BANGALORE, INDIA: Today, many enterprises are allowing employees to use their own devices for office work. While the trend is a great enabler for companies, it is a big challenge to bring user experience on mobile apps and security.
In an interview with CIOL, Sunil Gupta, senior vice president and mobility service lines head, Symphony Services, spoke on why mobile application of enterprises needs to be different from traditional PC apps. Symphony would soon enable new generation of network aware mobile apps.

Q: How do you see enterprise mobility landscape in India. Is it still bogged down by security issues?

Sunil Gupta: Enterprise mobility has picked up in the past one year. The convergence of cloud and mobility has opened up a new business scenario for clients. Nobody thought that a day would come when companies would allow employees to bring devices of their choice and get connected to enterprise resources.

A year ago when we were marketing our offerings a lot of CIOs feared losing control and there was an apprehension about who would manage applications and which software to use, and so on.
With key technologies coming together the CIOs are far more comfortable now. They have started to think about how much they can save per month.

It is not only about the trend, it's about using technology to one's own benefit. Now, new applications can be run on cloud and delivered through mobile. In cloud environment, there can be a lot of savings on application maintenance. So, all these developments have metamorphosed into a value proposition.

Q: What are the key questions that you often come across from CIOs? How is Symphony helping them?

Sunil Gupta: The key question in a CIO's mind is obviously about what the partnership brings to the table because it is not only about putting an application on a device. It's about integrating the back-end. In cloud migration getting the right user experience is important.

In other words, people want mobile apps in true sense.

There is a need for holistic solution. Symphony's strong point is that we have a cross platform on which apps are built and they are offered on multiple devices. Our approach is to develop one and deploy anywhere.
Symphony has expertise in cloud, product development, technology migration, testing and other professional services. We can deliver all these services in a measurable output.

Q: What about the restructuring plan?

Sunil Gupta: Soon, there will be a new mobility division within Symphony which will focus on enterprise mobility and R&D development.

The new division will include a center for excellence. The idea is to build specialized IPs. Today, we have a general IP that fits across all the verticals. Now we are building a vertical solution on top of it.

We are expecting that in 2012-13, 15-20 per cent of our revenues will be coming from enterprise mobility alone.
Enterprise mobility is ahead in three key verticals-- retail, health care and BFSI.

Q: Now, everybody seems to be in a hurry to join the mobile bandwagon. What makes a great mobile application?

Sunil Gupta: The success of mobile apps is still a big question mark. Everybody thinks that this is going to be a game changer. But from a user prospective it's all about productivity of a smartphone Vs a traditional PC.

It is expected that given the screen size among others there is always going to be a challenge. The only way you can overcome the challenge is by improving the user experience.

A mobile user should be able to perform tasks with fewer clicks than on a traditional PC.
There is also a concern about call drops. But with 3G and 4G coming in, these concerns can be  addressed.

Q: Mobile banking services are being rolled out, but there seems to be a lack of acceptance...

Sunil Gupta: I have talked to three leading banks in India which have mobile solutions. But they are not happy with it. They are not happy with the user experience.

Mobile banking is going to be very big. Almost every bank either has mobile presence or mobile solutions on the way. Even the ISVs with whom we interact have mobile banking on top of their minds today. We are also helping them to bring the mobile banking capabilities.

Transactions on a mobile has to be really fast, unlike on a laptop. Most people just convert a desktop application into a mobile application.

Today people are aware about network. If the signal is down, an application needs to be alerted to bounce back once the signals are up. This is one of the key features that we are building in our platform too. Symphony's network aware mobile platform should be available for clients in a quarter's time.