Connecting to the Back Office

A mobile platform must provide access to back-office data sources and systems as a pre-requisite to supporting enterprise-level mobility. Unlike mobile consumer apps which are often self-contained or have access to a single data source or system, business users require information from the back office for virtually every daily activity, whether in the office or out. And although the titles, responsibilities, and activities of each user may vary, much of the information they need or update is the same.

ClickMobile provides a foundational infrastructure that makes the “plumbing” of business mobility efficient and reusable. With off-the-shelf real-time integration with the world’s most prominent optimized scheduling solution, ClickSchedule – ClickMobile enables workforce managers, schedulers, and dispatchers to see and react to every action in the field - as it happens. Beyond dispatch and field status and location updates, ClickMobile and the W6++ platform come pre-built to support complete back office integration via Sybase’s Mobile Platform (SMP) and the Microsoft mobile infrastructure.

ClickMobile and Sybase SMP / SUP

The Mobile Business Objects (MBO) are core to Sybase SMP, which enables applications to access and publish data objects which are leveraged by ClickMobile and the Mobility Studio, and other applications, without the need to develop code needed to add, update, or delete data. SMP maintains the mapping between business objects which exist (in part or whole) on the mobile device, as data is synchronized with ERP, CRM, EAM, HR and other enterprise sources. Off-the-shelf integration with SAP applications enables the availability of virtually all the organization's information– whether from SAP solutions, legacy systems, or other commercial applications – in a consolidated format.

Sybase’s MBOs and SMP go beyond data access to provide an intelligent synchronization with mobile devices. Leveraging Afaria, Sybase delivers robust and streamlined device management capabilities. The SMP architecture includes a robust set of tools to design the MBOs and support the integration processes.

Sybase Mobility Platform (a.k.a. Sybase Unwired Platform) High Level Architecture

ClickMobile is aligned with the SMP architecture leveraging SMP as a middleware layer (store & forward from the mobile device), as an integration hub from the mobile side to all the back-office systems, and to provide transparency between mobile connections. While off-the-shelf integration exists with SAP back-office systems; other data sources and back-office systems can also be included.

Whereas Sybase SMP delivers the agility that comes from visual drag-and-drop connections to back end data sources and systems; Mobility Studio delivers the complementary agility that comes from visual drag-and-drop assembly of mobile business applications. ClickMobile & SMP introduce an architecture that is flexible enough to integrate into SAP systems, as well as other back-office applications and data sources. It also provides a user friendly workspace for efficiently developing and modifying mobile functionality –without the skills of a programmer.

As depicted in the figure below, the strength and capabilities of ClickSoftware’s mobile solution are retained (such as strong integration between scheduling and mobility, User Defined Properties, real-time optimization) while adding a wide set of capabilities to integrate with multiple back-office systems in a standard way.

Architectural model for ClickMobile, Mobility Studio, WSO Solutions, and SAP CRM and ERP.