Chris Pepin

IBM named to visionaries quadrant in Gartner MDM review

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 29 May 2012 16:25:00 +0000

IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices was recently named to the visionaries quadrant in Gartner's Mobile Device Management (MDM) report. On March 16, 2012, IBM shipped IBM Endpoint Manager which expanded support beyond Windows, Mac and Linux PCs and servers to include support for Apple iOS, Google Android, Symbian and Windows Phone. Mobile Device Management is software that manages, secures and supports smartphones, tablets and mobile devices and is a key requirement for most enterprises.

Source: Gartner

IBM 2012 CEO Study: Mobile Changes Everything!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:58:00 +0000

IBM has released its annual CEO study which includes input from 1,700 CEO's worldwide. Of particular interest for me is the impact of mobility. A few quotes from the paper:

"..convergence of the digital, social and mobile spheres — connecting customers, employees and partners in new ways to organizations and to each other"
"..customers are increasingly mobile, organizations must be active there too, ready to engage in the context of the moment"
"Smart, mobile devices are pervasive"
"Leverage the fact that mobile changes everything"
"Don’t think of mobile as a separate channel. Exploit augmented reality to make mobile part of integrated, multichannel customer experiences"
"Mobile not only enables greater connectivity; it also increases the odds that customers will be distracted. Interact in ways that are attention-grabbing, meaningful and, most of all, tailored to the individual."
"Ironically, the rise of digital, social and mobile technology is making people more important."

I should note, however, that the paper focuses on much more than mobility (e.g. social, analytics, collaboration and others). I highly recommend reading the entire paper which is available on IBM.com

Reference: IBM CEO Study 2012

IBM's Mobile Enterprise - A personal journey (Video)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:33:00 +0000

New video from IBM shows how the company embraced mobility to enable a smarter, more productive workforce. This video compliments interviews from IBM CIO Jeanette Horan from earlier this year that states that over 80,000 employees are using BYOD mobile devices to work.

Windows 8 for the enterprise

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:56:00 +0000

Windows 8 is scheduled to ship in the October 2012 timeframe. The developer preview was released last September, consumer preview was made available this past February and the release preview is targeted for June. The key focus of Windows 8 is merging the desktop and tablet experience and is Microsoft's response to the iPad. Microsoft has simplified the number of Windows 8 products to four:

Windows 8: Add new Metro-style start screen, ActiveSync support, mobile broadband
Windows 8 Pro: adds domain sign-in and group policy management capabilities, BitLocker, virtualization
Windows 8 Enterprise: adds Window To Go on a USB stick and the ability to deploy Metro applications
Windows RT: ARM-based version won't run x86 applications but it will come bundled with Office 15 applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote)

With the end of extended support for Windows XP coming in April 2014, enterprises have a number of options including migrating to Windows 7, Windows 8, virtualization and leveraging non-Microsoft platforms for segments of the population. Realistically, given the level of testing required, wide-scale enterprise deployment of Windows 8 is not expected to start until 2013 at the earliest.

Driven by the consumerization of IT, employees will be bringing Windows 8 to work if they haven't already. Windows Phone 8, code name Apollo, will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE like the current version. Enterprise customers will want to explore the benefits of leveraging the two as more details emerge from Microsoft.

On a personal note, I've been using Windows 8 on a Lenovo X201i laptop attached to an HP Compaq L2015tm touchscreen monitor with positive results. I've also been using Splashtop on my iPad to simulate Windows 8 running on a tablet - also with positive results.

Kindle Fire Review - Thumbs up!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:12:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, Amazon had Kindle Fire refurbished units on sale for $139. At this price, the offer to pickup the most popular Android tablet was too good to pass up and I purchased one. While far from perfect, the Fire is a capable Android tablet. The Apple iPad, however, has nothing to fear.

I own multiple tablets including the latest iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, BlackBerry PlayBook and I previously reviewed the Lenovo tablet. The Kindle Fire runs a heavily customized version of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and connects to Amazon's own app store as opposed to Google's Play. The tablet has more than a passing resemblance to the BlackBerry Playbook - both inside and out. However, unlike the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Fire has rich set of native applications (Android). I found the Fire to be extremely easy to setup and use as it smoothed over some of rough edges found in other Android tablets. I particularly like "carousel" feature which allows me to easily open recently used applications. The one month subscription to Amazon Prime with free two-day shipping and free online movies and TV shows is also a plus. I am also able to play all of my purchased Amazon music (my favorite music store) on the Kindle.

Negatives include lack of GPS support, lack of Bluetooth support, no HDMI output, inability to install applications from the Google Play app store, uninspired hardware design, lack of a dedicated volume button, built in speakers aren't loud enough and slow web browsing. However, even with all these negatives, I still recommend it. For $139, you get alot for the money. While it won't replace my iPad, nor will it replace my Kindle e-ink reader for reading at the beach or in direct sunlight, its size is portable and easier for my kids to hold than an iPad - and less expensive to replace should it be dropped.

IBM Impact Conference 2012 Summary

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:08:00 +0000

IBM's Impact conference, focused on Websphere software, wrapped up last week in Las Vegas. This was my first year attending Impact and I was impressed with the organization, content and overall quality of the conference. Key observations:

Key theme: Simplification. IBM PureSystems simplifies hardware and software into one integrated package
Key theme: Mobility. IBM releases New Foundation for Mobile Computing. A big focus of the conference is mobility and the new IBM Worklight product. IBM VP Bob Sutor has a great overview of the product on his blog
Conference website
Conference blog
My photos on Piccasa
Twitter hashtag is #ibmimpact
8,500 attendees

My roles at the conference:

Meeting with analysts and reporters
Working at the IBM booth on the showcase floor
Presentation at the showcase theater (below)

Becoming a mobile enterprise: step by step

View more presentations from Chris Pepin

IBM Impact Conference Kickoff

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:24:00 +0000

IBM's Impact conference, focused on Websphere software, kicked off on Monday in Las Vegas. Highlights:

Opening general session kicked off with a great talk by Walter Isaacson who shared some great stories of Steve Jobs from his book
Twitter hashtag is #ibmimpact
Press release: IBM releases New Foundation for Mobile Computing. A big focus of the conference is mobility and the new IBM Worklight product. IBM VP Bob Sutor has a great overview of the product on his blog
Official website
Official blog
8,500 attendees

My role at the conference:

Participating in analyst briefings
Working on the showcase floor at the IBM booth
Delivering a presentation on the showcase floor and assisting with two breakout presentations on mobile

I'll share a recap of the conference when it wraps up later this week.

IBM Mobile Security Infographic

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:02:00 +0000

The IBM Managed Security Services team published a new infographic on mobile security challenges. The increase in "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) and consumerization of IT is driving an increase in the number of smartphones and tablets in the enterprise. The key value of mobile devices is the ability to access applications and "get work done." Mobile applications can be native, web, hybrid and virtual. Securing data and applications is a challenge and there are many factors to consider including:

Lost and stolen devices
Data leakage
Unauthorized access to corporate resources
Spread of malware infections from mobile devices to the company network

The infographic has more detail:

Source:
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/igs/secure-mobility-infographic.html

Splashtop: Windows 8 on the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:44:00 +0000

I installed a new iPad application, Splashtop, that mimics what Windows 8 will look like on a tablet. The application is $25 in the Apple App Store and requires a PC running Windows 8 Consumer Preview to connect to via virtualization technology. The application is geared to developers who are coding Windows 8 Metro applications and want to test it on a tablet without the expense of purchasing a Windows tablet.

Installation was straightforward:

Purchase and install the iPad application
Install the free streamer application on the Windows 8 PC

The application works well and supports the full range of Windows 8 multitouch gestures. I can see myself using this application to demo Windows 8 to customers as well as to provide remote access to my PC.

IBM Impact Conference begins Sunday, April 29

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:56:00 +0000

IBM's Impact conference officially kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 29 - just twelve short days away. From the conference website:

The IBM Impact 2012 Global Conference will bring together more than 9,000 technology and business leaders at a single event for a transformative learning opportunity. Now more than ever, it is imperative that organizations learn how world-class technologies can help turn change and complexity into advantages.

Industry leaders will be on-hand to provide insights on how technology can help drive better business results. Technical sessions focused on the latest IBM technologies, including WebSphere, BPM, SOA, expert integrated systems, cloud, mobile and more will be available.

This will be my first time attending Impact and I will be presenting, working on the showcase floor and participating in analyst briefings. Enterprise mobility is a top priority of today's CIO and I'm looking forward to discussing requirements and solutions.

IBM's Bring Your Own Device Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:56:00 +0000

In a Computerworld interview, IBM CIO Jennette Horan discusses IBM's Bring Your Own Device strategy (BYOD):

"IBM's BYOD program "really is about supporting employees in the way they want to work," Horan said. "They will find the most appropriate tool to get their job done. I want to make sure I can enable them to do that, but in a way that safeguards the integrity of our business."

To that end, the company has issued a series of "secure computing guidelines" to employees in an effort to raise awareness of online security and the sensitive nature of corporate data, Horan said.

So far, about 120,000 users are accessing IBM's network through mobile devices, and of that total, 80,000 are supplying the device and paying the monthly service fees, according to IBM spokesman Tim O'Malley. The remaining 40,000 are using smartphones issued by IBM. The company has an "aggressive" projection for growth for this year, although a specific figure wasn't available, O'Malley said."

The article goes on to discuss IBM's usage of Lotus Traveler for access to corporate email, contacts and calendar, the deployment of IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices and an internally developed secure file sharing application similar to DropBox.

In a related note, Bill Bodin, also from the IBM CIO's office delivered a webcast yesterday with more details on IBM's internal deployment of mobile technologies. A replay is now available online.

OBi110 VoIP Review: Thumbs Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:47:00 +0000

I purchased an OBi110 voice service bridge and VoIP telephone adapter with the goal of replacing my business phone line and leveraging Google Voice for free calls to US and Canada. I had been using VoIP through my cable provider, Charter, for $29.99 a month plus tax. The OBi has only a one time cost for the device ($49.99) and no monthly fees using Google Voice.

Setup was fast and easy. First, I connected the OBi to home Ethernet network and plugged in a phone. Next, I completed the online registration process and entered my Google id and password. I made my first call within 5 minutes of opening the box. However, I immediately noticed some voice quality issues so I connected the OBi directly to my router instead a bridge - that fixed the issue. In the month I've been using it full time (I'm on conference calls for most of the day) I've only had one problem. When I tried to make a call recently I got a message "there is no service available." I followed the online help, logged on to the admin portal and everything looked fine. I decided to unplug the OBi to reset it and that fixed the problem. I haven't experienced the problem since.

I called Charter Cable to cancel VoIP service and they offered me a special deal to keep my service but at a lower price than cancelling it (a no brainer). I have 25Mb/s broadband service through Charter as well but I regularly see speeds in excess of 40, 50 and sometimes 60 Mb/s (see below). I use DirectTV for satelite TV. While I intend to continue to use the OBi and Google Voice as my primary phone, it's nice to know I have a backup with Charter in addition to Sametime Unified Telephony and my AT&T cell phone leveraging a microcell.

Update 3 April 2012: In the past week I've experienced significant call quality issues and dropped calls. I have switched back to my Charter Cable VoIP service for the remainder of the week and I will try OBi again next week.

Update 20 April 2012: I re-enabled the OBI last week and have been using it as my primary phone. I haven't experienced any issues. I also increased the QOS priority for the OBI's Mac address on my router.

Delivering presentations on the Apple iPad tablet - update

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Almost a year ago, I blogged about my first experiences delivering customer presentations on the iPad. As a Mobile Technology Evangelist for IBM, it's tough to convince customers to fully embrace mobility when I myself delivering presentations from an Apple MacBook Pro or Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows. In the past year, I've delivered dozens of successful presentations from the iPad. The following are a few tips:

Creating the presentation: I generally use Microsoft Office or Lotus Symphony on Windows (7 or 8) or Apple OS/X to create the presentation. I find that creating the presentation on a PC is faster since I'm usually leveraging existing content.

Copying the presentation to the iPad: There are several approaches including e-mail and iTunes sync. IBM policy prevents the usage of cloud services (e.g. DropBox). My favorite method is to use the IBM Connections mobile client. Like many IBMers, I'm a heavy user of IBM's internal deployment of IBM Connections and I share most of my content. It's also a big time saver to collaborate with others via IBM Connections on the development of a presentation, post the final version in IBM Connection and then pull it down to the iPad.

Delivering a presentation on the iPad: With the original iPad, there wasn't much choice - you pretty much had to use Apple Keynote so you could use the Apple VGA adapter to connect to an external projector. With the iPad 2+ and the added video mirroring functionality you could use a wealth of new tools including the IBM Symphony Viewer, Quickoffice and lots of others. The long rumored version of Microsoft Office for the iPad has not yet materialized. I've been using Keynote for the past year and it remains my tool of choice. I'll occasionally make updates to a presentation on the iPad using Keynote and I've also started using Keynote Remote again since it was recently updated to fix a number of nagging issues that made it unusable. The Keynote Remote application allows the slides to be advanced from a separate iOS device (e.g. iPhone) so I don't have to stand at the podium to advance slides from my iPad. It also displayed speaker notes - another handy feature.

I'd be interested in your experiences in using the iPad to deliver customer presentations and connecting to an overhead projector to display to a large group.

New Apple iPad first impressions - thumbs up!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:11:00 +0000

My new Apple iPad arrived on schedule via FedEx today. I ordered a white 16GB, wi-fi model online immediately following the Apple announcement on March 7. In addition to the iPad, I ordered a new AppleTV with added HD support. My new AppleTV arrived yesterday and I installed and configured it without a hitch in my family room. I performed a software update on my existing (generation 2) AppleTV to get the new user interface and connected it to my bedroom TV. But enough about AppleTV, let's discuss the iPad.

Out of the box, the new iPad looks just like the previous iPad. It's a hair thicker and a bit heavier, but other than that, it looks the same. The big change is the new Retina screen. The increased resolution is immediately noticeable compared to the iPad 2. Text is particular is noticeable sharp compared to previous generation. Presentations in Keynote look fantastic on the new iPad with no software updates or changes to the presentation itself. Since I deliver the majority of my customer presentations on an iPad instead of a laptop, this is a welcomed feature.

That said, most apps need to be updated to take full advantage of the new Retina display. Angry Birds, for example, looks exactly the same on the new iPad as on the previous generation. However, I updated a number Retina-enabled apps from Apple's app store and the difference is noticeable. I suspect we'll see a new Retina-enabled Angry Bird application soon (Angry Birds Space on March 22?)

In addition to the new screen, the rear-facing camera is greatly improved. Gone are the grainy, washed-out images. However, the front-facing camera hasn't been upgraded and is what I use the most for Skype and FaceTime. Perhaps Apple will upgrade the front-facing camera in the next release.

Update 19 March: One of the features I'd most like to see in an upcoming version of iOS is multiple user accounts. My new iPad is strictly for personal use and shared among 5 family members with different needs/applications. It's difficult to share an iPad today with multiple users and switch between different accounts (e.g. Twitter, FaceBook, DropBox etc.). Perhaps this is one reason Apple is selling so many iPads (one per person).

From left to right, the original iPad, second generation and the new iPad (white) with HD display

IBM Pulse Conference Wrap-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:30:00 +0000

IBM's Pulse conference wrapped up on Thursday in Vegas, NV. It was a jam-packed 4 days. I blogged earlier this week about the day one kickoff including my presentation on a step by step approach to enterprise mobility. Here are some of the highlights from conference:

General sessions. Tuesday's topic was visibility and featured IBM Senior VP Steve Mills. Wednesday's topic. Wednesday's focus was a look into the future and featured IBM Senior VP Erich Clementi.
Breakout sessions. My particular area of focus is mobility and endpoint management which had its own track this year. A big area of focus was IBM's recent acquisition of Worklight, a Mobile Enteprise Application Platform (MEAP). Worklight CTO Ron Perry has a great video on YouTube.
Entertainment. Maroon 5 performed on Tuesday night in the MGM. Fantastic concert!
Analysts. I had the opportunity to meet with a number of analysts one-on-one and at a reception to discuss enterprise mobility and IBM's approach.
Closing session. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was interviewed by IBM's Grady Booch. Steve answered a variety of questions ranging from his early days at Apple, his present activities and his predictions of the future. As always, Steve was insightful, straightforward and entertaining. Definitely one of the highlights of the conference.

Photos and Twitter feed (#ibmpulse)

IBM Pulse Conference Kickoff

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:40:00 +0000

IBM's Pulse conference kicked off today in Las Vegas, NV. Over 8,000 attendees are learning how to fundamentally and cost-effectively change the economics of IT and speed the delivery of innovative products and services. Mobility and endpoint management is one of the conference tracks. Highlights:

Opening general session. The session began with a presentation from a customer, Wellpoint on how it's using IBM technology to competitive advantage. IBM Tivoli General Manager, Danny Sabbah, and Robert LeBlanc, who heads up IBM’s Software Middleware Group, shared their insights and vision. The session also included performances by the highly acclaimed revolutionary a cappella group, Naturally 7!
Mobility keynote. Forrester's Christian Kane kicked things off with a great presentation on enterprise mobility before hosting a roundtable with IBM's Bob Suttor, Wing To and Kevin Cavanaugh with questions from the audience.
Photos
Twitter feed (#ibmpulse)
I presented a breakout session "1340 The New Workplace: Unleashing the Power of Enterprise Mobility." Increasing usage of smartphones and tablets in the consumer space is putting pressure on CIOs to adopt more flexible workplace strategies. Come learn how to embrace the new workplace and unleash the power of enterprise mobility to improve productivity, reduce response time and increase employee satisfaction." The session was standing room only with lots of great questions from the audience.

The New Workplace: Unleashing The Power Of Enterprise Mobility

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Fast Track your Mobility Strategy webcast

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:32:00 +0000

I participated in the following Information Management webcast on February 23, 2012 which is now available for replay:

Like so many organizations in today’s data-rich workplace, you want to deliver solutions that provide connections, collaborations and mobility for your workers. But issues such as security, flexible access for a distributed workforce and end-user assistance for multiple devices must be addressed when you provide these solutions. Fortunately, IBM can help you to unleash the power of enterprise mobility — with services and solutions to help you:

Manage mobile devices
Safeguard data and applications
Provide cost-effective approaches to end-user support and management

Fast track your mobility strategy. Join this webcast as key industry analysts show you how to establish an effective strategy for your mobile enterprise and support mobility and security in today’s workplace.

Speakers:

Jeffrey S. Hammond, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research
Chris Pepin, IBM Mobile Technology Evangelist

6 key things to fast track your mobility strategy

View more presentations from Chris Pepin

IBM Tech Trends Survey Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:09:00 +0000

I was recently interviewed by IBM's Scott Laningham from DeveloperWorks on IBM's Tech Trends Survey. A recording is available on YouTube.

Disney World Magic Guide App: Thumbs up!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:52:00 +0000

I went to Disney World last week with my family and this Apple iOS app, Disney World Magic Guide, really came in handy. This $5 iPhone and iPad application includes: maps, dining information, menus, wait times, park hours and more. The following are just a few of the ways where this app came in handy for us:

Park hours including Extra Magic Hours
Menus. We were on the Disney Dining Plan and the app allowed to to keep track of our reservations, view menus of all the restaurants and to view a list of restaurants nearby. With three young kids all with different tastes, this was invaluable. We were able to decide what we wanted to order before we arrived at the restaurant.
Maps. Having detailed maps of all the parks in the palm of my hand with the ability to zoom in and out was extremely useful.
Wait times. While we made extensive use of the Fast Pass system, it's still useful to know what the wait times were. One day we visited Disney Studios and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starting Aerosmith was closed for most of the days for repairs. However, I kept an eye on the app so I could see as soon as the ride re-opened. By the time we exited the ride, the wait was 90 minutes.

We had a fantastic vacation and our travel agent, Magical Castle Vacations, was outstanding and I highly recommend them. They planned every aspect of the trip free of charge and went the extra mile to accommodate our requests and provided excellent suggestions to make the most our of our vacation.

BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 now available

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:56:00 +0000

RIM BlackBerry released an over-the-air update to its PlayBook OS software earlier today. I had been using the beta with good success over the past few weeks. The biggest new feature is the native email client which I configured to access to Gmail as well as access to my corporate Lotus Domino email through Lotus Traveler. Note that IBM doesn't formally support Traveler for PlayBook at this time. With the prior 1.0 release of PlayBook it was necessary to pair with BlackBerry smartphone and use the bridge software to access enterprise mail. With the new 2.0 release, a BlackBerry smartphone is no longer needed and it can connect directly to the new BlackBerry Device Service which can in term connect to Domino or Exchange via Traveler or ActiveSync respectively. Unfortunately, PlayBook can't connect to an existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Enterprise BlackBerry customers wanting to support PlayBook will need to deploy new infrastructure. This is also true of new Universal Device Service which allows the management of iOS and Android device (i.e. the Ubitexx MDM acquisition RIM made last year) and the new BlackBerry 10 devices that are due out later this year.

RIM's enterprise customers have some important decisions to make in the coming months with fierce competition from the upcoming iPad 3, Android tablets including a new Nook Tablet which matches the Kindle and PlayBook's $199 price and ARM-based Windows 8 tablets later this year. While enterprises are likely to continue to adopt multiple mobile platform strategies, it remains to be seen if the enhancements RIM has planned will prove competitive - particularly in the US market.

IBM Announces New Mobile Device Management Software

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:48:00 +0000

In addition to the Worklight acquisition that IBM announced earlier this week, IBM also announced IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices

"IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices helps organizations support and protect the growing mobile workforce. Through this software, firms can use a single solution to secure and manage smartphones and tablets, as well as laptops, desktop PCs, and servers. It manages Apple iOS, Google Android, Nokia Symbian, and Microsoft Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices."

IBM Endpoint Manager is the new name for Tivoli Endpoint Manager/BigFix. At present, the product supports Windows, Linux , Mac PCs and Windows Mobile mobile devices. The new version, shipping later this year, expands support for mobile devices including Apple iOS, Android, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone. A beta has been ongoing since September of last year. Two weeks ago, the beta became public. Interested customers can signup to participate on the web.

Source: IBM

IBM Advances Mobile Capabilities with Acquisition of Worklight

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:56:00 +0000

Earlier today, IBM announced that they would be acquiring Worklight, a privately held provider of mobile software for smartphones and tablets.

With this acquisition, IBM's mobile offerings will span mobile application development, integration, security and management. Worklight will become an important piece of IBM's mobility strategy, offering clients an open platform that helps speed the delivery of existing and new mobile applications to multiple devices. It also helps enable secure connections between smartphone and tablet applications with enterprise IT systems.

Enterprises are quickly moving beyond email, contacts and calendar and looking to deploy enterprise applications on smartphones and tablets that integrate with backend systems. Worklight is a MEAP - Mobile Enterprise Application Platform and speeds the development of native and hybrid applications for multiple smartphone and tablet platforms.

Source: IBM

MacWorld & MacIT 2012 Wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:09:00 +0000

I presented at the MacWorld,/iWorld, MacIT conference with my colleague, Cary Thomas in San Francisco last week. We presented on deploying Apple (Mac, iPhone, iPad) inside IBM. This was the first time that I attended the event and I wasn't disappointed. While Apple didn't participate and there were no Apple announcements, they was still plenty to take in including:

Product showcase. Cases, speakers, software. More products focused on iPhone/iPad than Mac. eWeek slideshow has a good overview
Breakout sessions. The MacIT breakout sessions (where I spent most of my time) focused on enterprise deployments. However, I attended some excellent MacWorld/iWorld sessions as well on a wide-range of topics from subject-matter experts
Networking. Plenty of receptions both at the Moscone Center West and at nearby hotels to speak with other attendees.

Deploying Apple in the enterprise: An IBM case study

My photos of MacWorld can be found on Picasa

Traveling to MacWorld and MacIT conference

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:43:00 +0000

I'm flying out to San Francisco on Wednesday morning to attend Macworld and MacIT at the Moscone Center. I will be presenting for the first time at the MacIT conference on "Deploying Apple in the enterprise: An IBM case study." I'll post a copy of the presentation as well as a summary of the event here on my blog.

In a related item, Apple announced first quarter earnings results today that "demolished" expectations.

IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices beta

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Pepin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Last year, IBM launched a managed beta for IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager for Mobile Device Management. The latest beta drop 3 was released last week. This exciting new product is scheduled to ship 1Q2012 and extends endpoint management capabilities beyond Windows, Linux and Mac PC's and Windows Mobile to include support for Apple iPhone/iPad, Google Android and Windows Phone.

IBM recently opened the beta and changed the name to IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices. I spoke to this product at my Lotusphere presentation last week and I will present at IBM's Pulse conference in Las Vegas in March.