Nomadic Computing with Mobile Devices

7/30/2019 Nomadic Computing with Mobile Devices

1/12

Nomadic Computing with Mobile DevicesWith the explosion o smartphones and tablet computers, sotware

developers must exploit opportunities at the application layer, applying

location- and presence-aware data to deliver services that are relevant

to both enterprises and consumers.

Executive Summary

Dramatic advancements in mobile technology,

combined with the wide availability of sophisti-

cated mobile devices, have enabled us to conduct

our daily personal computing and communica-

tions activities on the go. As a result, we are fast

becoming a society of nomadic computer users

or, simply, nomads.

1

The vast majority of users today are able to

perform the same tasks on their mobile devices

as they traditionally performed on their laptops

or desktops. And although most users perceive

and use their smartphones simply as portable

laptops or desktops that offer the convenience of

mobile operation, these devices can be, in fact,

much more than that.

Still missing, however, is full support of nomadic

computing at the applications layer. This white

paper describes a new paradigm that extends

nomadic computing to the applications layer.

Adoption of this paradigm will enable a new level

of powerful applications to attract value-driven

users, creating tremendous business development

opportunities for enterprises to offer electronic

customer relationship marketing (e-CRM), data

mining and internal and external cross-selling

services that generate revenue for the business.

We also demonstrate the tremendous potential

of this new paradigm for both enterprises and

consumers, alike.

From the Beginning

Anyone who accesses his or her computing envi-

ronment from different locations is a computing

nomad, or simply a nomad. Leonard Kleinrock,

recognized as one of the founders of the Internet,

rst coined the term in the late 1980s, when he

and his colleagues discovered the limitations of

the Internet infrastructure in supporting nomads

as they moved from ofce desk to conference

room, living room, bedroom, den, hotel, airplane,

automobile and school.

The Internet protocol suite, specically TCP/

IP, assumed that users and their devices and IP

addresses would always be found in the same

location and would be tightly coupled. The problem

was that users moving from one location to the

next needed to recongure their IP addresses, set

Domain Name Services (DNS) gateway addresses

and so forth and needed signicant technical

knowledge to do so. In short, nomadic computing

Cognizant 20-20 Insights

cognizant 20-20 insights | november 2012


2/12

cognizant 20-20 insights 2

was not transparent to users, and it certainly was

not convenient.2

Kleinrock and others attempted to eliminate these

shortcomings and create a nomadic computing

infrastructure that would support nomadicity,

which Kleinrock denes as follows:

the system support needed to provide

computing and communications capabilities

and services to nomads as they move from

place to place in a way that is transparent,

integrated, convenient and adaptive.3

Users should not have to deal with what Kleinrock

called discontinuities between different devices

and locations, such as network connections,

connection mechanisms, intermittent connec-

tions, access to les, le system synchroniza-

tion, printer conguration, bandwidth and load

problems, etc. The ultimate goal was to make

these conguration and access issues transpar-ent to the user.

The Internet infrastructure and the hardware

and software products we enjoy today represent

the success of nomadic computing researchers.

Today, connecting to the Internet from home is as

simple as connecting a modern router, plugging in

a computer and running an

install script. Connecting

to a wireless router is

even simpler and involves

only selecting the network

to which to connect. Thecomplexities of setting

DNS server addresses

and conguring security

protocols are hidden from

the user. That is, achieving

connectivity and service

availability is transparent,

convenient and adaptable.

Todays mobile networks extend the nomadic

computing paradigm and engineering achieve-

ments of the Internet pioneers. Anyones grand-

mother can use voice and data services to makephone calls, send multimedia messages and send

e-mail, anywhere, whether stationary or mobile,

local or roaming. Here again, connectivity and

service availability are transparent, convenient,

integrated and adaptive at the network layer and

below.

But what about the applications layer that sits

atop the network layer? Can we extend the

paradigm that gives us nomadicity at the network

layer up to the applications layer? If so, what

would a nomadic computing infrastructure look

like at the applications layer? And what are the

benets?

We contend that the paradigm represented by

nomadicity can be extrapolated to the applica-

tions layer for both xed and mobile users.For the purposes of this paper, we will focus on

mobility because the business development

opportunities are far more dramatic in the mobile

domain than for xed or stationary networks.

When this vision is realized, the user experience

on mobile devices will be greatly enhanced, and a

more powerful platform will be created that will

benet users and create new opportunities for

the enterprise.

Nomadicity or Mobile Networks

and Devices

Why is nomadicity on mobile devices soimportant? How is the mobile platform different

from the laptop or desktop platform? Why do

mobile devices promise to be the cornerstone of

a powerful new paradigm for applications when

outtted with an applications-layer nomadic

computing capability? To answer these questions,

we need to take a closer look at the technical dif-

ferences between mobile networks and stationary

networks (the so-called xed Internet).

Dynamic, Continuous Network Connectivity

At the risk of stating the obvious, mobility is

really the inherent characteristic of mobile

networks. And the one characteristic that most

differentiates mobile networks from so-called

xed networks is that mobile networks support

dynamic mobility and dynamic network connec-

tivity. Whether a user is stationary, walking or

riding on a high-speed train or roaming from one

network providers cell tower to anothers, he or

she can use the phones voice and data services

without interruption. The network transparently

handles such functions as cell site hand-offs,

network address updates, security, authentica-

tion and roaming.

This dynamic connectedness is the manifesta-

tion of nomadicity at the network layer. Users

connect to and use the network transparently,

conveniently and adaptively. In contrast, the xed

Internet isnt quite so exible. Arguably, it is this

exibility that has contributed to the impressive

adoption rate of mobile devices. Adoption rates

are also a result of user perception of the novelty

Can we extend theparadigm that gives

us nomadicity at thenetwork layer up to

the applications layer?I so, what would a

nomadic computinginrastructure

look like at theapplications layer?


3/12


and convenience of mobility (as discussed later in

this paper).

Dynamically Updated Physical Location

Inormation

Mobile devices have one other important dis-

tinguishing characteristic: Dynamically updated

physical location information, provided by their

built-in global position system (GPS) receivers.This difference in conjunction with the dynamic,

continuous connectivity of mobile networks

renders the mobile device a profoundly powerful

platform on which to build a new computing

paradigm at the applications layer.

Mobile vs. Portable

The dynamic nature of mobile devices makes them

more than just conveniently portable consumer

electronics that mimic our desktops and laptops.

To see why, lets contrast the paradigm that

dominates our computer use today with the new

one enabled by the mobile infrastructure.

Many Internet sites, such as Yahoo, Google and

Yelp, were originally built to address xed-loca-

tion users. These mainstream sites encourage

desktop and laptop users to enter personal prole

information that the site can use to provide useful

information and services. For example, based on

your ZIP code, the site can present ads for local

businesses, offer a starting point for driving

directions, provide pertinent local weather infor-

mation and so forth.

The limitation of this paradigm is that user infor-mation is static, which doesnt accommodate

nomads. Yelp does ne when you search for a

local restaurant near your home when youre

actually at home. But what if youre out of town

or even across town and youre trying to nd a

nearby restaurant? Instead of search results

showing restaurants in proximity of your actual

location, you still see listings within proximity

of your home location. Of course you could

change your prole ZIP code, refresh the portal

page and begin a new search, or you could enter

the current location address for each action. This

need for manual intervention is not convenient,transparent or adaptive; that is, it does not reect

the qualities of nomadicity and, therefore, does

not serve the nomad.

Mobile devices, on the other hand, have a built-in

GPS receiver that provides dynamic and accurate

physical location information that is available

to any application without user intervention.

Combined with underlying mobile network

support for continuously connected mobility,

applications can provide useful information to

the nomad, and the nomad can enjoy a rich user

experience.

Mobile applications have

already started to takeadvantage of the power

of the mobile devices

dynamic location informa-

tion capability. For example,

search results in the Google

Maps mobile application are

ordered by rst displaying

matches that are closest to

the users current geographic location. However,

at this stage in the development of such solutions,

each effort is largely isolated. Each applica-

tion must be built with its own infrastructure to

provide the full scope of services needed, from UIto database.

One piece is still missing from the technologi-

cal landscape needed to support a generation of

these applications: the applications layer infra-

structure across the enterprise that will enable

the presentation of useful applications to the

nomad.

Nomadicity at the Applications Layer:

A Closer Look

Its clear that mobile devices support true

nomadicity at the network layer and below, but

full benets require nomadicity at the applica-

tions layer. Applications-layer support enables

applications to behave in a way that is trans-

parent, integrated, convenient and adaptive. Of

course, a nomadic application like any other

software application utilizes the platforms

support beneath it; nomadic applications utilize

the nomadicity support at the network layer and

below.

Still, what really is a nomadic application? A

nomadic application is one that behaves in a way

that is transparent, integrated, convenient and

adaptive from the perspective of the user. Lets

look at what this means in the context of mobile

devices.

Transparent: Computer science denes trans-parency as functioning without the user be-

ing aware of its presence.4 Transparency

Each applicationmust be built with itsown inrastructure toprovide the ull scopo services needed,rom UI to database.


4/12


moves the user further away from the underly-

ing technology and from knowledge of design,

structure or implementation details. For exam-

ple, users do not need to be aware of how or

from where data is retrieved, such as whether

a browser was used to retrieve data or from

which Web site the data came.

Consider a scenario involving the mainstream

browser-based version of the Google Maps

application. The user provides search text, and

the application displays a map with a red pin

denoting the geographic

location of each match.

As a result of the user

selecting a pin, the applica-

tion launches the devices

Web browser to display a

Web page with informa-

tion about that location.

The experience is not

transparent because theuser clearly recognizes the

browser, its address bar,

the URL displayed and the

familiar browser display

window the same view the user would see if

he or she launched the Web browser directly.

Most of todays applications are similarly not

transparent in this manner.

Integrated: An integrated version might em-bed the browser function in the application.

Now the user sees the same content, albeit

in a view that has the same skin as the con-

taining application instead of the stand-alone

browser applications view, which results in a

consistent look-and-feel across all application

views.

The integration that results in embedding the

browser and hiding its use also achieves

transparency. The user does not need to be

aware of how the application presents the

content.

Convenient: Integration also engenders con-venience. The application takes the user to

the screen that performs the appropriate

task, precluding the need for manually launch-

ing multiple independent applications. In the

Google Maps application, the user does not

have to launch a browser manually to look up

the restaurant information on the Yelp Web

site.

Adaptive: The most obvious example of adap-tive behavior is the devices GPS receiver. Con-

tinuing with the Google Maps example, the dy-

namically available user location information

enables search results to be ranked according

to proximity to the users current location. So

a search for a location will rst display those

matches that are closest to the users current

location. This adaptive behavior is certainly

convenient for the user, who doesnt have to

explicitly provide his or her physical location

as is necessary if using a laptop or desktop.

The nomadicity qualities of transparency, inte-

gration, convenience and adaptive behavior

are all closely related. And generally, the more

integrated and transparent applications are, the

more convenient and adaptive they become.

The goal of achieving these qualities is particular-

ly important in the mobile arena, because the vast

majority of users are not technical professionals.

Moreover, the small screens and challenging user

interfaces make it more difcult for the average

consumer to feel comfortable with relatively non-intuitive swipes and taps. The simpler and more

intuitive the user experience, the greater the

adoption rate for nomadic devices and the more

potential for business.

Nomadicity Throughout the Enterprise

So far, weve focused on the user interface in elu-

cidating nomadicity on mobile devices. Although

the user interface represents the application to

the typical user, in reality, it is just a faade or pre-

sentation component of the application.

The majority of todays networked, distributedapplications reside throughout many tiers of

the enterprise. Therefore, a complete treatment

of nomadicity must include a description of it in

every tier of an applications enterprise architec-

ture. Specically, nomadic applications require

support for nomadicity across all tiers of the

enterprise architecture.

The realization of nomadicity in enterprise archi-

tecture will be the lynchpin of enterprise solutions

that are capable of driving user adoption and

creating business opportunity. The reason for

this, stated throughout this paper, is the growingacceptance of mobile devices resulting from

the novelty and convenience of mobility. As

more nomadic applications become available,

consumers will change the way and extent to

which they use their mobile devices.

Today, however, there is only a edgling presence

of support for nomadicity across the entire

enterprise. As a result, users still see their mobile

The realizationo nomadicity in

enterprise architecturewill be the lynchpin o

enterprise solutionsthat are capable o

driving user adoptionand creating business

opportunity.


5/12


devices as conveniently portable, cute, miniatur-

ized versions of their laptops and desktops and,

consequently, use them as such. They re up one

application for one task, another for another task

and so on. The reason for this interaction model is

that applications are largely silos that exist inde-

pendently from one another. Although applica-

tions such as Google Maps or Yelp exhibit some

aspects of nomadicity in their UIs, there is nointegration of services and data.

Nomadicity across the enterprise addresses the

transparency, integration, convenience and adap-

tive behavior of services and data. Each applica-

tion focuses on providing a specic function to the

user, and the back-end enterprise infrastructure

behind each UI is a silo. That is, the Google Maps

application uses Googles map database and enter-

prise services, and Yelp uses its own database of

information. Even the Google Now application uses

Googles databases of information.

Applications that exhibit many nomadic charac-

teristics today, such as Google Now and Google

Anywhere, are still the exception. And despite the

noteworthy achievements of these applications,

even applications within the same company are

not integrated. For example, Google Mail, Calendar

and Voice are not integrated, and access to them

is certainly neither transparent nor convenient

for the user even on the desktop. In fact, even

Google Voice itself is not well integrated as a

unied communications platform.

Another factor amplifying the problem of silosof services and data is user account and prole

management. Yelp users each have a dedicated

account, with personal preferences for food,

location and so forth. Yelps mobile applica-

tion uses its own back-end services. A Yelp user

might have a Google Maps account with another

personal prole that stores preferences such as

starting locations for driving directions, favorite

places, etc.

Each user account is maintained separately, and

users duplicate prole information many times

over. They also have to remember where theyhave such accounts, along with the account

names, passwords and other details. Even if there

is a mobile application that provides an alternative

to using a browser, the user must use each such

application independently. The overall user expe-

rience of accessing services and data is neither

integrated nor convenient nor transparent.

Google applications wont necessarily use Yelps

database of information, and Yelp users wont

benet from having detailed Yelp account proles

when using the Google Maps application. As a

result, there will still be competing silos of appli-

cations.

Competition is an obstacle to sharing services

and information, so its not likely that Google,Yelp, MapQuest or other

companies will be motivated

to provide services or data

that benet their competi-

tors applications. But even

if competition were not a

factor, its a difcult task to

provide services and data

that serve the needs of all.

Thus we have the silos of

service we see today.

Nevertheless, there is stilltremendous opportunity for

companies to produce very

specic company- or brand-

centric nomadic applica-

tions in which all elements are controlled by the

creator. A given company could build dedicated

applications using its own services and data that

can more easily be made to support nomadicity.

And these services and data could deliver a level

of detail not possible when one data provider

tries to service many partners. The key factor

for success, however, is that the provider must

have access to all the data necessary to make theapplication useful to the end user.

An Example: The Theme Park

To help elucidate these ideas, lets examine a

sample application. How could an amusement

park enhance the experience of its patrons if it

were to create a mobile application that took

advantage of nomadicity? One idea is an applica-

tion that people can use while visiting the park.

In fact, major theme parks have already begun

building this type of application.

Lets say you are planning to take your family toone of the companys theme parks. Prior to your

visit, you download the parks mobile application.

Before you arrive, the application aggregates

all of your prole information from the theme

park companys Web portal, where you have an

account. As the one company that is the sole

creator of its enterprise systems, the theme park

Each user account ismaintained separateland users duplicateprofle inormationmany times over. Thealso have to remembwhere they have suchaccounts, along with

the account names,passwords and otherdetails.


6/12


has a unied customer database through which

all of its enterprise systems across all operating

units have a single view of each consumer, patronor online account owner. The system knows each

and every customer, as well as their interests,

food preferences, ride preferences, age and as

much information as the

customer cares to provide.

This application is also

location-aware, presence-

aware and nomadic. As a

family walks down one of

the main promenades in

the park, the application

points out details of the dcor, design and historyof the attractions. It might reveal that a particular

area was a movie set or that the area is themed for

particular characters of the companys cartoons,

movies or other brands. A pop-up lets the visitor

indicate whether she is interested in more of these

informational tidbits. If she previously indicated

interest in certain characters, for example, the

app could inform her exactly where the related

themed areas were and how to walk there.

The more information the application has about

the customer, the more it can cater to the

customers interests. If the visitor entered infor-mation about food preferences, an alert can be

sent when a suitable restaurant, snack kiosk

or store that sells that food is nearby; or it can

guide visitors to restaurants corresponding to

their stated interests upon entering the park and

provide turn-by-turn directions to walk there.

Suppose another visitor nished eating the spicy

jambalaya at one of the parks themed restau-

rants. Thirty minutes later, an alert could send

him to a park store that sells antacid or send an

alert when he passes such a store. It could even

send the alert to his dad but not his sibling basedon the visitors age stored in his prole (assuming

kids dont get heartburn!).

As he approaches a ride, an alert could foretell

the wait time to board. It could reveal whether the

ride supports advance reservations and display

reservation time slots, allowing him to reserve

and send a reservation number. Upon exiting the

ride, a different kind of alert could say, If you

The more inormationthe application has

about the customer, themore it can cater to the

customers interests.

A Day in the Park

An example o nomadic computing in action could be ound at a theme park. Park visitorswould download a location-specifc app onto their mobile devices that aggregates profleinormation rom the companys Web portal. Sensing where the visitors are in their

journey throughout the park, the app would make recommendations relevant to individualneeds and interests.

Cajun Cabin

If you liked the spinningswing ride, you might alsoenjoy the spinningoctopus ride.

Tell us how youliked this ride.

The gift shop aheadsells antacids.

Child safety

alert. Jake haswandered 75feet away.

The best Jambalayayouve ever tasted is20 feet ahead.

Wait time:7 minutes.

Stop in and seeEmmas favorite,Princess Flora.

Figure 1


7/12


liked that ride you might like this one, too. Child

safety alerts could warn mom and dad anytime

junior strolls more than 75 feet away from them.

Perhaps at home, junior plays one of the games

online developed by the theme park on its Web

portal. Upon entering the park, an alert can

suggest a shop where his mom and dad might

want to take him to buy the games branded para-phernalia. These examples depict how enterprise

data integration across all of a theme park

companys services can support cross-selling

across all of its business units.

The park operator can use the data accumulat-

ed by the application to provide e-CRM services

to customers. For example, the app could ask a

customer if he or she liked the music played on

a particular ride or in a certain restaurant or

throughout one of the parks themed areas and,

based on the answer, suggest music that ts

his or her preferences. As well as serving thepatron, this capability enables cross-selling of the

companys brands and business units.

For companies with parks in multiple countries,

the app could be internationalized and localized

to cater to patrons around the globe, automati-

cally using location-aware offerings and localized

user experience elements.

The Business Proposition

The theme park example highlights the value for

both the user and the enterprise. The popularity

of mobile devices, coupled with the transparency,convenience, dynamic nature and adaptability

of the application, make it easy, convenient and

enjoyable for users. And the ability to gather

dynamic, detailed, relevant information about

users is valuable to the enterprise.

For a business to sell to a consumer, it must know

something about that consumer. And to retain the

customer, it must demonstrate value. The enter-

prise needs the ability to collect information about

the consumer and offer something perceived as

valuable. The business then generates revenue

through the following functions:

E-CRM. Data mining. Internal and external cross-selling and

upselling.

Just-in-time inventory control.

A comprehensive treatment of each of these

areas is beyond the scope of this paper. Never-

theless, the overarching point is that this kind of

application, achievable today, can easily generate

very accurate consumer prole and demographic

information, which would enable more effective,

targeted marketing, as well as upselling, cross-

selling and sharing, ultimately generating more

revenue.5

For example, a themepark could integrate just-

in-time inventory control

that uses dynamically

collected data to re-order

inventory, ranging from

food to T-shirts, with ner

granularity to streamline

its operations and

operate more efciently.

The data is also useful in

planning new rides, res-

taurants, products, ideas

for new movie themes,etc., based on analysis of

data that indicates how many people congregate

around which attractions and at what time of day.

The potential for demographic data is effectively

limitless. Data could be made anonymous and

sold to partners or even competitors.

The Value or Users

Ultimately, the best way to generate revenue is to

provide features and services that users perceive

as valuable. If users accept and use the applica-

tion, the business will naturally benet.

Consumers have grown weary of the incessant

assault from company solicitations from mail,

e-mail and applications with built-in advertising

messages. They will probably not easily accept

applications that simply appear to be aimed

at getting them to buy more. Instead, applica-

tions should suggest products or services that

consumers might nd valuable. This determina-

tion should ideally be based on information about

their past buying preferences. That is, purchase

suggestions should now represent products and

services that are legitimately of potential interest

to consumers instead of a sales tactic that

attempts to entice them to just buy more.

Challenges and Potential or a Variety

o Applications and Enterprises

Any corporation could conceivably create a

customized application along the lines of the

theme park example to serve its business and

customers in a way that reects the enterprises

This kind o applicationcan easily generatevery accurate consumprofle and demographinormation, which woenable more eective,targeted marketing,upselling, cross-sellingand sharing, ultimatelygenerating more

revenue.


8/12

Quick Take

Despite the vast potential for dynamic location-

and presence-aware mobile technology, there isalso the potential for abuse. Todays smartphones

and tablets are vulnerable to malicious external

applications or software agents, which can com-

municate with open mobile devices even without

the users knowledge. Already, were seeing

examples of applications deployed by stores in

shopping malls that send unsolicited messages to

unprotected mobile devices as the device owners

walk within proximity of the store.

Todays mobile devices have features such as auto-

matic sharing of location information and auto-

discovery and connection to wireless networks.

While aiding the transparent and convenient use

of services, these features also expose the device

and the user to vulnerability and disclosure of

private information.

It is imperative that any company building the

type of hypothetical application presented in this

paper take precautions to ensure the privacy and

security of the consumer. Technically, it is not dif-

cult to do so. The company building the appli-

cation should control the complete system and

utilize its database of user information. Userscould be given the ability to specify the level of

personal information they want to be used or

shared, and the company need never share data

with any external system or organization. In short,

the company would control the whole enterprise,

from infrastructure to software to data.

In fact, it is more feasible to build this kind of an

application when one company controls all aspects

of the system. The problem of sharing meaningful

information between companies disappears. For

instance, the company gathers the data it knows

its application needs to create a meaningful user

experience. Gone is the problem of seeking that

information from a third-party company or think-

ing about how that data provider would be able

to represent the data and how the systems would

interact to exchange the information.

The result: Users would benet from a rich appli-

cation experience while enjoying the security and

privacy of their personal information.

Privacy and Security

8cognizant 20-20 insights

own particular strategy, business rules, products

and use cases. In fact, many large companies

particularly those ush with capital have already

begun creating such applications to leverage the

dynamic, location-aware mobile platforms that

address their particular business domains and

markets.

As mentioned previously, the most viableapproach today would be for each enterprise

to build its own custom application, use its own

databases and brand its own self-contained appli-

cation with a unique look that extends its store-

front brands, trademarks, products, etc. A single

company can probably move more adaptively

than multiple organizations attempting to share

data and process siloes with each other, as the

capabilities for inter-enterprise data exchange,

meta-information tagging, Web services and

other technologies are still in the primordial

stages of development.

Nevertheless, not every company is going to

have the resources to build a map database that

rivals Googles. In fact, Google itself recognizes

the need to adapt to the changing technological

landscape and is actively working on expanding its

map databases and creating more detailed maps,

street views, etc. The company is also forming

business agreements that enable it to create

detailed views and maps for private entities such

as museums.

But even Google is subject to constraints andobstacles. Other companies such as Yelp want

to advertise their brand and are creating their

own mobile applications. In general, corporations

are reluctant to share data with each other for

competitive reasons. And even if they do, the

generalized data that must serve all consumers

of this data can never serve a specic group of

consumers as well as a focused application. In

short, although there is limitless potential, there

are also tangible obstacles

Regardless of which strategic approach is taken

the enterprise-specic model or the servicesmodel delivered to multiple clients each mobile

application should strive to manifest the qualities

of nomadicity, and should target the nomad


9/12


in order to realize the potential benets. The

prognosis for success is very good because of

the unique combination of features of an applica-

tions-layer nomadic computing infrastructure on

mobile devices, including:

Popularity and enthusiastic adoption of mobiledevices.

Continuous mobile device connectivity. Continuous and dynamic physical location

information.

Applications-layer support of nomadicity.

Nearly any enterprise could benet from this

kind of application, including grocery stores,

book stores, department stores, airlines, real

estate companies and medical device monitoring

in hospitals or at home.6 What we see today is

just the beginning of an evolution of technology

and applications that take advantage of nomadic

principles.

Building Nomadic Applications

Companies are building these types of applica-

tions today, but they represent just a fraction of

what is possible and just a few examples of the

kinds of enterprises such applications could serve.

Learning how to build such systems now is critical.

Were already seeing pieces of the technology

and technological infrastructure being created

that will soon comprise the applications-layer

middleware needed to build nomadic systems. It

wont be long before the pieces are integratedinto useful products at the enterprise level. Orga-

nizations that acquire experience early on will be

ahead of the competitive eld.

Developers must consider the following factors

when conceiving, architecting, designing and

creating a nomadic application:

Congruence with company business model:What are the business needs, purpose and val-

ue of the application?

Enterprise architecture: What is the mani-festation of a system that supports the busi-

ness needs? What are the critical obstacles to

success?

Conceiving a Viable Business Model

As with any application, it is vitally important for

an enterprise-scale nomadic application to show

business value and encompass a clear vision of its

purpose. The application must be attractive and

novel to users, yet it must also show some benet

to the company.

Why will the application attract users? What

benets will users derive from its use? How will

the nomadic qualities of the application cater

to the nomadic user? How will it support the

companys basic business? What is the real

benet to the company?

What is the revenue model

for the application? Doesthe company charge for

the application or give it

away for free? If the latter,

can the company make

money selling anonymous

data collected about users,

demographic data, trend

data, statistics, business

analytics and so forth? Or

can it use data collected from the application to

support another aspect of its business?

An important success factor for nomadic applica-tions is the strategy behind the application that

marries the companys business needs with those

of the consumer.

Creating a Suitable Enterprise Architecture

In addition to an effective business model, the

enterprise architecture needs to ensure that the

realization of the system supports the business

vision. The enterprise architecture assesses an

application from multiple perspectives, such as

business, technology and infrastructure, and

it describes the manifestation of the applica-

tion that will support the business needs of theenterprise.

Dening the right enterprise architecture is an

important step in ensuring the success of the

nomadic application. Nomadic computing brings

new challenges to the technical arena of the

enterprise architecture, such as the need for many

of the technologies in vogue today, namely big

data analytics, enterprise search, data mining

and potentially unstructured data. These types of

applications will challenge the enterprise archi-

tecture even more than the traditional enterprise

applications that use these technologies.

Once again, we see that it is the near real-time

or dynamic nature of nomadicity that adds

complexity to the mix. Presumably, the nomadic

application will be collecting user location data on

an ongoing basis. The collection and processing

of global personal location data is the corner-

stone of a whole new category of BI processing

that promises to generate information that could

The collection and

processing o globalpersonal location datais the cornerstone o awhole new category oBI that promises hugerevenue streams orcompanies.


10/12


potentially lead to huge revenue streams for

companies. (For more on this subject, read our

paper, BI Goes Mobile: The Future of Information

is Here.)

And, generally, these

applications will need to

perform dynamic analytical

processing, which becomesmuch more complex than

simply updating the users

location on a map as he or

she moves around. Once

again considering the theme

park example, imagine the

amount of processing, per-

formance and scalability

required to play a song that

the user likes as he or she walks past a store that

sells that music or past a ride whose theme song

is one that the user previously indicated he or she

liked in an online prole. Contrast this scenariowith the analytical processing that a credit card

company might perform when offering coupons

for products related to previous purchases.

That kind of processing is done in batch mode

against relational databases, perhaps days after

the purchase. In fact, it can be done any time,

periodically throughout the month, quarter or

year. There is no need for dynamic processing.

The technology architecture is an important part

of the full scope of the enterprise architecture

that ensures an application supports the vision

for its use. The kinds of nomadic applicationsdescribed in this white paper require well-thought-

out technology and technical architectures.

Bringing such applications to fruition requires

a nontrivial amount of resources. There is

tremendous cost associated with the research,

planning, inception and realization of technology

infrastructures capable of supporting enterprise-

scale nomadic applications that might serve tens

of thousands of users or even millions of users.

Besides addressing the technical challenges, an

enterprise architecture can help in performing a

cost-benet analysis with respect to the businessand nancial considerations.

Technology choices naturally follow the needs

of the business and the application itself. Some

important factors to consider are:

Safeguarding of sensitive personal informationand general security.

Presentation of meaningful information thatcan be managed by users.

Adaptability to changing usage proles.

Effective leverage of consumer trends, mediaand information.

Adaptability to changing platform technology,such as mobile platforms.

Integration of technology components orproducts that serve BI, data mining, analytics,

social media.

Performance.

Scalability.

Although a discussion of each of these topics is

in itself an involved undertaking, the overarch-

ing concern is the specic requirements of the

nomadic application.

The Future o Convergence

Like any other domain or application, enterprise-

scale nomadic computing applications will have

their own challenges some strategic and some

technical and each specic application will have

its own set of critical-path issues to resolve. But

there is a genuine characteristic that distinguish-

es this class of enterprise-scale nomadic applica-

tions: the nomadic user.

Nomads, along with their nomadic devices, might

very well be the combination that catalyzes the

convergence of a very broad range of technolo-

gies into a single application. From innovative

mobile user interfaces to traditional data center

technologies, nomadic applications will inspire

the coalescence of many technologies and the

creation of new capabilities. While challeng-

ing, it is not only feasible but imminent. As

engineers and architects discover how to make

these offerings viable, well undoubtedly see an

explosion of applications that bridge the gap

between BI, analytical processing, data mining,

reporting, social media and mobility.

The creation and availability of advanced mobile

technology has transformed us into a world of

nomads. Coming full cycle, societys embrace

of that technology will continue to drive further

advances, which, in turn, will result in continuing

enthusiastic adoption. Already, in ve markets,

there are more mobile users with data services

than home networking.7 Tremendous potential

awaits those organizations that can create a sim-

pler, more powerful user experience for nomads.

From innovative mobileuser interaces to

traditional data centertechnologies, nomadic

applications will inspirethe coalescence o

many technologies andthe creation o new

capabilities.
http://www.slideshare.net/cognizant/bi-goes-mobile-the-future-of-information-is-here-pdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalpdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalhttp://www.slideshare.net/cognizant/bi-goes-mobile-the-future-of-information-is-here-pdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalpdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalhttp://www.slideshare.net/cognizant/bi-goes-mobile-the-future-of-information-is-here-pdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalpdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalhttp://www.slideshare.net/cognizant/bi-goes-mobile-the-future-of-information-is-here-pdf-adobe-acrobat-professionalpdf-adobe-acrobat-professional


11/12


New technology continues to arrive at an over-

whelming pace. The availability of new technology

will be the catalyst that joins business ideas and

technical solutions to precipitate the creation

of new products. But as technology becomes

more complex, so does the need to insulate the

user from that complexity while still enabling a

more powerful, meaningful and convenient user

experience. That is the goal of nomadic computingin the mobile device arena.

Bringing full nomadicity to the applications layer

and leveraging the power and potential of mobile

computing is a sound strategy. Transparency, con-

venience, integration and adaptability will enable

mobile solutions to leverage the power of the

mobile infrastructure, concomitantly achieving

the goal of insulating users from encumber-

ing complexity. Realizing an infrastructure that

exhibits these characteristics in the mobile

domain is particularly attractive because of the

continuing pervasiveness, popularity and allure of

mobile devices.

Many intelligent individuals are working toward

building on advanced technologies to create

stunning examples of nomadic mobile applica-

tions. There is plenty of opportunity in this area,

and now is the time to start your journey.

Reerences

Ken Arnold, Ann Wollrath, Bryan OSullivan, Robert Scheier and Jim Waldo, The Jini Specication,Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Cisco Unied Presence Server Documentation.

The Digital Object Identier System, The International DOI Foundation, April 2012.

Sam X. Sun, S. Reilly, L. Lannom, Handle System Namespace and Service Denition. Internet Engi-neering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC), RFC 3651, November 2003.

Sam X. Sun, S. Reilly, L. Lannom and J. Petrone, Handle System Protocol (ver 2.1) Specication,Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comments, RFC 3652, November 2003.

Sam X. Sun, L. Lannom and B. Boesch, Handle System Overview, Internet Engineering Task ForceRequest for Comments, RFC 3651, November 2003.

Susan Veness, The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World, Adams Media, 2009.

Footnotes1 Leonard Kleinrock, Nomadic Computing (Keynote Address), Telecommunications Systems, Vol. 7, 1997,

pp. 5-15.

2 Leonard Kleinrock, Nomadic Computing, Information Network and Data Communication, IFIP/ICCC

International Conference on Information Network and Data Communication, Trondheim, Norway, June

1996, pp. 223-233.

3 Leonard Kleinrock, Breaking Loose, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 44, No. 9, September 2001.

4 New Oxford American Dictionary, 2010.

5 Elisabeth Horwitt, Busting Down the Silos, ComputerWorld, June 7, 2012.

6 Multi-Use, Multi-Revenue Networks for the Hospitality Industry, Nomadix, Inc., June 2005.

7 John SanGiovanni, The Phone is Poised to Usurp the PCs Throne, Gigaom.com, April 29, 2012.


12/12

About Cognizant

Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-

sourcing services, dedicated to helping the worlds leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in

Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry

and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over 50delivery centers worldwide and approximately 150,400 employees as of September 30, 2012, Cognizant is a member of

the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked among the top performing

and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow us on Twitter: Cognizant.

World Headquarters500 Frank W. Burr Blvd.Teaneck, NJ 07666 USAPhone: +1 201 801 0233Fax: +1 201 801 0243Toll Free: +1 888 937 3277Email: [email protected]

European Headquarters1 Kingdom StreetPaddington CentralLondon W2 6BDPhone: +44 (0) 20 7297 7600Fax: +44 (0) 20 7121 0102Email: [email protected]

India Operations Headquarters#5/535, Old Mahabalipuram RoadOkkiyam Pettai, ThoraipakkamChennai, 600 096 IndiaPhone: +91 (0) 44 4209 6000Fax: +91 (0) 44 4209 6060Email: [email protected]

Copyright 2012, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is

bj t t h ith t ti All th t d k ti d h i th t f th i ti

About the Author

Vartan Piroumian is an Enterprise Architect with Cognizants Information, Media and Entertainment

Consulting Practice. He is the author of two books on Java technology, Java GUI Development, J2ME

Wireless Platform Programming and several journal articles. Prior to joining Cognizant, Vartan was a

software systems architect with Sun Microsystems Java professional services group, where he worked

with a variety of technologies and, in particular, with some of the worlds largest mobile carriers in the

U.S., Europe and the Far East. He can be reached [email protected].
http://www.cognizant.com/mailto:Vartan.Piroumian%40cognizant.com?subject=mailto:Vartan.Piroumian%40cognizant.com?subject=http://www.cognizant.com/

Documents

Nomadic Computing with Mobile Devices