Earlier this week, I tackled the subject of D&B’s latest mobile-dedicated browser interface (not a true “app”) that delivers a variety of supply risk alerts, details and search capabilities to a variety of smartphone platforms (See posts here and here). I personally think the portable tool is a useful first effort that a small — but growing — sub-set of the total D&B user base will find absolutely invaluable. Yet I’m not convinced mobile-centric applications and capabilities will take off in the broader procurement and supply chain sector as quickly as some believe. Still, over the years on Spend Matters, I’ve been as taken by anyone at the ability to log on to vendor solutions and marketplaces like Emptoris and MFG.com on my iPhone. But perhaps I’m just a geek at heart.
Still, vendors continue to innovate in the area. SAP, for example, came out earlier this year with a mobile-friendly interface for its Sourcing (formerly e-sourcing) applications…
Any activity that uses a telephone will ultimately become “mobilized” because text messaging is going to replace the talky phone.
“Seconds” (getseconds.com) is one of the first services that make it possible for purchasing and other government activity centers to start texting instead of “talking” but there will be more.