This is the tipping point, when mobile becomes a true computing platform instead of just an easier way to get email. But it is a fundamental mindset shift for both IT and user to conclude that mobile should be the primary interaction point for the most important business processes. Users believe this implicitly and will gravitate toward well-designed mobile apps. Now the more forward-thinking IT teams are also starting to view this shift as feasible in the near-term vs. only in a “who-knows-when” future. This moves the mobile apps program in a company from a hobby or interesting side-project to a strategic investment.

Another discussion at M1 was how to leverage the broad set of apps already available in the commercial app stores and markets. There is no need to reinvent what has already been built. The most common interest was in collaboration, from information and document sharing to enterprise social networking. Box (with whom MobileIron also has a promotion running currently) was a solution that came up frequently, and the corresponding discussion reinforced my view of the role of MDM in this shift toward apps.

MDM is the enabler for the cool stuff. Done right, it paves the way for companies to more rapidly adopt mobile as their core computing platform. MDM lets IT whet the enterprise “app-etite” easily and securely and sets the stage for the new world, when mobile becomes each user’s primary window into his or her enterprise.

Can’t wait to see what folks come up with for next year’s App Contest!

There are at least three categories of unique mobile apps in the Hospitality industry, with the basic goals of:

• Maintaining the property (e.g. room cleaning or service ticket mgmt)
• Keeping the guest moving (e.g. point of sale in restaurant or pool; line busting at check-in or check-out)
• Enhancing the guest experience (e.g. concierge kiosk; mobile guide)

The big security advantage in Hospitality is that these apps are generally within the four walls.  Wi-Fi is the transport of choice and if the property already has secure connectivity infrastructure then data in motion is not an issue.  Configure Wi-Fi and VPN remotely through your management platform, secure with certs if you need, and you are ready to go.

Data at rest is always a consideration, but this is where app design comes into play.  Sensitive data stays on the server while less sensitive data and all UI interactions are managed locally in the native app.  With reliable high-speed WLAN connectivity and minimal dependency on the operator network, the app performance will be acceptable without incurring additional data risk.

So, with secure Wi-Fi and good app design, Hospitality can overcome many of the security hurdles other industries face.  There is still the danger of misuse and loss/theft, perhaps greater than in other industries but, here again, good app design will limit exposure.

Keep your eye especially on the Las Vegas hotels.  Many are on the leading edge here and when mobile technology becomes as prevalent as neon in Vegas, we’ll know Mobile Hospitality has arrived.

Additional notes:  After I wrote the first version of this, I got some great feedback from Alistair Mutch about possible mobile use cases:

• Real-time translation apps to help serve int’l guests
• Higher accuracy in table-side ordering
• Single device replacement of walkie-talkies and pagers
• “Bring your own device” for temporary staff – reduce cost without impacting efficiency
• … and my favorite – guest’s mobile device as on-property loyalty card – with discounts, promos, guidebooks for their experience, all provided within a mobile app

Yes, mobile applications are everywhere!   I use them for business travel, sporting events, retailer coupons, managing my 401k, overseas Internet telephony, prospect web conferencing, customer CRM and even departmental applications like marketing automation.  The average smartphone owner spends more than 650 minutes a month using apps – no wonder my kids tell me to put down the ^*!@$ on weekends.  That is more time spent with apps than spent talking on a device or using it to browse the Web.

Mobility is no longer about OS preferences, what matters most going forward are secure public and private Mobile Applications.  Millions of business professionals use smart devices because always-on application connectivity is a huge productivity boost.  And the OS vendors are quickly catching on.  For example, late last year relative new-comer Windows Phone 7 quietly reached 5,000 apps and will quickly double in 2011.  Impressive but still trailing Android and iOS.  The average Android and iOS user depends on 15 applications each month, BlackBerry users about 8 applications each month.

Third-party developers are also publishing enterprise applications for more than one platform.  And there is no right (write?) or wrong way to enable these applications.  Analyst firm Gartner went on record lately advising customers that “no organization should standardize wholly on either native or Web applications.”  The analyst outfit also encourages IT groups to establish guidelines to assist mobile architects and business users in choosing the most appropriate architecture.

Organizations will always want to manage public and private mobile applications — with the same level of control, security, and compliance monitoring they enjoyed in previous generations of computing.  What’s changed is that many leading organizations are taking a “trust and verify” model that gives IT control while opening up new application and device “greenfields” to the users.  MobileIron’s CEO Bob Tinker highlighted the latest user trend of allowing employees to “Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)” with Bloomberg last week.  Since these devices are now dual-purpose personal/business computers users should not be  forced to work with locked-down applications and essentially useless smartphones and tablets on the job.  And, using an intelligent MDM solution ensures business IT will not simply have to open the flood gates and accept an application free-for-all.

Everyone wins.

As I often do when I travel, I took my iPhone with me.  Normally, I leave international data roaming turned off, but this trip I found myself using mobile data more than ever while abroad because using apps on my iPhone has become a critical part of my day-to-day life. In Germany, I was forced to confront just how dependent I had become. I decided to walk from my hotel to a meeting about a mile away.  In an effort to be cost conscious, I obtained the directions to my meeting using my iPhone over the hotel’s free Wi-Fi, then turned off the data connection and left the hotel. This would work brilliantly I thought.

En route, I periodically opened my iPhone and used Google Maps’ cached data to ensure I was on the correct course.  However, about halfway to my meeting, I accidentally clicked a button that sent my once-clear directions into oblivion.  The cached map data was still there, but I no longer had the helpful purple line showing me where to go.  What was I to do?

Reluctantly, I turned on international roaming on my phone to re-obtain the walking directions.  While cost was a concern, I couldn’t avoid the thought: ” Am I so lame that I can’t remember a simple set of directions? Am I this dependent on my phone now? What would have I done a few short years ago when I didn’t have a smartphone?”

In short, yes, I am that dependent on my phone and my apps.  A bad sense of direction has left me at the mercy of Google Maps and Mapquest (free, voice guided, turn-by-turn directions!) not only when I travel but even when I’m at home going to new destinations.  I travel a fair amount for work and I often find myself turning to Yelp! on my phone when I need a suggestion on where to eat.  LinkedIn is my app of choice before or after meetings so I can get background on who I’m having discussions with.  And Genius Scan is always by my side, taking a digital record of all my expenses, in case I ever lose hard copies of receipts.

My experience with apps has made me wonder about what the future will be as more enterprises turn toward mobile applications to improve productivity.  At our Partner Summit, I asked our partners from across Europe how many had customers who were actively developing applications.  While there were few large scale efforts, applications were a top-of-mind concern across our partners’ customer base.   My view is that as more enterprise applications are developed within organizations their use will become as intertwined with daily business life as commercial apps are today.  Think of it this way: Why would I ever leverage Oracle or SAP to enter in sales call data if I have a purpose-built micro application that I can use immediately after a call, that is easier to use and whose use is targeted toward that process?

This trend is only positive for enterprises.  As we’ve seen from customers like RehabCare, mobile applications have the potential to truly streamline and transform the way organizations do business.  That said, enterprises will need to change their focus and think about mobility and mobile security more broadly.  Today, e-mail has been the primary focus, however, with applications, the scope for protecting data-at-rest expands, transport-layer concerns move from e-mail synchronization to VPN, and there are the open questions on how end-users will discover, deploy and maintain apps on their device.  As they move forward with mobile technologies, organizations will need to consider applications in order to take advantage of the true benefits posed by enterprise mobility and then they need to figure out how to manage and secure them.

But what impact does this have on the enterprise?  Philippe Winthrop at Strategy Analytics recently blogged on this topic (http://www.enterprisemobilitymatters.com/enterprise_mobility/2009/07/revisiting-the-mobile-app-store.html), pointing out that IT will be dramatically impacted whether we like it or not.  And most companies aren’t ready for it.

A few weeks ago, I had a fascinating conversation with a CIO who doesn’t have immediate plans to deploy internal mobile apps beyond email but realizes that in spite of that he needs a mobile apps strategy NOW, not in 12 months.  Why?  To deal with the proliferation of consumer apps that are (and will be) suddenly appearing on his corporate smartphones. 

How many phones will run out of memory?  How many apps will crash the phone?  How many new backdoors will be created?  What types of problems will a smartphone with 30 apps have that one with 3 does not? 

His helpdesk is going to get hit hard.  And he knows he has to do something about it.  He needs a mobile apps strategy.  Waiting is not an option.  Mobile apps are here to stay.  Prepping now means avoiding big support costs and poor user experiences later.