Welcome to our live coverage of the fantastic Mobility of Things Event, hosted here in the fantastic venue The Brewery sat right between London's City district and Silicon Roundabout. Throughout the day we will be updating this blog live so be sure to keep coming back to get all of the latest insight from what is promising to be an excellent day focussing on Enterprise Mobility.

7:44 AM: 

Everything is all set now for the event and I have to say the team at McDonald Butler have done a superb job in terms of both selecting this fantastic venue and getting everything set for the off. Looks like its going to be an excellent day. Be sure to keep coming back to us throughout the day as we keep you updated on the superb agenda which you can check out here 

8:45 AM:

Just waiting for things to get started now with the main conference room filling up nicely.

9:00 AM:

Some early forced networking from done very well by our host and a very slick app for audience interaction well demonstrated. Now up is John Delaney IDC...

9:50 AM Overview of The Critical Path to Enterprise Mobility Maturity – How Ready is Your Organisation?

The first speaker of the day John Delaney, Associate Vice President, European Mobility at IDC opened up his presentation stating that he believes we are in the early stages of enterprise mobility. "We are now starting to see companies stepping into the front foot in terms of enterprise mobility." he explains.

Next Delaney takes us through the what he sees as the key indicators that enterprise is starting to take a more mature approach towards mobility. A serious approach to mobile app development is one of the biggest of these.

Delaney outlines the fact that the enterprises have mostly been dealing with enterprise mobility are focussing on 'consumersiation' This is a huge sea change from last big shift in enterprise computing that we saw in the 80's where enterprise drove technology we eventually adopted in our personal lives.

Today consumers have adopted smart phones and apps into their personal lives first. Now they can see how useful these are in their working lives and want this translated into their working lives. However, there are of course clashes between security and personal technology.

Delaney defines this phase as Mobility 1.0 which is all about getting the balance between corporate security and the devices we are used to in personal lives.

i.e. Manage the cost of buying & using mobile devices. Keep pace with device development. Manage fragmented mobile OS environment. Manage device capabilities such as GPS . Protect the devices from loss, theft and damage. Protect corporate content from loss theft & unauthorised sharing, control manage corporate usage of personal devices.

Delaney then moved on to highlight that in mobility 2.0 the shift is away from devices and more with applications. The simple reason for this he explains is that in mobility 2.0 companies begin to think of competitive advantage - which is app driven not device driven.

Delaney then moved on to approach and process.

Companies moving to Mobile2.0 will begin to think of a lifecycle approach to mobility - how to bring in mobile applications into the same process as traditional IT. Interesting point around app wrapping and security where apps can only be accessed via VPN for example are becoming increasingly common solution to security concerns.

One of the major driving enablers of enterprise mobility is 4G. Delaney explains 4G widens the scope of application mobility. Mobile devices can now be utilised like a desktop application, with higher speeds, lower latency, higher capacity, and it is a global standard. This means things that you would only do on a mobile device with a 3G network if it was absolutely essential, are now commonly done on a mobile device on a 4G network. This move is driving enterprise mobility in that the mobile device is becoming the number one means of interacting with IT systems.

An interesting point Delaney makes is that Mobile investment plans are shifting from device management to application development. IDC research shows that Western European governments are looking to spend far more on applications than device management. Of these Office Apps and file sharing/collaboration top the charts in terms of apps companies are intending to being develop. Interestingly 34% of companies of companies plan to deploy some components of mobile conferencing.

10:48 AM Overview Business In Motion – Transform Your Organisation Into A Profitable Mobile Enterprise

Second speaker today is Piero A. Chiodo, Director, Mobility Services Center of Competency IBM Global Technology Services.

Chiodo picked up very much where Delaney left off basing his presentation around three waves of enterprise mobility. However he first of all gave us a fantastic fact in that there are more smartphones than toothbrushes in the world! Chiodo also outlined that mobile data traffic predicted to be 11.2 exabyte by 2017 an incredible amount.

Chiodo then outlined two major areas of mobility as defined by an IBM survey of 600 customers. First of all enhancing customer experience. Secondly improving employee productivity. It is the second of these that Chiodo is primarily focussing on today.

Chiodo outlined that the same research outlined for key aims for best-in-class companies utilising mobile.

These were: Transfrom the way they do business, engage their customers, build apps that unlock core business knowledge, and finally protect and securely manage devices.

Looking at each wave in turn Chiodo outlined Wave 1 as Enterprise mobility. This he defined as risk and cost avoidance when focussing on Mobile. The companies in this space have been looking primarily at mobile device management MDM, and how to secure the devices and keep them connected.

Chiodo next outlined some further insight form IBM research which followed one specific client implementation of BYOD program which showed a reduced cost of mobility infrastructure by $5.5M.

Turning to Wave two. Chiodo defined this wave as that of Optimisation and productivity. Companies that currently sit in this wave are looking to improve productivity, optimise efficiency, increase collaboration , and manage expenses. The mobile solutions for this area are more of a managed mobility approach, something much more complex then the simpler MDM we saw in wave one.

Chiodo also explained that here we also start seeing application stores within your infrastructure, and application platforms are required to develop the products. Telephony and collaboration are also integrated within this wave and of course the management of telephony costs need to be managed accordingly.

The final phase is Wave3: which Chiodo defines as The mobile enterprise - which he essentially defines as businesses essentially born on mobile.

Companies in this wave are looking at mobility to drive transformation. They are likely to drive forward with mobility led business process,which enable them to engage with customers in real time, provide insight at the point of analytics, and there apps are designed for mobility first, cloud is transforming IT and business process into digital services.

Chiodo concluded by looking at what a company that operates as a Mobile Enterprise should look through the term "Individual Enterprise"

Describing how mobility can redefines business Chiodo explained that mobile first approach should create new business value, be powered by analytics, take advantage of the new technologies mobile devices offer and finally unleash employees power.

11:20 AM Overview of Digital Citizen: You

Dragan Pendić, Chief Security Architect, Diageo finished the morning session with a vibrant presentation that was refreshingly focussed on the possibilities of mobility from a IT security professional. Pendic opened up by firmly stating that we have no choice but to be a mobile focussed company as mobility is everywhere.

Through a series of clever, image driven slides Pendic firstly highlighted how mobility is simplifying our consumer lives, explaining the importance of context to the consumer, and the power that mobility can bring to us in understanding our customers.

Having then  provided a great and vibrant overview of the digital world we are living, Pendic took a  focus on privacy. Describing the relation of business and consumer in terms of privacy as a fine line that can deliver either a rich contextual experience or 'a little bit creepy.' He pointed out that it is up to us to get the right balance, to keep our clients onside.

Focussing still on the reward rather than the risk Pendic explained that we should be asking ourselves what do we know about our customers identity? How long does it take for people to buy our products? Do we understand what people are saying about us? These are options that can help us develop the understanding of our customers but of course they bring security issues.

Talking on Security - Pendic sommented "It is important to focus your attention on the top priorities of your company, what are the key resources you are making money on?  Then you can start to understand how people are likely to attack you? It will likely be a sequence of attacks, but  we know what they will be up to?"

12:20 PM Overview of Embracing the Mobile Customer Experience of the Future

After a brief refreshment break we return to the sessions with Sylvaine Smith, Field Mobility Director, Motorola Solutions. Mobility is data begins Smith, how can we collect it, manage it visualise and communicate internal data.

The future of mobility... as a device manufacturer Smith has seen how the world of mobility has changed completely. "How can we change the form factor of a device can fit into the workflow that it will be used within?" Smith asked. She answered this question by showcasing a fully handsfree device the HC1 which allows the field worker to completely hands free. Whilst its a bit of a bulky looking device it certainly offers fully handsfree user experience, and this was outlined in a case study video with Areva.

Smith followed the video introducing the device by outlining the need to work alongside their customers to understand their workflow. Another video followed, this time showing the power of RFID via the Zebra motion works sports solution which utilises RFID both within the stadium and the players themselves to provide data on how sports players are performing. Again a very cutting edge technology and an exciting application.

"To harness the power of mobility we need to understand what our strategies and objectives are before assessing the technologies we are using" Smith comments.

Taking a more specific look at specific industry verticals Smith then outlined how mobility solutions can enhance productivity in Utilities, before looking at how mobility can enhance the customer experience in retail.

Moving on from retail Smith next showed us a video on how mobility solutions can benefit the housing association sector. This case study showed how South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) were able to bring their mobile workers into the twenty first century by moving away from laborious paper based processes to a fully mobile environment. As well as productivity improvements there were important benefits to loan worker protection.

One of the key messages of the case study was the benefit of working with a specialist mobility consultant (Peak Ryzex). The result of the shift was impressive, over 1,000 jobs completed in the year and significant cost savings also.

Smith concluded by stating that to take a mobility roll out from concept through to live and it is important of understanding key factors such as operating temperatures, battery usage, data input requirements etc and then running a pilot to ensure that the solution is the right fit for your needs.

12:47 Overview of Transforming the Mobile Workspace

The next presentation is from John Spencer, Director, Systems Engineering, Citrix Systems. Who gave us a an overview of how companies can be moving towards a more fluid mobile workspace.

Spencer began with a look at why we need enterprise mobility citing workforce mobility, flexible working, next generation workspaces, BYOD, security & compliance, and business continuity.

Spencer then posed the question is there a way to make everybody happy? Looking at the balance between IT, end users and the business. IT no business/end user yes.

Spencer then followed on to highlight that on the whole people just want to be productive. However, this often means a working around IT rather than with IT. 90% of people want to access email., 52% want to be able to focus on lines of business. and 48% want to data share - are these secure - there are challenges around all of these applications - how do we overcome these?

Spencer then introduced the Citrix Workplace Suite which incorporate Xen Desktop, Xen Mobile, Sharefile & NetScaler - which Spencer asserts can resolve many of the issues he has just outlined.

Xen Desktop - is a desktop as a service solution, it is a very secure model as it is essentially server basedand what Citrix have built there business around. Xen Mobile runs native devices and comes with out of the box MDM capability to add in security and incorporates secure Mail, Web, Cloud based storage, Note keeping, an office editor and XenDesktop.

Spencer next outlined the integration of the devices whilst highlighting that whilst there are many competitors to Citrix across there different offerings no one else can deliver across the whole range.

13:17 pm Panel Debate: Who’s Stealing Your Lunch?
First of todays panel debates: (abridged paraphrased notes)

On the panel:
Roy Sheppard – Facilitator
Dr. Thorsten Kramp, Researcher and Master Inventor, IBM
Kenny Fraser, Editorial Board, Enterprise Mobility Network
Stuart McKnight, Managing Director, Ascendant Corporate Finance

RS: What is the most exciting mobile enterprise example you have worked with

KF - Working with a scheduling tool for SME's. Why mobile is the next big thing is that SMEs are personal and mobile is personal.
RS: Is mobile perhaps bigger for SMEs then?
SM: Mobile is an enabler... small business are becoming much much more able to compete due to mobile.
RS: How is technology helping UK companies to move away from HQ's
KF: The technology is there to engage and collaborate far more than you have ever been able to do in the past. Is the technology there? Yes Are companies taking advantage of this? Not as much as they could be.
TK: From my opinion still nothing quite meets with kicking around ideas around the watercooler. The challenge is how do we do this in the virtual world.
RS: What industries are more under threat than others from mobile start-ups

SM: There is no place hide. IBM have a venture fund, Motorola have a fund. These companies are looking to find the latest innovation. In London it is the financial services market where there is a big focus on technology.
RS: What threats would say people need to be more aware of?
KF: I think that the threat is twofold. Firstly People will work out a workflow that uses non-corporate tools, with the best of intentions but they are working in a way that you don't know about. Secondly watch out for unestablished providers, particularly from emerging markets.
RS: Is mobility another .com bubble
SM: In short No.There are a number of different reasons why not but no.

14:15 Breakout session: Building the case...

Fantastic breakout session... look out for a future feature detailing what was discussed. Some excellent tech showcased by Lenovo. More to follow

16:09 Customer Case Study: Consistent Customer Experiences In a Mobile World 

As we head into the final sessions our next speaker is by Ashley Payne, Former Head of Digital Operations, Alvarez & Marsal

Online usability used to be dead simple is Payne's opening gambit. In explantation of this Payne outlined a brief history of web commerce. From 2,000 - 2006 the only real worries were a new web browser. Website usability was the hot topic. Then along came customer research firms, sign in barriers became removed etc. and we got it right.

However, today now 'online' means something different. Retailers typically maintain multiple sites as we use multiple devices.

Almost 2/3rd of retailers now operate 4 or more touch points. Yet only 1/3 however feel these are integrated. The customer needs consistency and ease of use. Mobile optimised presence, tablet friendly sites, seamless interaction with email across channels. We're not delivering.

Payne next moved on to things to avoid.  Content is the first thing to go missing when things are delivering at a pace. TopShop was a prime example of getting this wrong although they have since improved their approach. There needs to be continuity across mobile and desktop versions of websites otherwise the customer journey is a disparate and uncomfortable journey which will lose sales, Payne argues.

Retailers have experienced that conversion is much lower on a tablet than a desktop. However, should this read to panic? Not necessarily... understanding the customer journey is important. Mobile are predominantly used for research whereas desktops are used more frequently for purchase. Although mobile commerce now counts for 36% of online sales.

To conclude Payne further emphasised the need for a cohesive journey across the variety of devices we are using.

17:32 Overview of the final session Insight and Lessons From London 2012 Olympics: The Power of a Mobile Enabled Customer Experience

After a long and enjoyable day focussing on the issues around enterprise mobility we turn to the final session which brings us Greg Nugent, Former Director of Brand, Marketing and Culture for the London Olympics and Paralympics.

As the man responsible for the two largest ever marketing campaigns the UK has ever seen (he was also responsible for LeChunnel) Nugent spoke at length about the approach he and his team took.

However, the key take away - mobile and physical should sit together and as an integrated whole. As Nugent states the best brands thrive on Change.