Benefit from the increasingly wide deployment of mobile computing, obtaining a competitive advantage by mobilizing software applications. Software vendors can no longer regard desktop systems as the target for application deployment; notebooks and other mobile devices have assumed that role. Placing emphasis on the notebook environment results in higher-quality software for all manner of users; mobilized software benefits stationary, wired users, too. These users enjoy greater application availability because they are less affected by network outages, and faster application performance because they are less affected by network latency.

Computer users who increasingly use notebook PCs, tablets, PDAs, and cellular smart phones need their business applications to function on the road as well as in their offices. Many browser or client/server-based applications require a persistent network connection. However, the reliable, continuous network connections enjoyed by stationary office workers are not always available to mobile users who often roam between hotspots. Companies are recognizing the potential for mobilized software to increase employee productivity.

Critical to the realization of this potential, however, are applications designed to handle the realities of the mobile computing environment. As wireless infrastructures become a standardized commodity and users increasingly turn to mobile platforms, software developers face rising user dissatisfaction with applications that were not designed to work in a mobile environment.

Support the Mobilized Software Initiative. To efficiently support mobile and stationary users, applications must be enhanced or even completely re-architected. Mobilized software contains a set of features that help insulate users from network dependencies by making data and applications available when the user is offline. Intel and other leading technology companies are working with ISVs and industry leaders to provide a comprehensive set of software tools, services, architecture specifications, and training programs to design software for mobility through the Mobilized Software Initiative.

The Mobilized Software Initiative includes four capability vectors that developers must address—in addition to end-to-end security—in order to provide effective mobilized software solutions. Each of those issues is addressed in a separate item, linked from the bulleted list below:

• Offline data management, which enables the application to provide virtually the same user experience, regardless of connection status.
• Intelligent connectivity, which detects network-state changes and adapts appropriately.
• Power and performance optimization, which enables mobilized applications to conserve battery life and to deliver fast computational and I/O performance.
• Multiple-platform support, which allows applications to be deployed acro ss clients and servers natively.
• End-to-end security, a vital component to mobilized software, which must be addressed in a robust fashion to ensure broad adoption.

Discovering Mobilized Software

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