PC,

Thanks for presenting your problem and solution. This is really interesting and I am wondering what was the total amount of effort for this project. Would you compare this to a VB or .Net form? What was the ramp up for the BlackBerry SDK?

I feel that if more companies knew how to deploy forms to their BB, additional productivity could be had for the road warriors.

Thanks again for presenting.

Hank

Pankaj PC Chawla wrote:
The problem:

Before Beazer Homes instituted an integrated system for homebuilders in the field to fill out purchase orders and other forms, employees often had to use cell phones with no special applications and laptops. Further, lack of cell coverage often was a hindrance.

The existing system was inefficient and was causing increased man-hours…during a time when companies everywhere—especially homebuilders—were trying to save money.

Pankaj Chawla (PC), director of applications, needed to implement mobile apps that homebuilders could fill out—right on their phones. He also needed software that could save all data if coverage weren’t available. In addition, due to security concerns, data would need to be “killed” remotely if a cell phone were lost.


The solution:

PC looked at multiple systems, including the iPhone and Android. He ultimately chose BlackBerry’s RIM operating system and a software kit that could run on an Eclipse open-source platform.

Employees in the field now have a system—right on their BlackBerry phones—that let’s them fill out forms “on the fly,” PC says. And thanks to the system’s memory capabilities, lack of cell phone coverage means all data can automatically be transmitted when coverage is eventually available. Further, now all it takes is a push of a button to remotely delete data on a lost phone—so sensitive information will never fall in the wrong hands.


Your take:

Is the BlackBerry the best smartphone for duties such as custom form filling—or does the iPhone or Android have better solutions? Has your organization learned best practices for implementing a mobile form / PO system?

The problem:

Before Beazer Homes instituted an integrated system for homebuilders in the field to fill out purchase orders and other forms, employees often had to use cell phones with no special applications and laptops. Further, lack of cell coverage often was a hindrance.

The existing system was inefficient and was causing increased man-hours…during a time when companies everywhere—especially homebuilders—were trying to save money.

Pankaj Chawla (PC), director of applications, needed to implement mobile apps that homebuilders could fill out—right on their phones. He also needed software that could save all data if coverage weren’t available. In addition, due to security concerns, data would need to be “killed” remotely if a cell phone were lost.


The solution:

PC looked at multiple systems, including the iPhone and Android. He ultimately chose BlackBerry’s RIM operating system and a software kit that could run on an Eclipse open-source platform.

Employees in the field now have a system—right on their BlackBerry phones—that let’s them fill out forms “on the fly,” PC says. And thanks to the system’s memory capabilities, lack of cell phone coverage means all data can automatically be transmitted when coverage is eventually available. Further, now all it takes is a push of a button to remotely delete data on a lost phone—so sensitive information will never fall in the wrong hands.


Your take:

Is the BlackBerry the best smartphone for duties such as custom form filling—or does the iPhone or Android have better solutions? Has your organization learned best practices for implementing a mobile form / PO system?

Thanks Hank. I always enjoy sharing my experiences with others who might benefit from them.

The overall effort in researching, building, training and deploying this application was around 2 person months. Building this application against Blackberry SDK required Java skillset which is similar to .NET. The ramp up and research required was primarily around figuring out the library and its capabilities. Blackberry houses Java micro-edition run time engine (built for and used in appliances such as BB, home devices like DVD players, set top boxes, etc).

I agree that untethering users and empowering them to do their work on their smartphones makes them more productive, efficient and eliminates reentry errors. We will continue to see this trend as smartphones get more powerful due to the innovation in low powered processors, increased use of solid state memory and convergence of end user devices.

Let me know if you or others have more questions/comments.