Nomadic Computing with Mobile DevicesWith the explosion of smartphones and tablet computers, software 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 SummaryDramatic 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 BeginningAnyone 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, first 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 office desk to conference room, living room, bedroom, den, hotel, airplane, automobile and school.

The Internet protocol suite, specifically 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 reconfigure their IP addresses, set Domain Name Services (DNS) gateway addresses and so forth — and needed significant technical knowledge to do so. In short, nomadic computing

• Cognizant 20-20 Insights

cognizant 20-20 insights | november 2012

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 defines 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 files, file system synchroniza-tion, printer configuration, bandwidth and load problems, etc. The ultimate goal was to make these configuration 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. The complexities of setting DNS server addresses and configuring security protocols are hidden from the user. That is, achieving connectivity and service availability is transparent, convenient and adaptable.

Today’s mobile networks extend the nomadic computing paradigm and engineering achieve-ments of the Internet pioneers. Anyone’s grand-mother can use voice and data services to make phone 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 benefits?

We contend that the paradigm represented by nomadicity can be extrapolated to the applica-tions layer — for both fixed 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 fixed 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 benefit users and create new opportunities for the enterprise.

Nomadicity for Mobile Networks and Devices Why is nomadicity on mobile devices so important? 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 outfitted 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 fixed 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 fixed 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 provider’s cell tower to another’s, he or she can use the phone’s 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 fixed Internet isn’t quite so flexible. Arguably, it is this flexibility 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 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?

cognizant 20-20 insights 3

and convenience of mobility (as discussed later in this paper).

Dynamically Updated Physical Location Information

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, let’s 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 fixed-loca-tion users. These mainstream sites encourage desktop and laptop users to enter personal profile 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 doesn’t accommodate nomads. Yelp does fine when you search for a local restaurant near your home — when you’re actually at home. But what if you’re out of town or even across town and you’re trying to find 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 profile 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 reflect 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 take advantage of the power of the mobile device’s dynamic location informa-tion capability. For example, search results in the Google Maps mobile application are ordered by first displaying matches that are closest to the user’s 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 UI to 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 It’s clear that mobile devices support true nomadicity at the network layer and below, but full benefits 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 platform’s 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. Let’s look at what this means in the context of mobile devices.

• Transparent: Computer science defines trans-parency as “functioning without the user be-ing aware of its presence.”4 Transparency

Each application must be built with its own infrastructure to provide the full scope of services needed, from UI to database.

cognizant 20-20 insights 4

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 device’s Web browser to display a Web page with informa-tion about that location. The experience is not transparent because the user 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 today’s 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 application’s 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 device’s 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 user’s current location. So a search for a location will first display those matches that are closest to the user’s current location. This adaptive behavior is certainly convenient for the user, who doesn’t 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 difficult 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, we’ve 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 façade or pre-sentation component of the application.

The majority of today’s networked, distributed applications reside throughout many tiers of the enterprise. Therefore, a complete treatment of nomadicity must include a description of it in every tier of an application’s enterprise architec-ture. Specifically, 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 growing acceptance 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 fledgling presence of support for nomadicity across the entire enterprise. As a result, users still see their mobile

The realization of nomadicity in

enterprise architecture will be the lynchpin of

enterprise solutions that are capable of

driving user adoption and creating business

opportunity.

cognizant 20-20 insights 5

devices as conveniently portable, cute, miniatur-ized versions of their laptops and desktops and, consequently, use them as such. They fire 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 no integration 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 specific function to the user, and the back-end enterprise infrastructure behind each UI is a “silo.” That is, the Google Maps application uses Google’s map database and enter-prise services, and Yelp uses its own database of information. Even the Google Now application uses Google’s 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 unified communications platform.

Another factor amplifying the problem of silos of services and data is user account and profile management. Yelp users each have a dedicated account, with personal preferences for food, location and so forth. Yelp’s mobile applica-tion uses its own back-end services. A Yelp user might have a Google Maps account with another personal profile that stores preferences such as starting locations for driving directions, favorite places, etc.

Each user account is maintained separately, and users duplicate profile information many times over. They also have to remember where they have 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 won’t necessarily use Yelp’s database of information, and Yelp users won’t benefit from having detailed Yelp account profiles 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 it’s not likely that Google, Yelp, MapQuest or other companies will be motivated to provide services or data that benefit their competi-tors’ applications. But even if competition were not a factor, it’s a difficult 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 still tremendous opportunity for companies to produce very specific 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 the application useful to the end user.

An Example: The Theme ParkTo help elucidate these ideas, let’s 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.

Let’s say you are planning to take your family to one of the company’s theme parks. Prior to your visit, you download the park’s mobile application. Before you arrive, the application aggregates all of your profile information from the theme park company’s 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 is maintained separately, and users duplicate profile information many times over. They also have to remember where they have such accounts, along with the account names, passwords and other details.

cognizant 20-20 insights 6

has a unified customer database through which all of its enterprise systems across all operating units have a single view of each consumer, patron or 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 décor, design and history of the attractions. It might reveal that a particular area was a movie set or that the area is themed for particular characters of the company’s 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 customer’s 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 finished eating the spicy jambalaya at one of the park’s 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 based on the visitor’s age stored in his profile (assuming kids don’t 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 information the application has

about the customer, the more it can cater to the

customer’s interests.

A Day in the ParkAn example of nomadic computing in action could be found at a theme park. Park visitors would download a location-specific app onto their mobile devices that aggregates profile information from the company’s Web portal. Sensing where the visitors are in their journey throughout the park, the app would make recommendations relevant to individual needs and interests.

Cajun Cabin

“If you liked the spinning swing ride, you might also enjoy the spinning octopus ride.”

“Tell us how you liked this ride.”

“The gift shop ahead sells antacids.”

“Child safety alert. Jake has wandered 75 feet away.”

“The best Jambalaya you’ve ever tasted is 20 feet ahead.”

“Wait time: 7 minutes.”

“Stop in and see Emma’s favorite, Princess Flora.”

Figure 1

cognizant 20-20 insights 7

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 game’s branded para-phernalia. These examples depict how enterprise data integration across all of a theme park company’s 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 park’s themed areas and, based on the answer, suggest music that fits his or her preferences. As well as serving the patron, this capability enables cross-selling of the company’s 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 PropositionThe 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 profile 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 theme park could integrate just-in-time inventory control that uses dynamically collected data to re-order inventory, ranging from food to T-shirts, with finer granularity to streamline its operations and operate more efficiently. 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 for UsersUltimately, 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 benefit.

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 find 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 for a Variety of Applications and EnterprisesAny 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 reflects the enterprise’s

This kind of application can easily generate very accurate consumer profile and demographic information, which would enable more effective, targeted marketing, upselling, cross-selling and sharing, ultimately generating more revenue.

Quick Take

Despite the vast potential for dynamic location- and presence-aware mobile technology, there is also the potential for abuse. Today’s smartphones and tablets are vulnerable to malicious external applications or software agents, which can com-municate with open mobile devices even without the user’s knowledge. Already, we’re 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.

Today’s 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-ficult to do so. The company building the appli-

cation should control the complete system and utilize its database of user information. Users could 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 benefit 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 flush 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 viable approach 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 Google’s. 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 and obstacles. 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 specific 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-specific model or the services model delivered to multiple clients — each mobile application should strive to manifest the qualities of nomadicity, and should target the nomad

cognizant 20-20 insights 9

in order to realize the potential benefits. 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 mobile devices.

• Continuous mobile device connectivity.

• Continuous and dynamic physical location information.

• Applications-layer support of nomadicity.

Nearly any enterprise could benefit 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. We’re 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 won’t be long before the pieces are integrated into useful products at the enterprise level. Orga-nizations that acquire experience early on will be ahead of the competitive field.

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 benefit to the company.

Why will the application attract users? What benefits will users derive from its use? How will the nomadic qualities of the application cater to the nomadic user? How will it support the company’s basic business? What is the real benefit to the company?

What is the revenue model for the application? Does the 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 company’s 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 the enterprise.

Defining 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 of global personal location data is the cornerstone of a whole new category of BI that promises huge revenue streams for companies.

cognizant 20-20 insights 10

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 becomes much more complex than simply updating the user’s 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 profile. Contrast this scenario with 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 applications described 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-benefit analysis with respect to the business and financial considerations.

Technology choices naturally follow the needs of the business and the application itself. Some important factors to consider are:

• Safeguarding of sensitive personal information and general security.

• Presentation of meaningful information that can be managed by users.

• Adaptability to changing usage profiles.

• Effective leverage of consumer trends, media and information.

• Adaptability to changing platform technology, such as mobile platforms.

• Integration of technology components or products 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 specific requirements of the nomadic application.

The Future of ConvergenceLike any other domain or application, enterprise-scale nomadic computing applications will have their own challenges — some strategic and some technical — and each specific 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, we’ll 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, society’s embrace of that technology will continue to drive further advances, which, in turn, will result in continuing enthusiastic adoption. Already, in five 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 mobile user interfaces to

traditional data center technologies, nomadic

applications will inspire the coalescence of

many technologies and the creation of new

capabilities.

cognizant 20-20 insights 11

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 computing in 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.

References

• Ken Arnold, Ann Wollrath, Bryan O’Sullivan, Robert Scheifler and Jim Waldo, The Jini Specification, Addison-Wesley, 1999.

• Cisco Unified Presence Server Documentation.

• “The Digital Object Identifier System,” The International DOI Foundation, April 2012.

• Sam X. Sun, S. Reilly, L. Lannom, Handle System Namespace and Service Definition. 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) Specification,” 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 Force Request 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 PC’s Throne,” Gigaom.com, April 29, 2012.

About CognizantCognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s 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 50 delivery 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: inquiry@cognizant.com

European Headquarters1 Kingdom StreetPaddington CentralLondon W2 6BDPhone: +44 (0) 20 7297 7600Fax: +44 (0) 20 7121 0102Email: infouk@cognizant.com

India Operations Headquarters#5/535, Old Mahabalipuram RoadOkkiyam Pettai, ThoraipakkamChennai, 600 096 IndiaPhone: +91 (0) 44 4209 6000Fax: +91 (0) 44 4209 6060Email: inquiryindia@cognizant.com

© 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 any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

About the AuthorVartan Piroumian is an Enterprise Architect with Cognizant’s 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 world’s largest mobile carriers in the U.S., Europe and the Far East. He can be reached at Vartan.Piroumian@cognizant.com.