In this paper, you will learn how enterprises can achieve a competitive advantage by giving remote workers access to complete CRM application functionality, with or without network connectivity. By ensuring mobile users always have up-to-date customer data and business rules, as well as the latest application updates and platform upgrades, organizations can increase mobile user productivity, and facilitate timely, enterprise-wide implementation of new business process improvements.
Pivotal CRM Whitpapers - Empowering Mobile Enterprise
1. W H I T E
P A P E R
Empowering the Mobile Enterprise
Executive Summary
In this paper, you will learn how enterprises can achieve a competitive advantage
by giving remote workers access to complete CRM application functionality, with
or without network connectivity. By ensuring mobile users always have up-to-date
customer data and business rules, as well as the latest application updates and
platform upgrades, organizations can increase mobile user productivity, and facilitate
timely, enterprise-wide implementation of new business process improvements.
2. The Business Challenge of Disconnected Use—With expectations rising,
organizations have even greater need for full offline
Mobility and CRM capabilities to ensure they are never without access to
critical functionality and data. Effective disconnected use
Today’s distributed workforce requires a sophisticated must include 100% of application functionality, a local
computing environment with a solid and cost effective database containing the user’s data, and the ability to
solution for both data and application synchronization. perform bi-directional synchronization between the offline
The complexity and expense involved in keeping data, data and the main system.
application upgrades and customizations synchronized
with database replicas distributed across WANs, LANs, Wireless Access—When on the road, mobile personnel
and mobile clients has become one of the critical factors need to be always connected—always aware of current
in evaluating a mobile CRM solution. account and opportunity developments. Real-time access
to data is provided by wireless technology via web-
Mobile CRM solutions differ in terms of completeness, enabled PDAs and cell phones, and is typically restricted
architectural approach, and synchronization method. The to reading/writing contact, company and opportunity data,
key to an effective mobile solution is ensuring mobile as well as To-Do lists.
users have access to all the functionality of their CRM
system wherever and whenever required, facilitating Pivotal CRM’s mobile computing solution allows for all
peer collaboration and uninterrupted productivity. three types of access:
Pivotal Mobile Sales is designed to support an • Mobile users can employ Pivotal Windows Client™,
enterprise’s mobile workforce—whether disconnected or or take advantage of the versatility and convenience
connected via broadband, dial-up or wireless—delivering of Pivotal’s web-based client, Pivotal Rich Client™, to
100% of the CRM functionality and access to critical access the entire Pivotal CRM Suite over broadband
customer data, anywhere, anytime from the same connections. For more information on the functionality
application and user interface as LAN-based systems. offered by the Pivotal CRM Suite, refer to the individual
suite brochures.
Mobile Work Force Requirements • The Pivotal Mobile Client™ includes all the functionality
of the Pivotal Windows or Rich Client, giving mobile
Distributed teams are vulnerable to communication workers offline access to the Pivotal CRM Suite, as well
breakdown. Nowhere is this more apparent than with as critical prospect, customer, and product information.
mobile and remote sales teams where important decisions
can be painfully delayed, resulting in lost opportunities. • Pivotal Wireless™ provides continuously connected
The key to overcoming broken communication is ensuring access to real-time Pivotal CRMdata and opportunity
all relevant prospect, customer and product data is information.
available in an offline or disconnected environment
seamlessly integrated into other CRM components, Remote and Disconnected Access
thereby guaranteeing consistent, integrated business Mobile users away from the office for days or even weeks
processes between in-house, remote and offline users. at a time require full access to account/opportunity
records and product data. The Pivotal Mobile Client
Enterprises with highly mobile workforces require
is a complete, scaled-down Pivotal CRM system
different degrees of access to critical, accurate business
designed to run on a laptop, delivering complete CRM
information using a variety of access methods, depending
functionality, with or without a network connection.
on their current location:
When offline, mobile users utilize the local database for
Remote Connectivity—With today’s ubiquitous access read/write access to account and product information;
to broadband, mobile users are able to work from the can leverage Pivotal Sales functionality such as offline
field as if they were in the office. Broadband ubiquity, product catalogs, complex product configuration, quote
however, has resulted in the expectation that mobile users creation at the customer site; take advantage of Pivotal
always have full access to their CRM application and Service functionality to access complete customer service
current data—connectivity failure or unavailability is no records, and so on.
longer acceptable.
2 Pivotal CRM | White Paper
3. Full platform functionality is also available in offline mode, customized the Pivotal Wireless solution to create
including the ability to reference Pivotal CRM data within a sophisticated task automation and information delivery
any Microsoft® Office application, or create, manage and system that tightened the information triangle between
queue email for delivery in MS Outlook®. Disconnected its sales, research, and trading departments. The
mobile users work as effectively and productively as company recouped their investment in just two months
though accessing Pivotal CRM from head office. as a result of dramatically increased productivity,
revenues and margins.
Mobile users typically work with a subset of Pivotal
CRM customer data on their laptop and are expected to
intermittently connect to the main or a satellite system The IT Challenges of Supporting
in order to synchronize any data changes. Pivotal
SyncStream is the synchronization technology powering a Mobile Work Force
the Pivotal Mobile Client, enabling mobile users to For mobile applications to achieve maximum value in
manually or automatically send/receive data, and gain the enterprise, they must provide full interactive access
high performance even over low-band width connections when disconnected. But to support such a disconnected
without fear of data conflicts. deployment, organizations need to decentralize
enterprise databases without compromising the overall
“ Mobile functionality is adifferentiator of CRM
salesvendors: The application is either fully
integrity of corporate data. Reliable synchronization that
can consolidate data from multiple inputs—including
connected and disconnected users—is key to ensuring
the delivery of consistent, accurate and timely information.
functional mobile, or it isn’t: 100-percent
disconnected functionality is the ‘gold standard’ Companies considering a synchronization solution
should focus special attention on four key criteria—key
”
for mobile sales applications. differentiators that must be carefully evaluated when
looking for a solid and cost-effective mobile CRM solution:
Joe Galvin
Vice President and Research Director, Gartner Inc. • Application Synchronization
• Data reliability and Integrity
Wireless Data Access • Performance
All mobile users require the ability to be alerted to critical • Mobile Administration Cost
opportunity and account information. Some mobile
users only require access to specific data, but need it
on demand. PDA-based extensions of standard CRM
Application Synchronization
applications are not the best answer, because of the Pivotal SyncStream provides for centralized
need to navigate through too many screens, which can synchronization of all aspects of the Pivotal CRM system,
be a frustrating experience where wireless broadband including customer data, application customizations and
is unavailable. platform upgrades across LAN clients, satellite systems
and mobile clients. Customizers centrally modify the
Pivotal Wireless fulfills these requirements by providing Pivotal CRM system and move customizations from an
an out-of-the-box application designed and built for off-line development system into production with a single
mobile users. It delivers real-time, secure (HTTPs, with command.
the ability to implement 128-bit SSL certificate) read/write
access to Pivotal CRM business logic and customer data
via wireless handheld devices, such as Web-enabled Pivotal SyncStream is the technology
cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). that synchronizes all aspects of the
Pivotal Wireless is a server-side solution that supports Pivotal CRM system, including customer
a variety of mobile devices, including RIM BlackBerry,
data, application customizations and
Palm, and Pocket PC equipped with a micro-browser.
No other client-side software is required. This allows platform upgrades across LAN clients,
users to quickly find and edit customer data, view current satellite systems and mobile clients.
meetings, calls and tasks, as well as edit opportunity
information.
Called a UFO (Upgrade From Offline), changes made to
Custom wireless applications can easily be created to fit the metadata repository are compressed in a message
any organization’s mobile requirements. For example, one and placed into the web s enterprise, and ensuring all
Pivotal CRM customer, a major capital markets player, users are always operating with erver outbound queue,
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 3
4. thereby distributing all application changes to the extended If a session is interrupted or unsuccessful, the Pivotal
the same functionality (for more information on Pivotal CRM’s CRM system automatically coordinates recovery. For
metadata-driven architecture, please refer to the white paper, example, if a mobile system receives a message that is
“Pivotal CRM’s 3-tier CRM Architecture”). out of its numbering sequence due to line interruptions
during a synchronization session, the mobile system
LAN updates are performed first, with Pivotal SyncStream sends a message to the parent system requesting that
orchestrating an orderly shutdown on the LAN so no the missing data be sent again before any other updates
data changes will be made during the upgrade of are made. Once the missing data has been received, the
the enterprise server’s metadata. All LAN users are synchronization session resumes.
instructed to exit the program to accommodate the
application update. Unattended workstations are logged
Fundamental Data Integrity
off automatically and new metadata is applied on the
server. When the update is processed, usually within As organizations grow, the likelihood that two or more
minutes, end users can pick up where they left off and users will be working on the same record at the same time
begin using the new system. Satellite upgrades follow increases. As a result, the synchronization technology’s
a similar process, shutting down attached systems while ability to prevent data corruption becomes vital. It must be
the update takes place. able to resolve the inevitable tug of war in a graceful, fully
predictable and informative way.
When mobile users synchronize their mobile systems,
application and data changes are automatically Pivotal SyncStream does not use role-based rules to
synchronized in the background, allowing mobile users to resolve the tug of war. Instead, it determines which user
continue working in their Pivotal CRM application. Files, made the latest change by comparing the time and date
such as service packs and hot fixes, can be delivered to stamp integral to the message—Pivotal SyncStream
the mobile system in the same synchronization session, messages carry the timestamp value that a record had
making the traditional, resource-intensive, in-office before the update, and the one after the update.
upgrade obsolete.
To better illustrate how Pivotal SyncStream resolves data
conflicts, take the example of an account representative
Assured Data Reliability and Integrity and her regional manager who are both attempting to
There are many kinds of CRM data synchronization update the same record while on the road. If the account
(role-based, time-stamp, etc.), each with its own pros representative’s update reaches the enterprise server first,
and cons, making it critical to match requirements to the change is applied because the original timestamp
vendor capabilities. For any synchronization solution, data matched the one in the database. Because this update
reliability and integrity remain key. When data conflicts succeeded, the record now has a new timestamp. When
arise, the ability to gracefully and accurately recover and the regional manager’s update reaches the enterprise
resolve them is critical. server, the original timestamp does not match the
timestamp in the database, so the update fails.
Timestamps can be thought of as version identifiers—
Guaranteed Data Delivery
every time an update occurs the version is changed.
Poor connections, unexpected disconnections, and Data synchronization changes are rejected if the version
line interruptions are a fact of the mobile employee’s the change was made on doesn’t match the current
life. Robust synchronization solutions build in the ability version in the database.
to recover lost or truncated messages automatically,
eliminating the possibility of data inconsistency.
Employing Pivotal SyncStream’s
Pivotal SyncStream verifies the success of each HTTP synchronization can yield a
synchronization session. Synchronization messages are
not deleted until a confirmation message is received from 60% reduction in connection time over
the recipient indicating that the change was successfully traditional email-based systems by
carried out. This approach allows for a high degree optimizing available network bandwidth.
of confidence that mobile databases will synchronize
correctly, and it protects against message loss due to
accidental disconnection, viruses, machine crashes, or In this case, the regional manager receives a detailed
other connection problems. Lost or out-of-sequence notification message with a shortcut to the Pivotal CRM
messages are recovered automatically. record. The message requests that the manager review
the record since updates were made to it, and requests
a re-submission of changes if those changes still make
sense based on the new data in the record.
4 Pivotal CRM | White Paper
5. A High Performance Approach to basis. Since changes are distributed using message
packets, mobile systems incorporate changes in a
Synchronization disconnected environment. This is a faster method which,
Mobile users are too busy to wait for data to be in addition to reducing the load on the database, can also
synchronized. Any mobile synchronization solution needs result in cost savings over mail-based synchronization
to be simple, fast and powerful, and yet still offer mobile systems due to reduced connection time requirements.
users some measure of control. It’s critical to ensure that
the synchronization solution works in such a way as to
minimize the necessity for end user interference, while Based on Microsoft Internet Information
maximizing the user’s ability to work productively with Server, Pivotal’s mobile synchronization
the CRM system.
solution scales up affordably simply by
Pivotal SyncStream is automatically invoked as soon adding another web server.
as the mobile client makes a connection to its main or
satellite parent server. Mobile users have the option to
send in the background and continue working while A one-step synchronization process automatically
synchronizing, as well as the ability to stop and resend alerts mobile users when they need to synchronize,
at a later date. For example, if a mobile user has not protecting the system from synchro nization backlogs.
synchronized for a few days and is on a slow connection, Business rules are processed offline, resulting in faster
he or she can elect to send messages before receiving synchronization—measured in minutes, not hours, so
any queued messages, then restore synchronization disconnected users can gain both fast synchronization
settings when a faster connection becomes available. and timely read-write access to the data they require.
The Total Cost of Mobile Administration
When a mobile systemis plugged in, it’s Traditional synchronization systems employ a mail server
continuously updated by the connection. to send and receive data between mobile and remote
Unplug, and the database is as current systems. But access to corporate mail servers is often
restricted, and where it’s not restricted, monitoring of
as the Enterprise Server, allowing Mobile
queues, inboxes and the necessary skill sets to effectively
users personnel to ‘unplug and go’. administer such a system place a high overhead
burden on administration resources. Pivotal SyncStream
offers a lightweight solution in the form of HTTP-based
Pivotal SyncStream runs a continuous real-time net synchronization, which greatly reduces the overhead
change analysis to enable asynchronous distribution associated with maintaining a mobile workforce.
of changes. Performance is optimized and bandwidth Any administrator with knowledge of Microsoft
maximized by exchanging information bi-directionally, Internet Information Server (IIS) can easily administer
synchronizing the net changes to data on a field-by-field Pivotal SyncStream.
Pivotal Mobile Administration
User Status Last Sync Time Out Queue In Queue Web Queue UFO Sent
Whether the Last time the Number of Number of Number of Whether the
mobile client mobile user messages messages messages on mobile user
is successfully synchronized waiting to be still to be the web server has received
synchronizing their system processed by processed still to be the latest
the receiver by the server downloaded system
update/
upgrade
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