Written by SAP Mobile CRM Users Can Have Their Security and Their iPhones Too
The Sybase for SAP CRM iPhone app offers a range of features necessary to a mobile sales professional: schedule and contact information, an analytics engine, and Netweaver integration, which enables user notification when important developments occur. Plus, it’s secure, without getting in the way of the user enjoying easy access to other iPhone apps.
Sybase has only recently formally entered the SAP (NYSE: SAP) corporate family. However, the two companies have collaborated on software integration projects for years: hence, the introduction of Sybase Mobile Sales for SAP CRM, a native iPhone app.
When designing the app, Sybase took the iPhone user needs into account, Bryan Whitmarsh, senior product manager in the mobile enterprise solutions division of Sybase, told CRM Buyer.
Secure Segregation
Sybase solved that problem by segregating the ERP data from the personal use apps on the iPhone, Whitmarsh explained. “We secure the application separately.”
For the user, what that means is this: You turn on your iPhone and see all the various icons for apps that have been downloaded, including the one for Sybase Mobile Sales for SAP CRM. You can click on any one and open it with no problem.
For the Sybase app, however, a password is needed. This is a small but important distinction for iPhone users, Whitmarsh maintained, as they are not as tolerant of the security measures necessary for such data as, say, a BlackBerry user might be.
Day Planner
The Sybase for SAP CRM app offers a range of features necessary to a mobile sales professional. The first field that appears is the home screen, which provides a schedule and related contact information, in case an event or call needs to be rescheduled.
A rep who finds two meetings scheduled for the same time slot, for instance, can connect to reschedule one of them by phone or email. The change is then automatically updated on the screen.
Analytics Engine
The app also harnesses an extensive analytics engine. Users can create custom reports from their phones.
Netweaver Functionality
Sybase uses SAP’s Netweaver technology for the integration functionality, “which is true push,” Whitmarsh said.
That means that the mobile app can notify the user when, for example, a new opportunity has been entered into the SAP system. The phone will vibrate or buzz. When the user clicks on it, it automatically prompts the user to enter the password for the Sybase app.
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