Session ID:
Prepared by:
Implementing A Disconnected
Mobile Application with DSI for
Field Operations
103860
Victor Lang, VP of Enterprise Systems, Smartbridge
Danny Tsang, Manager Enterprise Mobility, Smartbridge
Agenda
• Introduction
• Industry Trends and Challenges
• Use Cases for Disconnected Applications
• Demo - Field Equipment Rental Application
• DSI Disconnected Mode Features and Architecture
• Design Considerations and Best Practices
• Question & Answers
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Smartbridge – a full-service SI company
4
ERP – JD Edwards
Systems Integration
Infrastructure
Portals & Collaboration
Application Development
Restaurant Technology
BI Strategy & Assessment
Information Dashboards
Mobile BI
Data Warehousing
Master Data Management
Advanced Analytics
Mobile Strategy
Mobile Applications
Mobile Intelligence
Mobility Management
Internet of things
IT Strategy
Software Selection
Merger & Integration
Project Management
Outsourcing Strategy
Enterprise
Systems
Enterprise
Mobility
Business
Intelligence
& Analytics
Strategy &
Advisory
We provide full service consulting with end-to-end solutions
including strategy, implementation, and ongoing operations
and administration
Smartbridge – Full spectrum of mobility
Services
Mobile Strategy
• Full Strategy and Roadmap• Mini Roadmap and
Kickstart• Software Vendor Selection• Assessments
App
Development
• User Experience & Interface
• Design & Development• Backend Integration• Managed Services
Mobile
Intelligence
• Dashboards• Reporting• User Experience
& Design
Mobility
Management
• Device Management• Auditing & Tracking• App Management• Content
Management• Data Protection
Internet of Things
• Ideation -> Pilot• Design & Development • Integration• Analytics
Priorities for CIOs
CIOs Top 5 Mobile Initiatives in 2016
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70%
74%
76%
78%
80%
64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 76% 78% 80% 82%
CREATING FASTER GO-TO-MARKET APPROACH
SELLING MORE EFFECTIVELY
TIGHTER SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
CLOSER CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY
Source: Forrester Research, “Mobile Becomes a Key Success Imperative for CIOS” November 2015
Priorities for CIOs
High Priorities to improve processes with mobile apps
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Source: Forrester Research, “Mobile Becomes a Key Success Imperative for CIOS” November 2015
30%
32%
33%
34%
34%
38%
39%
49%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
FIELD SERVICE PROCESSES
FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING PROCESSES
ORDER MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESSES
DECISION SUPPORT PROCESSES
SALES PROCESSES
CUSTOMER SERVICE PROCESSES
Boosting Productivity in Field
• Quick turnaround on
approvals
• Sales enhanced by
item availability check
• Service history
• Proximity based
features
• Eliminating paper
• Improve accuracy
• Reduce time to close
• Improve cash flow
• Acknowledgements with
signature
• Image capture
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Access to Data Data Capture
Typical Challenges in the Field
• No Signal
– No cellular connection available in the work areas
• High Latency
– Takes too long to pass data back and forth.
• Low Bandwidth
– Bandwidth isn’t available to download large blocks of
data.
• Need for Mobility
– Users need to travel to locations where wifi and
cellular coverage isn’t always available.
• Rugged Environment
– Need for special devices
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Field Sales
• Access customer information
• Access product information
• Access inventory availability
• Create quotes and enter sales orders
• Pick Pack Ship
• Access invoice and billing information
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Create QuoteEnter Sales
OrderPrint Pick Slip
Confirm Shipment
Print InvoiceUpdate/Post
Sales
Field Support
• Access service tickets
• Access equipment data
• Access critical manuals and documentation for usage, warranty and repairs
• Dispatch monitoring
• Update key information on equipment inspections and maintenance
• Enter purchase orders for spare parts, or materials
• Get acknowledgement from customer
• Update and closure of tickets
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Create Support
TicketAssign Ticket
Review equipment
data and docs
Order/Receive Parts
Update Equipment
data
Update and Close Service
Ticket
Field Service
• Access my work orders
• Access customer data
• Access routing and locations
• Track activity, time and work hours
• Provide accurate and timely information of services
performed on remote property/equipment/facilities
for streamlined support and billing
• Can be applied to rental equipment, real estate,
construction/engineering
• Timely updates to work orders reducing time to
close
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Create Work OrderExecute the Work Order
Track activity and time
Update work order
Approval workflow
Customer Invoice/billing
Field Equipment Rental Application
Objective:
Mobile enable the field staff to manage equipment rentals
Primary Functions:
Streamline the activities of branch plant personnel processing
the sales orders in the areas of
equipment delivery
capturing equipment usage
reporting damages or loss of equipment
return of equipment
Provide branch plant personnel the ability to operate in a
disconnected mode
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Offline Benefits
Benefits of being designed for offline
• Prepared for outages
– Offline applications can work even when your DSI or ERP system goes down. Cached data allows for users to continue working until the system comes back online.
• Faster transactions
– Transactions are queued, and transmitted in the background. This eliminates the time delay when multiple online transactions are performed back to back.
• True Mobility
– Users can work anywhere without needing access to the network for data.
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Rich Disconnected Mobile Apps
• Simple intuitive apps focusing on streamlining
workflows
• No vagueness in the user actions; “Fit For Need”
apps that require minimal training
• Tailor synchronization of data based on the user or
role
• Seamless synchronization and offline storage
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DSI Features Supporting Disconnected Mode
• Mobile client stores available applications and login
credentials locally on the device
• Content can be synchronized and stored locally on
device database tables
• Completed transactions can be queued and
uploaded at a later time
• Ability to customize the synchronized dataset based
on users, roles, devices, or groups
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DSI Platform Server
Ruggedized Handhelds
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
Other Database Systems
Overview of DSI Architecture
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
DSI Platform Server
Ruggedized Handhelds
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
IntegratedSystems
Other Database Systems
Overview of DSI Architecture
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
Overview of DSI Architecture
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
DSI Platform Server
Ruggedized Handhelds
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
DSI System
IntegratedSystems
Other Database Systems
Overview of DSI Architecture
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
DSI Platform Server
Ruggedized Handhelds
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
User Devices
DSI System
IntegratedSystems
Other Database Systems
Offline Data Life Cycle
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
Ruggedized Handhelds
DSI Platform Server
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Other Database Systems
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
Offline Data Life Cycle
27
Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
Ruggedized Handhelds
DSI Platform Server
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Other Database Systems
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
Offline Data Life Cycle
28
Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
Ruggedized Handhelds
DSI Platform Server
JD Edwards ERP
DSI Database Server
Other Database Systems
Laptops
Tablets & Smartphones
Offline Data Life Cycle
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Replication AgentCommunication AgentAsynchronous AgentAgents:
JDE & Other Systems
DSI
Mobile Client
DSI
1. Data replicates from ERP and other
systems to DSI Database
2. User syncs data from DSI Database
to Mobile Client
3. Completed transactions are uploaded from
Mobile Client back to DSI.
4. DSI processes transactions into JDE and other systems.
Design Considerations For Developing A
Disconnected App
• What does your network availability look like?
• What kind of tolerance do you have regarding data
latency?
• How quickly do transactions need to be recorded
back into the system?
• Which parts of your work flow need to be done
offline?
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Addressing these questions early in the design process will help guide you in designing the data flow and replications needed in your disconnected applications.
Best Practices
• Look for opportunities to sync changes
• Use full and partial replications appropriately
• Use mobile client tables for local storage
• Reduce replication overhead
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Look For Opportunities To Sync Changes
• Periodically Check For Online Status
– Use the Is Connected control to check for online status as the user completes transactions.
– If connected, then use this as an opportunity to Transmit Queue and perform a partial replication sync.
• Allow user to manually sync if desired
– Add a button or action that allows the user to manually sync if there is a network connection available.
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By taking advantage of opportunities to sync your data, you are
reducing the time window in which data is not updated back to JD
Edwards which will keep your data fresh and up to date sooner.
Full Replication Schedules
• Use a Full Replication fully rebuild your database
tables with the latest data in your DSI Server or
Mobile Client.
• Fast way to synchronize large sets of data and
without overhead of checking timestamps on
individual records.
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Full replication schedules should be run on the server
overnight to rebuild the DSI database or on the mobile client
when the user manually wants to refresh all data.
Partial Replication Schedules
• Use a Partial Replication to get changes in data through out the day.
• This uses a timestamp field to identify what data has changed in a given table.
• Fast way to sync small sets of data changes throughout the day.
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Preference is for the partial replications to be run periodically
throughout the day or after users perform certain actions on
the mobile client.
Use Mobile Client Tables
• Local Storage
– Mobile client tables persist on device
– Not overwritten from a database sync
– Use to store static data that does not needed to be updated frequently
– Used to store in progress data that is not ready to be written back to DSI yet
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Mobile client tables can be used to store static data such as
lists, and in progress records since they are not overwritten
during replication.
Reduce Replication Overhead
• Aggregate tables into views
– Combine necessary fields from multiple tables into composite views.
• Limit the data range
– Put a cap on the amount of data replicated by using date ranges or record counts.
• Customize replication rules
– Customize the rule to only pull data that is specific to the application, user or role needed.
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Reducing the amount of overhead in the replicated data will
improve replication wait time and lighten up the load put on
the server when users are synchronizing data.
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• Victor Lang, VP of Enterprise Systems
• Danny Tsang, Manager Enterprise Mobility
• Smartbridge : www.smartbridge.com
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