Any of us who own an iPhone have definitely been impressed with all of the features and apps that are available. Perhaps one of the best features is the phone’s GPS capability. While there has been much bantered around in the media about intrusion into privacy, the power of this simple feature to improve our everyday lives is indisputable. Possibly the most valuable role GPS offers is with respect to Apple’s Find My iPhone app. This elegant app will find your phone, make it beep, map its location, lock it remotely, or even disable it if necessary. We have all misplaced our phones before, so we know how this feature can help us with our own lapses of memory. But even more stunning is its ability to foil the bad guys who would otherwise try to steal your phone.

Recently I lost my iPhone. What follows is an interesting story.

I was running errands during the lunch hour and when I returned to the office I realized my iPhone was missing. I logged into the cloud to locate it, but the phone was offline. Later that night, my iPad beeped, signaling it had just located the iPhone. Presenting a satellite map, there was the phone at someone’s house -- no one I knew! -- in a neighboring town. I immediately sent a remote lock and a message to the iPhone with my home phone number, all through the iPad app.

After some time of no response, I decided to drive over to that neighboring town’s police department. I showed them the satellite map (on my iPad) of the house that had the phone. Two officers were dispatched (with my iPad as evidence) and returned in less than 10 minutes with my phone. They said this is a fairly common occurrence now and it makes their job so easy because “you can’t talk your way out of this apple app.”

Now if only Apple could engineer un-losable car keys (... but my guess is they’re already working on it!).

Fracking has been in the news quite a bit lately. This oil and gas extraction process has led to immense quantities of new domestic natural gas production and water is one of the key components.

Skymira recently participated at two conferences where discussions around fracking and water management in the fracking process have created new needs for vital information. To put it simply, fracking is the procedure of injecting fluid into cracks in rock formations that further open those cracks. This creates larger fissures allowing oil and gas to flow and be extracted. The main component of the fluid is water and we’re talking about a lot of water, well over one million gallons per well.

So what does all this have to do with Skymira and satellite communications? Customers are coming to Skymira asking for a way to measure how much water is being used in the various stages of the drilling process. It all starts at the source; typically a well, river or reservoir, and is pumped into a water truck that transports the water to the drilling site. Today almost all reporting of actual water usage is done by hand and is obviously labor intensive. Skymira has fully streamlined and automated that process by partnering with meter manufacturers to measure the amount pumped into the truck and automatically record those readings. Skymira sends those readings, using devices like the Skywave IDP-680 satellite terminal, in real time to a Skymira tailored web site for each customer.

In addition to measuring water from the source, customers are asking to also measure what is used at the well site and what is pumped back out of the well for disposal. Using similar meters and Skymira’s solutions, all measurement of water -- in all phases of the fracking process -- are now made more efficient.

And this extends beyond oil & gas management. It is our belief that water monitoring and measurement will become vitally important for all industries using large amounts of water. We see opportunities for better measurement and control of water resources in agriculture, electrical power generation, municipalities and government entities to name a few. Over the next several months you will see more from us on this subject.

In our previous posts we provided a high-level view of five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information, as well as exploring steps one through four. So far, we’ve discussed how to stake out your remote information, how to capture it, the application of the proper technology and how to assure scalability. In this post, we’ll discuss the last of the five steps – Implementing the solution in the most effective, least disruptive manner.

To assure a smooth implementation, one that is not only effective but also least disruptive, we recommend some simple steps. Every project will differ and you may not necessarily need to go through each step.

Beta with simpler technologies where success is all but assured -- Above all else, you want to start out simple. Not only will you have less chance for technological failure, starting with a simpler solution will allow you to gain far greater buy-in and adoption.

Roll out the Beta and ‘show the magic’ -- Rolling it out and ‘showing the magic’, creates your first opportunity for deeper buy-in from the stakeholders who will ultimately use or benefit from your solution, as well as the finance folks who will fund it. Remember, technology is only a tool. It’s the business solution, in this case remote information that has value.

Sell the concept across the business gaining momentum and buy-in -- Now you must sell it across the business. Look to build interest and excitement for the solution. Then leverage this excitement to gain momentum and buy-in across the entire business. This is your opportunity to bring more ‘clients’ on board and expand the ultimate scope and reach of your remote information solutions.

Implement the fuller solution-- From here you begin the fuller implementation of your first project. Unfortunately, many companies start here and miss out on the powerful momentum building steps that assure much greater long-term success.

Circle back to assess the next highest value projects -- Once you’ve got your first project up and running, creating net new savings and profits, it’s now time to figure out other high value projects. Look for ones as likely as your first to turn in the same kind of ROI. We suggest you build a comprehensive plan for these other high value projects and begin the process over again.

This concludes our five steps discussion --to view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm

Recently, several of us travelled to Barcelona Spain to participate in Inmarsat’s Global Partner Conference. The annual event is an invitation-only conference for Inmarsat’s Global Partners, where Skymira was also asked to exhibit several related services including our new Smartphone applications. We wanted to share some of our observations from the event.

By way of background, Inmarsat is the world's leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, including voice and high-speed data services to almost anywhere on the planet. Inmarsat owns and operates 11 satellites in geostationary orbit 35,786km above the Earth, controlled via ground stations located around the globe.

Inmarsat is clearly leading the market

As we listened to Inmarsat’s CEO speak, we couldn’t help but realize that this is a firm incredibly committed to its customers and partners around the world. For evidence, one has to look no further than the anticipated launch of three new Inmarsat-5 satellites constructed by Boeing. Self-funding the US$1.2 billion required for the satellites and infrastructure is sufficient demonstration of its fiscal strength. In a market where there are many questions about individual players, including perhaps their ultimate survivability, as far as we could see, there is no question Inmarsat will continue to lead its markets.

Inmarsat’s Global Express

Perhaps the cornerstone of the conference was discussion around Inmarsat’s Global Xpress, soon to be marketed as ‘The super-fast, Ka-band broadband network from Inmarsat’. Planned to launch in 2013, Global Xpress will offer downlink speeds of up to 50Mbps, and up to 5Mbps over the uplink, from compact user terminals. It will be the first time a commercial operator has utilized Ka-band radio frequencies to deliver a global satellite service. Inmarsat also envisions the added benefit of enhancing existing L-band services - including BGAN, FleetBroadband and SwiftBroadband, and their global handheld phone, IsatPhone Pro.

So what does it all mean? A truly global plug and play solution that is ready to go when you turn it on without any changes or upgrades required. In addition, we expect to see incredibly higher speeds, and added downward pressure on market prices for hardware and communication services costs. Finally, for the first time in the industry, Rain fade degradation will automatically go over to L-Band keeping communication constant.

As Inmarsat sums it up, “We see a future where mobile satellite services are delivered through a combination of L-band and Ka-band satellites, harnessing the strengths of each to offer an unrivalled package of services based on speed, price and portability”.

Inmarsat BGAN M2M

Another service highlight was BGAN M2M. Currently planned for launch in February 2012, the service will deliver a global, IP-based low-data rate service, for users needing high levels of data availability and performance in permanently unmanned environments. The service is ideally suited for applications requiring high frequency, very low latency data reporting. Chief among its benefits is its significantly lower cost for IP connectivity, and ease of use.

We believe BGAN M2M will prove extremely attractive for monitoring fixed assets. Further it should broaden the base of users and expand the applications users would now be willing to run unmanned. Look for more information from us as this service launch nears.

IsatData Pro

Inmarsat also highlighted its IsatData Pro Low Data Rate (LDR) satellite communication service. Since May of this year, when we announced the addition of this service [add link], it has remained a strong complement to our portfolio of mobile business applications, including: electronic forms, email and text messaging; as well as our machine-to-machine (M2M) services including, GPS tracking, SCADA, and vehicle/heavy equipment telemetry. With close to 37X data speed, IsatData Pro delivers a significant increase in capability over other services already in the market.

Inmarsat made it clear that they were committed to the long term success and development of this lower cost, higher speed service. From our vantage point, this means greater opportunity for more of our clients to benefit from access to satellite service that they may not have been able to previously afford.

We’ve been discussing for some time that the next big competitive advantage will come from mobility solutions -- smartphones, mobile business apps, M2M services and the like.

For the record, we define Mobility as something more profound than the traditional discussion around communications, hardware and software. Mobility as we see it is ‘business in motion’, physically untethered but still fully connected to the applications and information that assure successful operational performance no matter where your business takes you.

The value for businesses will not be often touted feature sets, but instead, how those tools are put to use -- especially for businesses that rely on remote workers, equipment and data to drive the bulk of their profits. As we see it, the future will belong to companies that compete on their ability to perform anywhere, anytime the market demands, regardless of how remote that might seem at the moment.

All good theory – now enter the quantitative proof.

A recently published Aberdeen report, Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise, documents a very significant financial advantage for companies with Best-in-Class field service performance versus Laggard companies. For example, Best-in-Class field service organizations, with as few as 100 technicians, could save up to $8,000,000 per year by implementing mobility solutions that included key performance indicators.

Aberdeen’s methodology of comparing three categories of companies; ‘Best-in-Class’, ‘Average’ and ‘Laggards’, yields identified key performance indicators that contribute to being in one category or another. The top ranking indicators provide a roadmap of recommendations and solutions for companies seeking to utilize mobility solutions in their field service operations. Just some of the key performance indicators we thought worthwhile to point out included:

• Eliminate paper forms – the amount of time technicians spent on paper forms was more than 40 minutes, taking away from the actual number of visits they could make in a day.
• Ability to work in an offline mode – nearly 30% of technician tasks are conducted in areas with little or no coverage –it is vital that they be able to access apps even when not in areas of coverage.
• Provide real-time systems integration – Best-in-Class companies assured the field and back-end applications were in tight alignment.
• Accommodate varied platforms – with the increased availability of new device types and operating environments, it is essential to develop a flexible mobile strategy.
• Generate on-demand performance metrics – also essential was the ability for service leaders to track service performance metrics in real time via dashboards and other performance tools.

The report also provides justification for investment that is pretty sound.

• Consider the following findings:
  • Organizations defined as Best-in-Class exhibited the following:
  • 82% average first time fix performance and a 15% average decrease in service cost over the previous 12 months;
  • SLA compliance of 93% (compared to 66% for Laggards);
  • 76% average level of workforce utilization and a 16% increase in workforce productivity over the previous year.
• Firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance are:
  • More than two times as likely as Laggards to have a mobile application for field service in place;
  • Nearly two times as likely as all others to integrate field data with enterprise systems in real time;
  • 15% more likely than all others to have a standardized mobile strategy across the enterprise;
  • 49% more likely than Laggards to leverage a cross-functional team of executives and users to define, manage and support mobile requirements.

In short, there are some very tangible, highly achievable solutions that can add up to big savings and far greater performance for companies that implement mobility in their field operations. In future posts, we will drill down into some of these mobility solutions and address best practices for implementing them.

To download the Aberdeen Report, Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise, Click here

In our last posts we discussed five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information, as well as steps one through three. In this post we’ll discuss the fourth step which is to assure what you build is scalable.

So far, you’ve staked out your remote information, figured out exactly how you’ll capture it, and hopefully applied the right technology. Now we arrive at step four which asks the burning questions: will what you choose today have the scalability to take you into the future?

Quite simply, assuring scalability also comes down to understanding and anticipating future needs. Every business is different, but similar companies follow the same general path. Some of the considerations when deciding whether a solution will successfully scale as you grow include the following:

• Is the current project just a start for a much broader implementation? If so, will the technology work in the larger scope?
• It could be the best technology solution, but if your people don’t adopt it, you won’t be able to scale it. You’ll want to create solutions that are user appropriate and assure a training plan is built in.
• Looking inside the company, traditional scalability questions have to do with company growth factors such as size, locations, employees, assets, customers, competitors, etc. Looking outside the company you’ll want to consider fundamental shifts in the market and anticipated regulatory changes.
• Finally, take a look at the technology itself. Is it expected to undergo changes or even quickly become obsolete? Will it meet the types of challenges and growth you see ahead?

No advice these days would be complete without considering mobility scalability. Smartphones, tablets and the like are exploding in use. Revenues are forecasted to at least double over the next four years for both categories. Advancements in technology are driving the price of cellular and satellite downward and given that most people use smartphones in their everyday lives, uptime to adopt new mobile business apps on these devices will be much faster. All good news, but will what you choose today scale into the future?

Aberdeen recently conducted a study reporting that Best in Class field service organizations, with as few as 100 technicians, could save up to $8,000,000 per year over industry Laggards by implementing effective mobility solutions. Chief among the drivers of effective solutions included: use of electronic forms, operable in offline mode, real-time systems integration, accommodation of varied platforms and the ability to generate on-demand performance metrics. At minimum, make sure the solutions you consider can at least do all of the above.

Mobility’s rapid paced change across a range of devices, networks, data and communication services, makes predicting scalability a challenge. For this reason, Skymira developed its MobiGatewayTM to seamlessly and easily tie together non-similar devices and information. An alternative to developing programs in native apps, MobiGatewayTM significantly reduces development time, operates both online and offline, and assures increased security. It also assures that changes down the road can be more easily accommodated.

Next we’ll address step five, implementing the solution in the most effective and least disruptive way. To view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm

In our last posts we discussed five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information, as well as steps one and two. In this post we’ll discuss the third step which is to develop a plan to apply the right technology for how you operate.

As we mentioned in step two, you want to work with a firm who will understand your business and provide a solution appropriate for the way you operate. Nowhere is this more important than choosing the right technology. There’s an incredible array of technology available today, but how do you understand what’s right for you? Cellular or satellite, for example, typically comes down to coverage and latency. Some assets are never in cell range and while others may enter into cell range at some time, can you wait for the information?

Or take for instance the exploding Smartphone and M2M technologies. By all accounts, revenues are forecasted to at least double over the next four years for both categories. Even conservative estimates are as high as 10 Billion Plus Smart-devices across a range of platforms and networks by the year 2020. Both technologies are driving the price of cellular and satellite services downward. Applications that seemed too expensive before will be suddenly more affordable. Given that most people use Smartphones in their everyday personal lives, uptime to adopt new mobile business apps on these devices will be much faster.

You should also consider the integration impact. How compatible is the technology with your existing enterprise infrastructure, and how competent are your people with it? In most cases there are proven solutions that will be compatible, the trick is in knowing which. You might want to consider an integration specialist well versed in remote information solutions. It’s often more cost advantageous to outsource when you are incorporating technologies you have no prior experience with. It’s often the best way to assure you’ll gain the full economic potential from your project. For example, some satellite services, if not properly administered with the right tools, will provide you with a shocking bill at some point.

Finally, you want to avoid the pitfalls that are common with technology implementation, Chief among them is over-reaching. Projects that are too cumbersome to make it all the way to completion or technologies that unto themselves are dazzling, but fail to provide the base for a well performing solution are prevalent pitfalls. Here’s our list of what we see most often:

• Failure to include use restrictions, especially for satellite.
• Deploying technology that satisfies the current application but does not anticipate future needs.
• Selecting providers with limited range of offerings and/or ability to execute.
• Selecting technology or creating applications that are too complicated for your people to use on a regular basis.
• Over-extending; starting too big, rather than proving out a couple of smaller high probability successes first.

Next we’ll address step four, assuring what you build will be scalable with your business as it changes and grows. To view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm

As we look ahead over the next few years, we see several big areas of impact for business apps and remote data solutions, one in particular is the exploding market for Smartphones -- which will experience double digit growth rates into the foreseeable future.

How explosive? By all accounts, revenues are forecasted to at least double over the next four years. Even conservative estimates are as high as 10 billion-plus Smart Devices across a range of platforms and networks by the year 2020. Gartner predicts that by 2014, 90% of organizations will support corporate applications on smartphones and by 2013, 80% of businesses will support a workforce using tablets.

We've been saying for some time now that advances in hardware and communication technologies will drive the price of cellular and satellite services downward. Product and service innovation has been heating up for some time. Nothing is driving this trend more than Smartphones, bringing both cellular and satellite services into range for most any businesses.

Smartphones are also fueling a surge in new applications to better manage businesses. Given that most people use Smartphones in their everyday personal lives, uptime to adopt new mobile business apps on these devices will be much faster.

As for the many of the devices coming to market, we are seeing substantial increases in data speed. And if cost was once a consideration with satellite, not only are prices coming down, but Skymira offers applications programmed to intuitively shift between cellular and satellite based on the situational needs of the organization.

With all these devices, networks, data and communication services, Skymira immediately understood that a unifying platform would be essential to tying non-similar devices and information together. Skymira's mobiGatewayTM is our approach to cross-platform, application, and location unification. Leveraging our mobiGateway^TM ensures that users will get consistent look, feel and functionality in the mobile apps and M2M services deployed across the enterprise.

Expect to hear much more from us on this game-changing opportunity for businesses of all types.

In our last posts we discussed five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information, as well as covering Step One. In this post we’ll discuss the second step which is to assess exactly how you will capture the remote information. This is the step most people miss. The information capture assessment is critical to ultimate success.

Start with identifying what it is you’re capturing. Is it exception reporting? Is it a sale or transaction record? Is it security status or fleet monitoring and tracking? Each of these is very different from one another and the solutions will be just as different.

We recommend three aspects to focus on when deciding how you will capture the remote information.

1. Technology – Do you know what the best technology is for your business and for each application? Will you know how to successfully apply it?

2. Organization and People – Do you have the right people in place to leverage the technology and consistently apply it in capturing the information?

3. Process – Do you have the processes in place for capturing and using the remote information? Or will you need to develop new processes?

The first of the three aspects, technology, is the obvious area and as mentioned, the one most organizations focus on almost exclusively. This is no surprise as most suppliers want to sell you the platform and the service, but may not spend the time becoming knowledgeable about your business and how you operate. Make sure whomever you partner with understands your company and can present technology recommendations in the context of your business. Avoid solutions that may be beyond your capability to maintain or even use. Look for simpler more practical solutions.

The second, organization and people is one of the more important aspects in capturing information. Efficacy and compliance of your solution in the hands of your people is one of the key contributing factors in assuring a successful project. Asking your workers to dramatically change the things they do on a daily basis is always a risk – remember, many people secretly reject change.

The manner in which you capture information should result in as little change as possible, especially in non-office environments where computer skills were never part of the job description. For initial implementations, keep it simple -- this will assure faster uptime and greater overall compliance with the new process.

Process is the third component. Ask yourself, are there existing processes in place that make it easier to capture the selected information or are they non-existent and will require development? Designing and deploying new business processes can certainly increase the risk of your project. Where possible, work with existing processes, or at a minimum, adopt new processes that are within the mainstream of how your business currently operates. At all costs, avoid dropping a completely foreign process into place.

Next we’ll address step three, developing a plan to apply the right technology for how you operate. To view the white paper in its entirety, go to our website at http://www.skymira.com/resource-center-whitepapers.htm

You’re looking at the satellite bill that is usually about $1,800 -- and this month it is $436,000. You pick yourself off the floor and you have got to believe it’s a mistake. After all you had just put in a new satellite broadband system that was only supposed to do voice and e-mail, and at a lower rate. Your company is going to take a $436,000 hit on expenses and you ask “How in the world did this happen?”

Sound far-fetched? Not at all. It happened recently to a shipping company where controls they thought were in place weren’t there – giving their crew unlimited satellite access to the internet, with unregulated downloading of information. The vendor they employed to set this up failed to install key components for any broadband installation:

• the vendor forgot to remove internet access from the satellite communication package.
• after the incorrect satellite installation, they didn’t perform the type of testing to confirm that all the communication components were working as the customer expected.
• and they weren’t monitoring the communication usage, looking for unexpected spikes. In essence they let the meter run without notifying the customer.

So how do you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? First of all you work with a company that has expertise in optimizing your system to provide the most efficient flow of business information, while also applying controls tailored to your business needs – helping you avoid that shocking bill. Today’s satellite broadband terminals are more than just a terminal you buy off the shelf and plug in. If you go that route just plan on the day you will get the bill that will knock you out of your chair.

Skymira has been on top of this from the beginning. Our April, 2010, blog entry “Avoiding Excessive Satellite Charges” described this scenario, and the risks in deploying any satellite communication system without also establishing a method for controlling the more significant satellite communication cost. The entry goes on to discuss Skymira’s Intelligent IP Controls and how, by locking in customer-specified proper uses and locking out improper use, abuse and inexperience that typically results in expensive hits, carrier charges are more effectively managed. I encourage you to read it to understand how it all works.

Here’s the link to a very unfortunate and preventable situation. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you. “The cost of unrestrained access to the internet by the crew”