassidy (aka @SocialKev or @SAP on Twitter), who also served as our moderator.

It's replete with links and theme music: I entered the Tweetchat to the thundering keyboards of 'Sirius' by the Alan Parsons Project, aka the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls entrance music, while Headbanger Phil chose the portentious bombast of 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' from Metallica.

Crank up one of those songs as you read on...

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SAPSAPWelcome to our first ever #SAPChat! I'm your host Kevin Cassidy & we have Eric Lai (@EricYLai) & Philippe Winthrop (@biz_mobility) with us

ericylaiEric Y Lai@socialkev Should we start cranking up our entrance music? Here's mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdCzixCxZEQ&feature=related#sapchat

SAPSAPEric is a tech reporter-turned-in-house-blogger for @Sybase (@SAP) covering the evolution of enterprise mobility at @ZDNet, @Forbes#SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropHere's my intro music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7LOilr_or0#SAPChat

SAPSAPPhilippe is an enterprise #mobility advisor, pundit, quasi-analyst, and enthusiast with @the_emf_dot_org#SAPChat

Q1:

dslovenskyDavid Slovensky#SAPChat - so what is your view on IBM's mobility strategy?

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@dslovensky from what perspective? mobile applications or mobility management? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropThey partner with people on enterprise mobility management, but they r building out their mobile enterprise application strategy #SAPChat

Q2:

jess_SAPJesse AnardeIs it possible to use web services as a data source in SUP that require more than basic http authentication? eg. Sharepoint #SAPChat

jess_SAPJesse AnardeIf so are there any examples of how SUP/Sharepoint integration has been done? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@jess_SAP Yup those are good ?s. I may have to pass U over to a product mgr here at Sybase. Tell me why interest in Sharepoint? #sapchat

jess_SAPJesse Anarde @ericylai Attempting to use remote sharepoint site as a src. since it has exposed wsdl thought it should be possible with SUP. #SAPChat

jess_SAPJesse Anarde@ericylai but requires authentication through IIS and I'm not sure there is a way to authenticate beyond basic http in SUP. #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@jess_sap Interesting. What technical issues so far? Tell us more. #sapchat

jess_SAPJesse Anarde @ericylai also having same challenge with netflix rest API and their open authentication process. #SAPChat

jess_SAPJesse Anarde@ericylai may be an issue with how I'm attempting to model it in context of MBO. #SAPChat

Q3:

brucelaibrucelaiwhat's does mobility management mean? #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@brucelai Check out http://bit.ly/mXfxf7 for more information on enterprise mobility management #SAPChat

KyBedardKyle Bedardadministrator to oversee operation of mobile phone? RT @brucelaiwhat's does mobility management mean? #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropAdministrator to oversee operations? What about all the enterprise mobility deployments coming from the line of business? #SAPChat

ericylai Eric Y Lai@brucelai Yo baby bro - here's a quick primer from Forrester on mobile dev mgmt (MDM) - http://zd.net/p7vDPi#sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@brucelai and also chk out www.theemf.org Philippe's awesome mobility site lots of good primers, discussions... #sapchat

Q4:

lucagrilliLuca Grilli#sapchat How is the SUP adoption around the world? Here in Italy is taking off (may be slowly)

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@lucagrilli better question to ask is how is enterprise mobility application adoption going worldwide....and it's going nuts! #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli There is a ton of pent-up interest. Chk out comments to my blog abt SUP 2.0 http://bit.ly/oc4K1O#sapchat

Q5:

samfiorellasamfiorellaIs mobility adoption in Enterprise being driven by internal comm needs or customer-engagement demands? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropRT @samfiorella: Is mobility adoption in Enterprise being driven by internal comm needs or customer-engagement demands? #SAPChat <---yes!!!

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@samfiorella It's coming from both sides #SAPChat

samfiorellasamfiorella@biz_mobility#thanks for taking a stance! :) #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@samfiorella Would you prefer I say buy low, sell high? ;-) #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@samfiorella While @biz_mobility dodges that ? I'll say I think it's internal reasons like Bring Your Own Device. #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@samfiorella Chk out http://zd.net/hLlL4q#sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropThere was no dodging - it really is coming from the need for improved internal business processes and customer interaction #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthropthat's the amazing power of enterprise mobility in terms of how it forces business process re-engineering #SAPChat

Q6:

lucagrilliLuca Grilli#sapchat Will Sybase re-activate DAD support in SUP? Or it will be definitively leaved at community?

Q7:

samfiorellasamfiorellaCurious on others experiences: mobility app dev companies don't seem too focused on Enterprise mobile apps? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@samfiorella Most companies are still getting handle on in-house issues like securing devices. Then they think apps like CRM #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y LaiGeneral Mills is cutting-edge at this point for examplehttp://zd.net/qhH8aU#sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @ericylai SO Eric - what is "securing devices?" #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthropis that mobile device management or mobile security? They are not the same #SAPChat

samfiorellasamfiorella@ericylai I know here in Canada, lots of hope for Enterprise Mobility rested on RIM & Playbook (security, etc) #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@biz_mobility "Securing mobility" in my mind is less about anti-virus more about policy management, updates. #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@ericylai Check out this little vocab lesson http://bit.ly/iCtCLc#SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop100% agreed with you - there is much confusion in the market re: mobile security and secure mobility #SAPChat

Q8:

SergioFerrariSergio Ferrari#sapchat do you see more demand related Smartphones or Tablets ?

Q9:

alex_dea Alex Dea@ericlai Any advice for systems integrators and how they can help clients digest enterprise mobility? #SAPchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @alex_dea you first need to help them understand what it means to have an enterprise mobility strategy....from a biz perspective #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@alex_dea good ? - define digest #sapchat

samfiorellasamfiorella@biz_mobility@alex_dea Too many still trying to figure out Web/Social strategy. Throw another device & you've lost many? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@samfiorella@alex_dea You need to juggle multiple things at once in this fast paced world #SAPChat

alex_deaAlex Dea@biz_mobility@samfiorella Agreed- Also, there are intersection pts between social/mobile, not necessarily silos #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@alex_dea agreed - and the silos in enterprise mobility management are breaking down as well #SAPChat

Q10:

SAPSAPIs the tablet market dividing into several tiers? Is there a high-end enterprise category forming? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropAll joking aside - in theory there should be no tiers #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropIn practice....it's still early in the game...market is really only <2 yrs old!!! #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@SAP I think the hardware OEMs like Cisco, Avaya would love to see an enterprise tier of $1,000+ tablets but no go #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropWho in their right mind will spend $1000 for something you can get for $500 #arbitrageopportunity#SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@sap due to overwhelming popularity of $600 tablets like iPad, PlayBook. I do think a $300 'FeatureTablet' category will emerge tho #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@sap my thoughts on the FeatureTablet http://bit.ly/osKTKW#sapchat

samfiorellasamfiorella#With growing adoption of mobile in Enterprise comm, I can't imagine that such tiers won't evolve? May be necessary? @ericylai#sapchat

Q11:

alex_deaAlex Dea@ericylai Lot of noise around mobility. How can we help them understand how it could help biz, what import things to consider etc #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @alex_dea@ericylai You mean like ROI? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@alex_dea I think it's the usual suspects: compelling case studies of customers showing TCO and ROI. #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y LaiChk out General Mills or Telllabs http://bit.ly/opxfIX#sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthropsome of the value of enterprise mobility solutions is in soft $$$ while others have a discreet ROI #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropCan you quantify the value of mobile email? No....but we all understand the implicit value of it #SAPChat

Q12:

lucagrilliLuca GrilliWill Hybrid Web Container be potentied in the future? I'm facing problems passing table as input for SAP :-( #sapchat#SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli potentiated? #sapchat

lucagrilliLuca Grillisorry... improved #sapchat#SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli Ok. You playing with SUP 2.0? #sapchat

lucagrilliLuca GrilliAbsolutely. Working on 2.1 #sapchat. During table passintg to SAP via RFC or Web Service, an error is alway raised #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli I know the docs for SUP 2.0 are still emerging. But these might be good resources for you: http://bit.ly/ocbY3R#sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli You need to speak with Stanley Stadelman at Sybase, try e-mailing him via his blog or Stanley.stadelman@sybase.com #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli he's product mkting manager for SUP 2.0 who is working with developers like yourself #sapchat

Q13:

IvanFemiaIvan Femia In which area currently customers are interested to move in mobility? #sapchat

Q14:

tganeshbabuGanesh Thangamaniwhich area would be preferable to start with? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@tganeshbabu You have to make the call as to whether you want to 1st focus on internal enterprise mobility projects vs. external #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@tganeshbabu There's no right answer....but you just need to make the call #SAPChat

Q15:

KyBedardKyle Bedard2011-will it be the year that the laptop dies? RT @ericylai my thoughts on the FeatureTablet bit.ly/osKTKW#sapchat@sap

ericylaiEric Y Lai@KyBedard Bold question! I say no. The crossover is a ways away, if you look at Gartner IDC forecasts #sapchat

Q16:

samfiorellasamfiorellaWhich device does Enterprise always have "on"/by their side? Inevitable that mobility (device/apps) will become mainstream. #SAPchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@samfiorella I'm waiting to see the belt holster for my tablet #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai @biz_mobility You've already got a belt holster for your light saber, don't you? #childofthe70s#sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@ericylai And I even have the lightsaber app on my smartphones #SAPChat

Eric The Face lands another blow to Philippe the Heel during the SAP Enterprise Mobility Tweetchat.

Q16:

jess_SAPJesse AnardeAny SUP prdct plans to rslv the type restrictions on Web Services and RFC? As in when a response returns an array of objects? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@jess_sap You also need to hit up Messr Stadelman at Sybase... #sapchat

jess_SAPJesse Anarde @ericylai Thanks a bunch! Looks like a very useful contact! #SAPChat

Q17:

IvanFemiaIvan FemiaWhat are the reasons that make you choose between a native and a cross app? #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@IvanFemia IMHO native enterprise apps are for ideal world scenarios, when time, developer salaries are no object. #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@IvanFemia Hybrid apps make more sense for enterprise, when GUI is not paramount, but multiple devices and consistency are. #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @ericylai@IvanFemia When is the GUI NOT paramount? Only when you don't care about your users IMO #SAPChat

IvanFemiaIvan Femia@ericylai GUI is not paramount? << There are great JMobile based applications with a great GUI and huge usability. #sapchat

Q18:

SAPSAPEric, Philippe, can either of you substantiate Bill McDermott's claim that "mobile is the new desktop?" #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropMobile is the new desktop? Sure.....just like Cloud is the new Mainframe #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthropenterprise mobility is awesome...no question....but the desktop will still have its place (somewhere) #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthropbesides, in 5 yrs, we'll come full circle anyway back to client/server. we need to do a better job of looking back in time IMO #SAPChat

samfiorellasamfiorella@biz_mobility Global biz + cloud + demand for greater efficiency will drive Enterprise Mobile policies. #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @samfiorella actually, I'll argue that a big data breach will drive enterprise mobility policies #SAPChat

samfiorellasamfiorella@biz_mobility ah, well there's a diff between policy that enables & one that polices. One proactive, one reactionary. #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@samfiorella But you can still be a good cop....remember how they say "To Serve and Protect?" That should be part of ITSM #SAPChat

Q19:

Mario1204Mario AertsWhat is the importance of SAP Netweaver Gateway in the mobile strategy of SAP? #sapchat

SAPSAP .@Mario1204 Great question Mario! Check out this article on SAP NetWeaver Gateway. http://spr.ly/6016RzUE#SAPChat

Q20:

kp_pk_kpkKIRAN pk @ericylai, wen it comes to mobil,end usr always luks out rich UI n graphics,How can v make enterprise apps reach out to these usrs #SAPchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@kp_pk_kpk Re: GUI, you think enterprise users demand rich game-like GUIs? I don't think they do. Lots of quick workflows#sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@kp_pk_kpk Remember lots of enterprise apps will be simply be quick mobilizations of server applications. Applets they were called in the dot com era #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @ericylai@kp_pk_kpk Game like GUIs - no. That would be N/A...but it should still look good or else we'd still be at Windows 3.11 #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@biz_mobility Re: GUI, I was taking narrow definition, of overwhelming prettiness. You're taking broad definition incl. efficiency #sapchat

IvanFemiaIvan Femia@ericylai from an architecture and technical point of view? What about offline support? #sapchat

Q21:

Colin_BestColin Best@ericylai Out of the ~300 organizations using SUP, how many are SAP customers? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@Colin_Best I don't know exact figure, but it's gotta be majority, for sure. SAP is kindly making SUP their middleware centerpiece #sapchat

Q22:

alex_deaAlex DeaWhere will mobile fit in enterprise? Biz? IT? Will there be separate depts for enterprise mobile vs consumer oriented mobile #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@alex_dea There is no consumer vs. enterprise mobility....we are all users!!!! #SAPChat

alex_deaAlex Dea @biz_mobility :) - fair enough. Do you think enterprise will manage them under one area, or separately? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @alex_dea which part? the tech or the data or the business logic? #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@alex_dea Check this document out - may help shed some lighthttp://bit.ly/oWPvvM#SAPChat

Q23:

SocialKevKevin Cassidy@biz_mobility@alex_dea But currently isn't there a separation between "business" computers & personal computers? #SAPChat

SocialKevKevin Cassidy@biz_mobility@alex_dea Will there ever be a "business" smart phone & a "personal" smart phone? #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@socialkev you mean BlackBerry 2.0? #shudder#sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe WinthropRT @SocialKev: @alex_dea Will there ever be a "business" smart phone & a "personal" smart phone? #SAPChat <-we're past that IMO

SocialKevKevin Cassidy@biz_mobility But what if I run out of app space on my iPhone. am I to lose Angry Birds because of Mobile CRM? :) #SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@SocialKev depends on what is more important for you....or you can just get a new device with more capacity #SAPChat

Q24:

lucagrilliLuca GrilliAre the features as PhoneGap planned in next Hybrid Web Container version? It should be nice to have camera and giroscope access #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@lucagrilli good ? Can't reveal that yet.

jess_SAPJesse AnardeSeems like the hybrid web container - workflow - does a good job in making a mobile app look somewhat native. #SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@jess_SAP Exactly right on hybrid. Hate to pimp whitepapers, but this is a good one http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1093946#sapchat

Q25:

Mario1204Mario Aerts@SergioFerrari@SAP Like Gateway, is SUP using REST architecture too? In generated code you see JSON interpreters #sapchat

Q27:

kp_pk_kpkKIRAN pk#SAPchat, A quick question: While working with blackberry device, how is the BES access handled ? Can we bypass BES ..??

ericylaiEric Y Lai@kp_pk_kpk Does this thread help? http://bit.ly/pUdJUk#sapchat

Q26:

Mario1204Mario AertsWhy did Sybase/SAP remove the DAD in the 2.0 platform? It was nice for demo's and prototyping #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@Mario1204 What's DAD? Sorry - out of my alphabet soup#SAPChat

Mario1204Mario Aerts@biz_mobility Device Application Designer to generate cross-platform UIs #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@Mario1204 I'm gonna hafta send you over to Stanley.Stadelman@sybase.com product mgr for SUP 2.0. Pls harass him :) #sapchat

Q27:

SAPSAPWhat does it mean to you that over 90% of Fortune 50 companies have deployed #mobile#apps? What does it mean for Mobility?#SAPChat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop@SAP 90% have deployed mobile apps...ok. To what % of their workforce? When we see deep adoption, then we will truly be mobile#SAPChat

ericylaiEric Y LaiRe: Fortune 50, here's the original research http://zd.net/pQ0Gdb#sapchat

ericylaiEric Y LaiOn Fortune 50, I think it's significant. Apps are usually next stage after managing devices. #sapchat

biz_mobilityPhilippe Winthrop @ericylai Some companies are managing devices b/c of the apps #SAPChat

Q28:

kp_pk_kpkKIRAN pk#SAPchat, so when is the much awaited android support hitting ??

ericylaiEric Y Lai@kp_pk_kpk If you mean mobile dev mgmt, Afaria already strongly supports Samsung Android devices, supports other Android less well. #sapchat

ericylaiEric Y LaiOn Android management by Afariahttp://www.sybase.com/mobilize/mobile-device-management/androidsamsung#sapchat

kp_pk_kpkKIRAN pk@ericylai , I mean.. When will we be getting SUP equipped with capability to generate droid specific code for business objects ? #SAPchat

ericylaiEric Y Lai@kp_pk_kpk that's a tough one. Can bug Stan Stadelman too on that one... #sapchat