Foreword

The long-term mega-trends are clear: Connectivity to SAP applications (ERP, CRM, SCM, PLM, SRM, and xApps) is going wireless, and many transactions are going to be conducted over powerful handheld computers in the hands of mobile workers. The market for mobile enterprise solutions and services is gaining traction and growing steadily.

Mobility is a strategic innovation issue affecting all areas of business. At SAP, we anticipate that mobile breakthroughs like radio frequency identification (RFID) will spearhead the next wave of business process innovation. Compliance to trading networks, enabled by RFID, will drive the adoption of this technology by the market faster than any of its predecessors. Yet many business and IT managers do not understand what is available or how to implement effective mobile solutions that leverage their investments in SAP.

This book addresses this knowledge gap and identifies mobile process improvement opportunities available by leveraging SAP NetWeaver, RFID, SAP Mobile Business, and third-party mobile applications. It is a must-read for SAP customers and those in the partner community who want to learn how mobile solutions can contribute to ROI.
The perspective of this book is rather unique due to the collaboration of a researcher and a practitioner. Kalakota is a leading authority on IT trends and strategy. Kurchina is a well-known visionary who has been an early adopter of SAP NetWeaver technologies. Both authors are highly regarded in the SAP community.

To help solidify the ideas in the book, SAP was pleased to share its NetWeaver Mobile vision, case studies, and best practices with Kalakota and Kurchina. Through real-world examples, the authors illustrate how SAP’s NetWeaver Mobile Infrastructure and applications give SAP customers the opportunity to further improve productivity, reduce errors, cut costs, and maximize the return from their investments.

Another unique aspect of this book is the active participation of many hardware, software, and solutions mobile partners who shared their experiences and insights. In short, Kalakota and Kurchina have co-authored an informative reference that shows by example how organizations can leverage mobile solutions to ensure customer success and value.

As this book demonstrates, the promise of the mobile enterprise is exciting, and its commercial viability is no longer a distant dream. SAP has solutions and infrastructure for mobile business that are designed to take business processes to a new plateau, so start mobilizing your business today.

But, we are just at the beginning of the mobile era of business applications. This book details the first step in the evolutionary process of delivering ubiquitous access to enterprise applications. SAP is looking forward to providing our clients with solutions that enable their employees to work wherever they find themselves and with whatever devices they have available to them.

Shai Agassi
Member of Executive Board
SAP