Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Why Mobile Apps work for the Military: It's all about operability in the field

Five key elements of a successful mobile deployment

Mobile apps are a hot topic in the Aerospace and Defence industry right now. It's important that we understand how mobile apps can best help military personnel to focus on their primary task.

Jeff Pike, Head of Marketing and Global Markets Development for IFS in the Aerospace and Defence (A&D) industry, takes a look at how mobile apps can provide targeted elements of the functionality of an A&D support solution or a full ERP suite, in a mobile form. He outlines five key elements which are key to a successful military mobile app.

Enterprise solutions are key in Defence. Back at the Main Operating Base (MOB), all of the ERP functionality is typically required to manage strategy, heavy maintenance, warehouse management and the like. And even through a deployed solution model, Deployed Operating Bases (DOB) can still be supported through mobile servers, netbooks and tablets, all focused on the full ERP suite. DOBs are often about second line maintenance or distribution or convoy management, where rich functionality is still required – Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO), fleet management, supply chain management and HR are all required to manage compliance, configuration management and of course, finance for the secretariat.

But let's consider the soldier out in the field. They don't want – or need – to be bothered with complex functionality and information management. Traditionally, feedback from the field is either paper-based (and prone to error), or military HQs have imposed functionality-rich solutions onto the soldiers driven by the march of enhanced network technology. Yet providing all this full functionality means that a soldier can be overloaded by support functionality and information on one hand, whilst in the other, he needs to focus on direct combat and trying to avoid IEDs. In this scenario, he is often fully CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) defence kitted up and is trying to access a complex full suite deployed application with big finger gloves. It just doesn’t work.

Information from the front line needs to be captured, be that in the context of a Forward Operating Base (FOB), first line support, or maintenance of vehicles. Feedback is key to optimising the military supply or support chain, optimising MRO, and optimising the fleet as well as processing improvements to the maintenance/engineering teams to improve availability and sustainability of equipment.

The conundrum is how to get the essential feedback of operational information without overloading the soldier with support function.

Providing specific functionality for individual soldiers
Mobile apps provide the answer.

It's important to recognise a number of factors when developing a mobile app for the military, particularly in terms of providing specific functionality for each individual soldier.

The military needs to steer away from trying to operate a device with a functionally rich full-suite application just because network enabled capability (NEC) suggests it is possible. Instead, the military should look at deploying simple, easy-to-use mobile applications which offer the necessary essentials for soldiers out in the field, whilst still enabling regular updates to the full functionality suite once they're back at base.

Some of the key elements which should be included within a military mobile app are as follows:

  1. Only give soldiers the sections of functionality in the app which they need for the specific task they need to complete
  2. Only offer the functionality in a form they are familiar with – for example, a mobile app. It increases efficiency and effectiveness
  3. Make the apps CBRN 'big finger' friendly – easy to see, bold in appearance and provide a simplistic presentation of necessary processes
  4. Make the apps agile and easy to create/adapt, so that the soldier can get a new or amended app tailored for each campaign, not one provided for ten years
  5. Don't clutter the soldier with superfluous overhead

In reality, mobile apps have one purpose in the military, and that is to help military personnel to focus on the specific primary, rather than support job, no matter how important it is.

By understanding and answering the pains of the military in their different roles, mobile apps can help by addressing a specific focus and provide functionality to do that job – nothing more, nothing less – increasing effectiveness and agility of individual soldiers.

Jeff Pike is Head of Marketing and Global Markets Development (Aerospace & Defense) for IFS.
Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: Applications, OpinionNumber of views: 12087

Tags: opinion applications

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

Twitter is going public, Dell is going private... and roaming charges may be going forever

Podcast - 18th September 2013

We start this week's show with news about the European Commission's plans to end mobile roaming charges completely from next year.

We're also talking about the future facing Twitter and Dell, Vodafone's security challenges in Germany, app development, wireless charging, mobile payments and Nokia's Android-based smartphones.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Apple iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy smartwatch, Sony Xperia Z1 and much more

Podcast - 11th September 2013

This week's show is packed with new products, including two iPhones, three smartwatches, two Android smartphones and a couple of innovative lens-based camera accessories.

We also find time to talk about mobile security, virtual networks and being dishonest via text message.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon and Vodafone: the latest mobile industry news

Podcast - 4th September 2013

We're back after a short break last week - and just in time for three of the biggest industry news stories of the year.

Microsoft's CEO announces his retirement, then Vodafone sells its US operation for $130 billion... and now Nokia's mobile phone business is being bought. Alongside these reports there's also time to talk about 4G in the UK, children with mobiles, roaming charges and the future of smartphones.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

David Akka talks about Google's future and declares that Android is dead

Podcast - 26th August 2013

In this special feature we're talking to David Akka, who tells us why he says Android is dead, why Chromecast is an omen for the mobile industry, why OS companies are getting into hardware and what the future holds for the mobile industry.

David is UK managing director of Magic Software and describes himself as a 'recovering techie'. His personal blog is at davidakka.com.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

A week of mobile industry news, from smart meters to stupid drivers

Podcast - 21st August 2013

There's good news for Telefonica as it's chosen to support the UK's smart meter rollout - but bad news for fans of the Microsoft Tag barcode, which is being discontinued in a couple of years' time.

We're also talking about drivers who use mobile phones illegally, Amazon's new service for mobile developers, the forthcoming Kazam smartphone, mobile advertising, satellite broadband, wearable security accessories and a word that's completely unacceptable to Motorola.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First1314151618202122Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«November 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829301
2345678

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement