Wireless integration into back-end systems is a common site in modern businesses, typically in areas including warehousing, despatch, and production where the aim is to provide more timely information, whilst reducing duplication and unnecessary overhead.

The availability of the cloud computing model provides opportunities for improving productivity in other, often customer facing, areas of the business environment.

There is a problem though. The layers of complexity involved in delivering mobile and wireless projects in a cloud environment, particularly given the speed at which technology evolves, can hamper projects often before they get off the ground.

A business may want to improve customer experience through collecting information more quickly but mobile device platforms, in use, may differ and processing information between back end systems and the front end will be complex – particularly if legacy systems are involved.

Many projects may stumble before they get off the ground. If a project does make it off the drawing board – there are real problems waiting which include keeping multiple platforms up to date, synchronising code revisions, and dealing with evolving mobile technologies.

There are solutions that may help. One option might be to utilise thin client technology, and there are some advantages to this, but there are down sides too:

• The availability of thin client applications for devices is critical
• Constantly connected states can use bandwidth quickly whilst signal loss prevents application access
• Applications are rarely optimised with end clients in mind so compromises have to be made
• Vertical productivity, such as printing, is hampered by limitations of thin client technology

Another option is to utilise tools which allow businesses to focus on “getting the job done”, quickly and effectively. One particular provider of these tools is Magic Software who provide uniPaaS and iBolt:

• uniPaaS aims to simplify cross platform rich internet application development
• iBolt acts as the “glue” between the front end and back end (including legacy) systems

A major benefit of utilising application development environments, such as those on offer from Magic, is that they allow you to create and focus on “one code base” whilst targeting multiple client platforms without requiring intimate knowledge of each target environment.

By removing layers of complexity developers have more time to focus on business logic.

Applications developed using uniPaaS can be optimised for each target platform and take advantage of its native abilities. BlackBerry applications, for example, may traditionally have leaned towards less graphical and more textual environments whereas Windows Mobile may be more graphically accessible with support for movie clips and Flash objects.

The recent launch of the long awaited Windows Mobile 7 could make a major impact in the mobile industry however it presents new challenges to the mobile development community as applications may need to be redeveloped – by utilising uniPaaS they simply need to be retargeted.

Applications developed using uniPaaS and iBolt are functional end-to-end mobile applications that can help bring the information from your back-end ERP, CRM or other BI application right to where people really need it. Not only that – applications can operate in a real-time nature or utilise message queues as needed.

A big issue facing developers, creating mobile applications, is what to do when a connection is unavailable. For example, if a train goes into a tunnel, or the operator heads underground to inspect pipe work, or simply cannot get a reliable mobile signal. Fortunately, the technicalities of dealing with this problem are already dealt with using the tools on offer from Magic.

When planning to roll out applications to a wider audience using cloud technology a particular challenge will be what to do about scaling issues – particularly if an application is public facing. A uniPaaS rich internet application server can handle up to 5000 users which offers a huge scope for scaling and as connections are asynchronous bandwidth is not used unnecessarily.

When it comes to target platforms web clients and Windows Mobile (up to 6.5) are currently supported whilst BlackBerry and Android versions are anticipated for next year, and iPhone compatibility is also on the horizon.

One thing is for certain – by implementing the right solution you can enhance productivity, reduce errors, and create more timely information – this ability to respond quickly can make the difference between a quote and a sale.

The uniPaaS and iBolt platforms are currently available from Magic Software, and we will be taking a closer look at both of them, whilst a new product uniPaaS Jet will be launched shortly. Jet is aimed at developers who want to use the platform for learning and prototyping and it comes with 1 free license to deploy an application.

To learn more about uniPaas, iBolt and Jet head over to Magic Software.