Nomadic Computing with Mobile Devices

• Cognizant 20-20 Insights

Nomadic Computing with Mobile Devices
With the explosion of smartphones and tablet computers, software
developers must exploit opportunities at the application layer, applying
location- and presence-aware data to deliver services that are relevant
to both enterprises and consumers.

Executive Summary mining and internal and external cross-selling
services that generate revenue for the business.
Dramatic advancements in mobile technology,
We also demonstrate the tremendous potential
combined with the wide availability of sophisti-
of this new paradigm for both enterprises and
cated mobile devices, have enabled us to conduct
consumers, alike.
our daily personal computing and communica-
tions activities on the go. As a result, we are fast
From the Beginning
becoming a society of nomadic computer users
or, simply, nomads.1 Anyone who accesses his or her computing envi-
ronment from different locations is a computing
The vast majority of users today are able to nomad, or simply a nomad. Leonard Kleinrock,
perform the same tasks on their mobile devices recognized as one of the founders of the Internet,
as they traditionally performed on their laptops first coined the term in the late 1980s, when he
or desktops. And although most users perceive — and his colleagues discovered the limitations of
and use — their smartphones simply as portable the Internet infrastructure in supporting nomads
laptops or desktops that offer the convenience of as they moved from office desk to conference
mobile operation, these devices can be, in fact, room, living room, bedroom, den, hotel, airplane,
much more than that. automobile and school.

Still missing, however, is full support of nomadic The Internet protocol suite, specifically TCP/
computing at the applications layer. This white IP, assumed that users and their devices and IP
paper describes a new paradigm that extends addresses would always be found in the same
nomadic computing to the applications layer. location and would be tightly coupled. The problem
Adoption of this paradigm will enable a new level was that users moving from one location to the
of powerful applications to attract value-driven next needed to reconfigure their IP addresses, set
users, creating tremendous business development Domain Name Services (DNS) gateway addresses
opportunities for enterprises to offer electronic and so forth — and needed significant technical
customer relationship marketing (e-CRM), data knowledge to do so. In short, nomadic computing

cognizant 20-20 insights | november 2012

was not transparent to users, and it certainly was paradigm that gives us nomadicity at the network
not convenient.2 layer up to the applications layer? If so, what
would a nomadic computing infrastructure look
Kleinrock and others attempted to eliminate these like at the applications layer? And what are the
shortcomings and create a nomadic computing benefits?
infrastructure that would support “nomadicity,”
which Kleinrock defines as follows: We contend that the paradigm represented by
nomadicity can be extrapolated to the applica-
“… the system support needed to provide tions layer — for both fixed and mobile users.
computing and communications capabilities For the purposes of this paper, we will focus on
and services to nomads as they move from mobility because the business development
place to place in a way that is transparent, opportunities are far more dramatic in the mobile
integrated, convenient and adaptive.”3 domain than for fixed or stationary networks.
When this vision is realized, the user experience
Users should not have to deal with what Kleinrock
on mobile devices will be greatly enhanced, and a
called “discontinuities” between different devices
more powerful platform will be created that will
and locations, such as network connections,
benefit users and create new opportunities for
connection mechanisms, intermittent connec-
the enterprise.
tions, access to files, file system synchroniza-
tion, printer configuration, bandwidth and load Nomadicity for Mobile Networks
problems, etc. The ultimate goal was to make
and Devices
these configuration and access issues transpar-
ent to the user. Why is nomadicity on mobile devices so
important? How is the mobile platform different
The Internet infrastructure and the hardware from the laptop or desktop platform? Why do
and software products we enjoy today represent mobile devices promise to be the cornerstone of
the success of nomadic computing researchers. a powerful new paradigm for applications when
Today, connecting to the Internet from home is as outfitted with an applications-layer nomadic
simple as connecting a modern router, plugging in computing capability? To answer these questions,
a computer and running an we need to take a closer look at the technical dif-
Can we extend the install script. Connecting ferences between mobile networks and stationary
paradigm that gives to a wireless router is networks (the so-called fixed Internet).

us nomadicity at the even selecting and network
only
simpler
the
involves
Dynamic, Continuous Network Connectivity
network layer up to to which to connect. The At the risk of stating the obvious, mobility is
the applications layer? complexities of setting really the inherent characteristic of mobile
networks. And the one characteristic that most
If so, what would a DNS configuringaddresses
and
server
security differentiates mobile networks from so-called
nomadic computing protocols are hidden from fixed networks is that mobile networks support
infrastructure the user. That is, achieving dynamic mobility and dynamic network connec-
tivity. Whether a user is stationary, walking or
look like at the connectivityis and service
availability transparent, riding on a high-speed train or roaming from one
applications layer? convenient and adaptable. network provider’s cell tower to another’s, he or
she can use the phone’s voice and data services
Today’s mobile networks extend the nomadic without interruption. The network transparently
computing paradigm and engineering achieve- handles such functions as cell site hand-offs,
ments of the Internet pioneers. Anyone’s grand- network address updates, security, authentica-
mother can use voice and data services to make tion and roaming.
phone calls, send multimedia messages and send
e-mail, anywhere, whether stationary or mobile, This dynamic connectedness is the manifesta-
local or roaming. Here again, connectivity and tion of nomadicity at the network layer. Users
service availability are transparent, convenient, connect to and use the network transparently,
integrated and adaptive at the network layer and conveniently and adaptively. In contrast, the fixed
below. Internet isn’t quite so flexible. Arguably, it is this
flexibility that has contributed to the impressive
But what about the applications layer that sits adoption rate of mobile devices. Adoption rates
atop the network layer? Can we extend the are also a result of user perception of the novelty

cognizant 20-20 insights 2

and convenience of mobility (as discussed later in to any application without user intervention.
this paper). Combined with underlying mobile network
support for continuously connected mobility,
Dynamically Updated Physical Location applications can provide useful information to
Information the nomad, and the nomad can enjoy a rich user
Mobile devices have one other important dis- experience.
tinguishing characteristic: Dynamically updated
physical location information, provided by their Mobile applications have
built-in global position system (GPS) receivers. already started to take Each application
This difference — in conjunction with the dynamic, advantage of the power must be built with its
of the mobile device’s
continuous connectivity of mobile networks —
dynamic location informa-
own infrastructure to
renders the mobile device a profoundly powerful
platform on which to build a new computing tion capability. For example, provide the full scope
paradigm at the applications layer. search results in the Google of services needed,
Maps mobile application are
Mobile vs. Portable ordered by first displaying
from UI to database.
The dynamic nature of mobile devices makes them matches that are closest to
more than just conveniently portable consumer the user’s current geographic location. However,
electronics that mimic our desktops and laptops. at this stage in the development of such solutions,
To see why, let’s contrast the paradigm that each effort is largely isolated. Each applica-
dominates our computer use today with the new tion must be built with its own infrastructure to
one enabled by the mobile infrastructure. provide the full scope of services needed, from UI
to database.
Many Internet sites, such as Yahoo, Google and
Yelp, were originally built to address fixed-loca- One piece is still missing from the technologi-
tion users. These mainstream sites encourage cal landscape needed to support a generation of
desktop and laptop users to enter personal profile these applications: the applications layer infra-
information that the site can use to provide useful structure across the enterprise that will enable
information and services. For example, based on the presentation of useful applications to the
your ZIP code, the site can present ads for local nomad.
businesses, offer a starting point for driving
directions, provide pertinent local weather infor- Nomadicity at the Applications Layer:
mation and so forth. A Closer Look
It’s clear that mobile devices support true
The limitation of this paradigm is that user infor- nomadicity at the network layer and below, but
mation is static, which doesn’t accommodate full benefits require nomadicity at the applica-
nomads. Yelp does fine when you search for a tions layer. Applications-layer support enables
local restaurant near your home — when you’re applications to behave in a way that is trans-
actually at home. But what if you’re out of town parent, integrated, convenient and adaptive. Of
or even across town and you’re trying to find a course, a nomadic application — like any other
nearby restaurant? Instead of search results software application — utilizes the platform’s
showing restaurants in proximity of your actual support beneath it; nomadic applications utilize
location, you still see listings within proximity the nomadicity support at the network layer and
of your “home” location. Of course you could below.
change your profile ZIP code, refresh the portal
page and begin a new search, or you could enter Still, what really is a nomadic application? A
the current location address for each action. This nomadic application is one that behaves in a way
need for manual intervention is not convenient, that is transparent, integrated, convenient and
transparent or adaptive; that is, it does not reflect adaptive from the perspective of the user. Let’s
the qualities of nomadicity and, therefore, does look at what this means in the context of mobile
not serve the nomad. devices.

Mobile devices, on the other hand, have a built-in • Transparent: Computer science defines trans-
GPS receiver that provides dynamic and accurate parency as “functioning without the user be-
physical location information that is available ing aware of its presence.”4 Transparency


moves the user further away from the underly- namically available user location information
ing technology and from knowledge of design, enables search results to be ranked according
structure or implementation details. For exam- to proximity to the user’s current location. So
ple, users do not need to be aware of how or a search for a location will first display those
from where data is retrieved, such as whether matches that are closest to the user’s current
a browser was used to retrieve data or from location. This adaptive behavior is certainly
which Web site the data came. convenient for the user, who doesn’t have to
explicitly provide his or her physical location
Consider a scenario involving the mainstream
as is necessary if using a laptop or desktop.
browser-based version of the Google Maps
application. The user provides search text, and The nomadicity qualities of transparency, inte-
the application displays a map with a red pin gration, convenience and adaptive behavior
denoting the geographic are all closely related. And generally, the more
The realization location of each match. integrated and transparent applications are, the
As a result of the user
of nomadicity in selecting a pin, the applica- more convenient and adaptive they become.

enterprise architecture tion launches the device’s The goal of achieving these qualities is particular-
will be the lynchpin of Web browser to display a ly important in the mobile arena, because the vast
Web page with informa- majority of users are not technical professionals.
enterprise solutions tion about that location. Moreover, the small screens and challenging user
that are capable of The experience is not interfaces make it more difficult for the average
driving user adoption transparent because the consumer to feel comfortable with relatively non-
user clearly recognizes the intuitive swipes and taps. The simpler and more
and creating business browser, its address bar, intuitive the user experience, the greater the
opportunity. the URL displayed and the adoption rate for nomadic devices and the more
familiar browser display potential for business.
window — the same view the user would see if
he or she launched the Web browser directly. Nomadicity Throughout the Enterprise
Most of today’s applications are similarly not So far, we’ve focused on the user interface in elu-
transparent in this manner. cidating nomadicity on mobile devices. Although
• Integrated: An integrated version might em- the user interface represents the application to
bed the browser function in the application. the typical user, in reality, it is just a façade or pre-
Now the user sees the same content, albeit sentation component of the application.
in a view that has the same “skin” as the con-
The majority of today’s networked, distributed
taining application instead of the stand-alone
applications reside throughout many tiers of
browser application’s view, which results in a
the enterprise. Therefore, a complete treatment
consistent look-and-feel across all application
of nomadicity must include a description of it in
views.
every tier of an application’s enterprise architec-
The integration that results in embedding the ture. Specifically, nomadic applications require
browser and “hiding” its use also achieves support for nomadicity across all tiers of the
transparency. The user does not need to be enterprise architecture.
aware of how the application presents the
content. The realization of nomadicity in enterprise archi-
tecture will be the lynchpin of enterprise solutions
• Convenient: Integration also engenders con- that are capable of driving user adoption and
venience. The application takes the user to
creating business opportunity. The reason for
the screen that performs the appropriate
this, stated throughout this paper, is the growing
task, precluding the need for manually launch-
acceptance of mobile devices resulting from
ing multiple independent applications. In the
the novelty and convenience of mobility. As
Google Maps application, the user does not
more nomadic applications become available,
have to launch a browser manually to look up
consumers will change the way and extent to
the restaurant information on the Yelp Web
which they use their mobile devices.
site.

• Adaptive: The most obvious example of adap- Today, however, there is only a fledgling presence
tive behavior is the device’s GPS receiver. Con- of support for nomadicity across the entire
tinuing with the Google Maps example, the dy- enterprise. As a result, users still see their mobile


devices as conveniently portable, cute, miniatur- Google applications won’t necessarily use Yelp’s
ized versions of their laptops and desktops and, database of information, and Yelp users won’t
consequently, use them as such. They fire up one benefit from having detailed Yelp account profiles
application for one task, another for another task when using the Google Maps application. As a
and so on. The reason for this interaction model is result, there will still be competing silos of appli-
that applications are largely silos that exist inde- cations.
pendently from one another. Although applica-
tions such as Google Maps or Yelp exhibit some Competition is an obstacle to sharing services
aspects of nomadicity in their UIs, there is no and information, so it’s not likely that Google,
integration of services and data. Yelp, MapQuest or other
companies will be motivated
Each user account is
Nomadicity across the enterprise addresses the to provide services or data
transparency, integration, convenience and adap- that benefit their competi- maintained separately,
tive behavior of services and data. Each applica- tors’ applications. But even and users duplicate
tion focuses on providing a specific function to the if competition were not a
profile information
user, and the back-end enterprise infrastructure factor, it’s a difficult task to
behind each UI is a “silo.” That is, the Google Maps provide services and data many times over. They
application uses Google’s map database and enter- that serve the needs of all. also have to remember
prise services, and Yelp uses its own database of Thus we have the silos of
where they have such
information. Even the Google Now application uses service we see today.
Google’s databases of information. accounts, along with
Nevertheless, there is still the account names,
Applications that exhibit many nomadic charac- tremendous opportunity for
teristics today, such as Google Now and Google companies to produce very passwords and other
Anywhere, are still the exception. And despite the specific company- or brand- details.
noteworthy achievements of these applications, centric nomadic applica-
even applications within the same company are tions in which all elements are controlled by the
not integrated. For example, Google Mail, Calendar creator. A given company could build dedicated
and Voice are not integrated, and access to them applications using its own services and data that
is certainly neither transparent nor convenient can more easily be made to support nomadicity.
for the user — even on the desktop. In fact, even And these services and data could deliver a level
Google Voice itself is not well integrated as a of detail not possible when one data provider
unified communications platform. tries to service many partners. The key factor
for success, however, is that the provider must
Another factor amplifying the problem of silos have access to all the data necessary to make the
of services and data is user account and profile application useful to the end user.
management. Yelp users each have a dedicated
account, with personal preferences for food, An Example: The Theme Park
location and so forth. Yelp’s mobile applica- To help elucidate these ideas, let’s examine a
tion uses its own back-end services. A Yelp user sample application. How could an amusement
might have a Google Maps account with another park enhance the experience of its patrons if it
personal profile that stores preferences such as were to create a mobile application that took
starting locations for driving directions, favorite advantage of nomadicity? One idea is an applica-
places, etc. tion that people can use while visiting the park.
In fact, major theme parks have already begun
Each user account is maintained separately, and
building this type of application.
users duplicate profile information many times
over. They also have to remember where they Let’s say you are planning to take your family to
have such accounts, along with the account one of the company’s theme parks. Prior to your
names, passwords and other details. Even if there visit, you download the park’s mobile application.
is a mobile application that provides an alternative Before you arrive, the application aggregates
to using a browser, the user must use each such all of your profile information from the theme
application independently. The overall user expe- park company’s Web portal, where you have an
rience of accessing services and data is neither account. As the one company that is the sole
integrated nor convenient nor transparent. creator of its enterprise systems, the theme park


A Day in the Park
An example of nomadic computing in action could be found at a theme park. Park visitors
would download a location-specific app onto their mobile devices that aggregates profile
information from the company’s Web portal. Sensing where the visitors are in their
journey throughout the park, the app would make recommendations relevant to individual
needs and interests.

“Child safety
alert. Jake has
wandered 75
feet away.”

“The gift shop ahead
sells antacids.” “The best Jambalaya
you’ve ever tasted is
Cajun Cabin 20 feet ahead.”

“If you liked the spinning
swing ride, you might also
enjoy the spinning “Stop in and see
octopus ride.” Emma’s favorite,
“Wait time: Princess Flora.”
7 minutes.”

“Tell us how you
liked this ride.”

Figure 1

has a unified customer database through which The more information the application has about
all of its enterprise systems across all operating the customer, the more it can cater to the
units have a single view of each consumer, patron customer’s interests. If the visitor entered infor-
or online account owner. The system knows each mation about food preferences, an alert can be
and every customer, as well as their interests, sent when a suitable restaurant, snack kiosk
food preferences, ride preferences, age and as or store that sells that food is nearby; or it can
much information as the guide visitors to restaurants corresponding to
The more information customer cares to provide. their stated interests upon entering the park and
provide turn-by-turn directions to walk there.
the application has This application is also
about the customer, the location-aware, presence- Suppose another visitor finished eating the spicy
aware and nomadic. As a jambalaya at one of the park’s themed restau-
more it can cater to the family walks down one of rants. Thirty minutes later, an alert could send
customer’s interests. the main promenades in him to a park store that sells antacid or send an
the park, the application alert when he passes such a store. It could even
points out details of the décor, design and history send the alert to his dad but not his sibling based
of the attractions. It might reveal that a particular on the visitor’s age stored in his profile (assuming
area was a movie set or that the area is themed for kids don’t get heartburn!).
particular characters of the company’s cartoons,
movies or other brands. A pop-up lets the visitor As he approaches a ride, an alert could foretell
indicate whether she is interested in more of these the wait time to board. It could reveal whether the
informational tidbits. If she previously indicated ride supports advance reservations and display
interest in certain characters, for example, the reservation time slots, allowing him to reserve
app could inform her exactly where the related and send a reservation number. Upon exiting the
themed areas were and how to walk there. ride, a different kind of alert could say, “If you


liked that ride you might like this one, too.” Child theless, the overarching point is that this kind of
safety alerts could warn mom and dad anytime application, achievable today, can easily generate
junior strolls more than 75 feet away from them. very accurate consumer profile and demographic
information, which would enable more effective,
Perhaps at home, junior plays one of the games targeted marketing, as well as upselling, cross-
online developed by the theme park on its Web selling and sharing, ultimately generating more
portal. Upon entering the park, an alert can revenue.5
suggest a shop where his mom and dad might
want to take him to buy the game’s branded para- For example, a theme
This kind of application
phernalia. These examples depict how enterprise park could integrate just- can easily generate
data integration across all of a theme park in-time inventory control very accurate consumer
company’s services can support cross-selling that uses dynamically
across all of its business units. collected data to re-order
profile and demographic
inventory, ranging from information, which would
The park operator can use the data accumulat- food to T-shirts, with finer enable more effective,
ed by the application to provide e-CRM services granularity to streamline
to customers. For example, the app could ask a its operations and
targeted marketing,
customer if he or she liked the music played on operate more efficiently. upselling, cross-selling
a particular ride or in a certain restaurant or The data is also useful in and sharing, ultimately
throughout one of the park’s themed areas and, planning new rides, res-
based on the answer, suggest music that fits taurants, products, ideas
generating more
his or her preferences. As well as serving the for new movie themes, revenue.
patron, this capability enables cross-selling of the etc., based on analysis of
company’s brands and business units. data that indicates how many people congregate
around which attractions and at what time of day.
For companies with parks in multiple countries,
The potential for demographic data is effectively
the app could be internationalized and localized
limitless. Data could be made anonymous and
to cater to patrons around the globe, automati-
sold to partners or even competitors.
cally using location-aware offerings and localized
user experience elements. The Value for Users
The Business Proposition Ultimately, the best way to generate revenue is to
provide features and services that users perceive
The theme park example highlights the value for
as valuable. If users accept and use the applica-
both the user and the enterprise. The popularity
tion, the business will naturally benefit.
of mobile devices, coupled with the transparency,
convenience, dynamic nature and adaptability Consumers have grown weary of the incessant
of the application, make it easy, convenient and assault from company solicitations from mail,
enjoyable for users. And the ability to gather e-mail and applications with built-in advertising
dynamic, detailed, relevant information about messages. They will probably not easily accept
users is valuable to the enterprise. applications that simply appear to be aimed
at getting them to buy more. Instead, applica-
For a business to sell to a consumer, it must know
tions should suggest products or services that
something about that consumer. And to retain the
consumers might find valuable. This determina-
customer, it must demonstrate value. The enter-
tion should ideally be based on information about
prise needs the ability to collect information about
their past buying preferences. That is, purchase
the consumer and offer something perceived as
suggestions should now represent products and
valuable. The business then generates revenue
services that are legitimately of potential interest
through the following functions:
to consumers instead of a sales tactic that
• E-CRM. attempts to entice them to just buy more.
• Data mining. Challenges and Potential for a Variety
• Internal and external cross-selling and of Applications and Enterprises
upselling.
Any corporation could conceivably create a
• Just-in-time inventory control. customized application along the lines of the
A comprehensive treatment of each of these theme park example to serve its business and
areas is beyond the scope of this paper. Never- customers in a way that reflects the enterprise’s


own particular strategy, business rules, products the need to adapt to the changing technological
and use cases. In fact, many large companies — landscape and is actively working on expanding its
particularly those flush with capital — have already map databases and creating more detailed maps,
begun creating such applications to leverage the street views, etc. The company is also forming
dynamic, location-aware mobile platforms that business agreements that enable it to create
address their particular business domains and detailed views and maps for private entities such
markets. as museums.

As mentioned previously, the most viable But even Google is subject to constraints and
approach today would be for each enterprise obstacles. Other companies such as Yelp want
to build its own custom application, use its own to advertise their brand and are creating their
databases and brand its own self-contained appli- own mobile applications. In general, corporations
cation with a unique look that extends its store- are reluctant to share data with each other for
front brands, trademarks, products, etc. A single competitive reasons. And even if they do, the
company can probably move more adaptively generalized data that must serve all consumers
than multiple organizations attempting to share of this data can never serve a specific group of
data and process siloes with each other, as the consumers as well as a focused application. In
capabilities for inter-enterprise data exchange, short, although there is limitless potential, there
meta-information tagging, Web services and are also tangible obstacles
other technologies are still in the primordial
stages of development. Regardless of which strategic approach is taken
— the enterprise-specific model or the services
Nevertheless, not every company is going to model delivered to multiple clients — each mobile
have the resources to build a map database that application should strive to manifest the qualities
rivals Google’s. In fact, Google itself recognizes of nomadicity, and should target the nomad

Quick Take
Privacy and Security
Despite the vast potential for dynamic location- cation should control the complete system and
and presence-aware mobile technology, there is utilize its database of user information. Users
also the potential for abuse. Today’s smartphones could be given the ability to specify the level of
and tablets are vulnerable to malicious external personal information they want to be used or
applications or software agents, which can com- shared, and the company need never share data
municate with open mobile devices even without with any external system or organization. In short,
the user’s knowledge. Already, we’re seeing the company would control the whole enterprise,
examples of applications deployed by stores in from infrastructure to software to data.
shopping malls that send unsolicited messages to In fact, it is more feasible to build this kind of an
unprotected mobile devices as the device owners application when one company controls all aspects
walk within proximity of the store. of the system. The problem of sharing meaningful
Today’s mobile devices have features such as auto- information between companies disappears. For
matic sharing of location information and auto- instance, the company gathers the data it knows
discovery and connection to wireless networks. its application needs to create a meaningful user
While aiding the transparent and convenient use experience. Gone is the problem of seeking that
of services, these features also expose the device information from a third-party company or think-
— and the user — to vulnerability and disclosure of ing about how that data provider would be able
private information. to represent the data and how the systems would
interact to exchange the information.
It is imperative that any company building the
type of hypothetical application presented in this The result: Users would benefit from a rich appli-
paper take precautions to ensure the privacy and cation experience while enjoying the security and
security of the consumer. Technically, it is not dif- privacy of their personal information.
ficult to do so. The company building the appli-


in order to realize the potential benefits. The Why will the application attract users? What
prognosis for success is very good because of benefits will users derive from its use? How will
the unique combination of features of an applica- the nomadic qualities of the application cater
tions-layer nomadic computing infrastructure on to the nomadic user? How will it support the
mobile devices, including: company’s basic business? What is the real
benefit to the company?
• Popularity and enthusiastic adoption of mobile
devices. What is the revenue model The collection and
• Continuous mobile device connectivity. for the application? Does processing of global
the company charge for
• Continuous and dynamic physical location the application or give it
personal location data
information.
away for free? If the latter, is the cornerstone of a
• Applications-layer support of nomadicity. can the company make whole new category of
money selling anonymous
Nearly any enterprise could benefit from this
data collected about users,
BI that promises huge
demographic data, trend revenue streams for
kind of application, including grocery stores,
book stores, department stores, airlines, real
data, statistics, business companies.
estate companies and medical device monitoring
analytics and so forth? Or
in hospitals or at home.6 What we see today is
can it use data collected from the application to
just the beginning of an evolution of technology
support another aspect of its business?
and applications that take advantage of nomadic
principles. An important success factor for nomadic applica-
tions is the strategy behind the application that
Building Nomadic Applications marries the company’s business needs with those
Companies are building these types of applica- of the consumer.
tions today, but they represent just a fraction of
what is possible and just a few examples of the Creating a Suitable Enterprise Architecture
kinds of enterprises such applications could serve. In addition to an effective business model, the
enterprise architecture needs to ensure that the
Learning how to build such systems now is critical. realization of the system supports the business
We’re already seeing pieces of the technology vision. The enterprise architecture assesses an
and technological infrastructure being created application from multiple perspectives, such as
that will soon comprise the applications-layer business, technology and infrastructure, and
middleware needed to build nomadic systems. It it describes the manifestation of the applica-
won’t be long before the pieces are integrated tion that will support the business needs of the
into useful products at the enterprise level. Orga- enterprise.
nizations that acquire experience early on will be
ahead of the competitive field. Defining the right enterprise architecture is an
important step in ensuring the success of the
Developers must consider the following factors nomadic application. Nomadic computing brings
when conceiving, architecting, designing and new challenges to the technical arena of the
creating a nomadic application: enterprise architecture, such as the need for many
• Congruence with company business model: of the technologies in vogue today, namely “big
What are the business needs, purpose and val- data” analytics, enterprise search, data mining
ue of the application? and potentially unstructured data. These types of
applications will challenge the enterprise archi-
• Enterprise architecture: What is the mani-
tecture even more than the traditional enterprise
festation of a system that supports the busi-
applications that use these technologies.
ness needs? What are the critical obstacles to
success? Once again, we see that it is the near real-time
— or dynamic — nature of nomadicity that adds
Conceiving a Viable Business Model
complexity to the mix. Presumably, the nomadic
As with any application, it is vitally important for application will be collecting user location data on
an enterprise-scale nomadic application to show an ongoing basis. The collection and processing
business value and encompass a clear vision of its of global personal location data is the corner-
purpose. The application must be attractive and stone of a whole new category of BI processing
novel to users, yet it must also show some benefit that promises to generate information that could
to the company.


potentially lead to huge revenue streams for • Presentation
of meaningful information that
companies. (For more on this subject, read our can be managed by users.
paper, “BI Goes Mobile: The Future of Information
is Here.”)
• Adaptability to changing usage profiles.
• Effective leverage of consumer trends, media
And, generally, these and information.
From innovative mobile applications will need to
user interfaces to perform dynamic analytical
• Adaptability to changing platform technology,
such as mobile platforms.
traditional data center processing, which becomes
much more complex than • Integration of technology components or
technologies, nomadic simply updating the user’s products that serve BI, data mining, analytics,
applications will inspire location on a map as he or social media.

the coalescence of she moves around. Once • Performance.
again considering the theme
many technologies and park example, imagine the • Scalability.
the creation of new amount of processing, per- Although a discussion of each of these topics is
capabilities. formance and scalability in itself an involved undertaking, the overarch-
required to play a song that ing concern is the specific requirements of the
the user likes as he or she walks past a store that nomadic application.
sells that music or past a ride whose theme song
is one that the user previously indicated he or she The Future of Convergence
liked in an online profile. Contrast this scenario Like any other domain or application, enterprise-
with the analytical processing that a credit card scale nomadic computing applications will have
company might perform when offering coupons their own challenges — some strategic and some
for products related to previous purchases. technical — and each specific application will have
That kind of processing is done in “batch” mode its own set of critical-path issues to resolve. But
against relational databases, perhaps days after there is a genuine characteristic that distinguish-
the purchase. In fact, it can be done any time, es this class of enterprise-scale nomadic applica-
periodically throughout the month, quarter or tions: the nomadic user.
year. There is no need for dynamic processing.
Nomads, along with their nomadic devices, might
The technology architecture is an important part very well be the combination that catalyzes the
of the full scope of the enterprise architecture convergence of a very broad range of technolo-
that ensures an application supports the vision gies into a single application. From innovative
for its use. The kinds of nomadic applications mobile user interfaces to traditional data center
described in this white paper require well-thought- technologies, nomadic applications will inspire
out technology and technical architectures. the coalescence of many technologies and the
creation of new capabilities. While challeng-
Bringing such applications to fruition requires
ing, it is not only feasible but imminent. As
a nontrivial amount of resources. There is
engineers and architects discover how to make
tremendous cost associated with the research,
these offerings viable, we’ll undoubtedly see an
planning, inception and realization of technology
explosion of applications that bridge the gap
infrastructures capable of supporting enterprise-
between BI, analytical processing, data mining,
scale nomadic applications that might serve tens
reporting, social media and mobility.
of thousands of users or even millions of users.
Besides addressing the technical challenges, an The creation and availability of advanced mobile
enterprise architecture can help in performing a technology has transformed us into a world of
cost-benefit analysis with respect to the business nomads. Coming full cycle, society’s embrace
and financial considerations. of that technology will continue to drive further
advances, which, in turn, will result in continuing
Technology choices naturally follow the needs
enthusiastic adoption. Already, in five markets,
of the business and the application itself. Some
there are more mobile users with data services
important factors to consider are:
than home networking.7 Tremendous potential
• Safeguarding of sensitive personal information awaits those organizations that can create a sim-
and general security. pler, more powerful user experience for nomads.


New technology continues to arrive at an over- mobile solutions to leverage the power of the
whelming pace. The availability of new technology mobile infrastructure, concomitantly achieving
will be the catalyst that joins business ideas and the goal of insulating users from encumber-
technical solutions to precipitate the creation ing complexity. Realizing an infrastructure that
of new products. But as technology becomes exhibits these characteristics in the mobile
more complex, so does the need to insulate the domain is particularly attractive because of the
user from that complexity while still enabling a continuing pervasiveness, popularity and allure of
more powerful, meaningful and convenient user mobile devices.
experience. That is the goal of nomadic computing
in the mobile device arena. Many intelligent individuals are working toward
building on advanced technologies to create
Bringing full nomadicity to the applications layer stunning examples of nomadic mobile applica-
and leveraging the power and potential of mobile tions. There is plenty of opportunity in this area,
computing is a sound strategy. Transparency, con- and now is the time to start your journey.
venience, integration and adaptability will enable

Footnotes
1
Leonard Kleinrock, “Nomadic Computing (Keynote Address),” Telecommunications Systems, Vol. 7, 1997,
pp. 5-15.
2
Leonard Kleinrock, “Nomadic Computing,” Information Network and Data Communication, IFIP/ICCC
International Conference on Information Network and Data Communication, Trondheim, Norway, June
1996, pp. 223-233.
3
Leonard Kleinrock, “Breaking Loose,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 44, No. 9, September 2001.
4
New Oxford American Dictionary, 2010.
5
Elisabeth Horwitt, “Busting Down the Silos,” ComputerWorld, June 7, 2012.
6
“Multi-Use, Multi-Revenue Networks for the Hospitality Industry,” Nomadix, Inc., June 2005.
7
John SanGiovanni, “The Phone is Poised to Usurp the PC’s Throne,” Gigaom.com, April 29, 2012.

References
• Ken Arnold, Ann Wollrath, Bryan O’Sullivan, Robert Scheifler and Jim Waldo, The Jini Specification,
Addison-Wesley, 1999.

• Cisco Unified Presence Server Documentation.
• “The Digital Object Identifier System,” The International DOI Foundation, April 2012.
• Sam X. Sun, S. Reilly, L. Lannom, Handle System Namespace and Service Definition. Internet Engi-
neering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC), RFC 3651, November 2003.

• Sam X. Sun, S. Reilly, L. Lannom and J. Petrone, “Handle System Protocol (ver 2.1) Specification,”
Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comments, RFC 3652, November 2003.

• Sam X. Sun, L. Lannom and B. Boesch, “Handle System Overview,” Internet Engineering Task Force
Request for Comments, RFC 3651, November 2003.

• Susan Veness, The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World, Adams Media, 2009.


About the Author
Vartan Piroumian is an Enterprise Architect with Cognizant’s Information, Media and Entertainment
Consulting Practice. He is the author of two books on Java technology, Java GUI Development, J2ME
Wireless Platform Programming and several journal articles. Prior to joining Cognizant, Vartan was a
software systems architect with Sun Microsystems’ Java professional services group, where he worked
with a variety of technologies and, in particular, with some of the world’s largest mobile carriers in the
U.S., Europe and the Far East. He can be reached at Vartan.Piroumian@cognizant.com.

About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-
sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry
and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over 50
delivery centers worldwide and approximately 150,400 employees as of September 30, 2012, Cognizant is a member of
the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked among the top performing
and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow us on Twitter: Cognizant.

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