Mobile Database Management Yet To Take Off

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Mumbai: : Changing demographics and the popularity of laptop computers have fuelled an explosive growth in mobile applications.

And in today’s competitive corporate scenario with people living life on the fast track, it is important to have vital data on one’s fingertips to take informed decisions. This is where mobile database management comes in, assuming the role of a critical component to allow successful mobile computing.

Microsoft India product manager - business tools division Tarun Malik, explained that since India is a growing market, only the niche segment caters to mobile database. Most of the handheld devices like Palmtops, Pocket PCs, etc, are used by a very small segment of the market. Most of the users of this technology, he explained, are from overseas. The new digital economy challenges businesses to work more closely with customers and to integrate data across all business processes. To succeed, businesses must create new mobile applications that can be easily deployed in the field, on the shop or warehouse floor, or on-site with the customer. However in India, it will take some more time to adapt all these services to the new digital economy. The market for mobile database management in India is restricted to a few technologically savvy companies.

However, Oracle India director - e-business SPS Grover explained that while wireless access to central business information does usher in a new generation of business applications, in many mobile situations, wireless access is not the most optimal solution. Many mobile tasks such as maintenance of field assets or servicing of customer by field technicians often happen in areas where wireless coverage is not sufficient. Also the bandwidth of wireless networks may not fit the needs of some very data intensive applications, for example, a sales guy configuring a complex quotation over a wireless network.

It becomes even more pertinent if the data being accessed over the wireless network to perform the transaction is such which does not change during the middle of a business day. Some examples could be price lists, schedule of tasks for the day, products installed at the customer location, parameters on which an insurance policy is to be configured and premium calculation and so on. This is where need for offline mobile computing comes in.