Nov/Dec 2004

Application builder for mobile devices, Integral Mobile Data

Our impression

Getting real-time information on the move means accessing corporate databases. Legacy systems might use various database languages, which can make deployment of mobile applications slower and more expensive.

mForms from Integral Mobile Data is designed to overcome these problems by working with ADO, Open Database Compliance or XML databases.

 

mForms has two core elements - the Designer Wizard, for creating forms and databases; and the Communications Server, which handles both communications with the devices and data traffic between back-office systems.

IMD claims that anyone with basic drag-and-drop skills and a basic understanding of how databases are constructed can build applications using Designer Wizard. Having it tried it, we have to agree - it really is child's play.

It runs on the PC you are using to develop your mobile application, which has to be linked to your corporate network. You start by listing the devices you want to create the form for, and allocating a name to the form. The next step is to connect to the back-office databases, choosing the data source from the list of database drivers.

At this point the forms Designer gets linked into the database. You can see the list of tables in the database and the fields in each table. You simply tick the fields you want from a particular database and repeat the exercise for any other databases the form will need to access.

If you split your PC screen, you can have the database on the left and the form on the right. To move the fields on to the form you simply drag them across.

It sounds too simple, but that's really all there is to it. All the attributes from the database field are copied over, so there is no risk of incompatible data coming back from the application.

Alternatively, you can use the Data Wizard to extract data from the database and put it on a list. The fields in the database, in effect, become the forms template.

Once you think you have all the data, you can preview it in the format in which it will appear on a PDA, tablet or smartphone. This is a useful check; varying screen sizes do make a difference to how data appears and whether the process flow is logical.

You can even design forms on the handheld device itself, and use mForms to build a customer database in something like Microsoft Access. Each time the device synchronises, it will populate the database with the customer details.

mForms is certainly fast. We were able to design and deploy a basic form in a couple of hours. If you forget to add a field on the form, it is easy to add later. If a field is in an inconvenient place, it is easy to move it. In fact, it is so easy to make changes, our advice is don't agonise too much over perfecting the design before passing it out to field staff to try - they'll soon tell you what they like and don't like about it.

What looks like a perfect screen on a PC might have an irritating element that makes the form harder for mobile users to navigate. It could be simple features like the size, colour and location of a particular box. The bonus is that field staff feel involved in the process. That flexibility makes it adaptable, too, if business needs or processes change.

Of course, designing the form is one thing, deploying it remotely another, especially to several types of device. That's where the Communications Server comes in. We haven't tried this, but in brief it codes the form and data automatically for different devices.

Integrated connectors ensure the device will connect to the server by whatever means are available.

Security

Something we liked about mForms is that the password protection for the application can double up as the password for the device. It gives you central control of passwords, so there is no risk of critical data being locked on the device because the user has forgotten the password.

All data is automatically encrypted; you can't output data off the mForm application on the device. Data in transit between the device and the server is also encrypted.

From the server, you can remove a device from the network, reassign it and freeze the screen, making it unusable.

We didn't try this, but mForms can lock down some of the features that automatically come with the Microsoft operating system such as games. It becomes a true working tool which you can only use to access mForms.

You can set up multiple users on the same device. The forms and data displayed are dependent on user name and password. Multiple communications profiles log on to the network whenever it is docked in a cradle, in WLAN range or on a network. If the device is out of range it automatically resynchronises when it can.

There is inbuilt support for GPS, cameras, printers, credit card-swipe and access control.

Pricing

The package includes the Designer software, server and a licence for each handheld. The price for the designer and the server is £6,500. The company says a retail price of £280 per user is typical for a 100-device system, dropping to £120 per user for 1,000 mobile devices.

Our verdict

Setting up a database seldom seems as easy as you'd think it should be, and adding a mobile element may sound like a recipe for trouble. Well, mForms can't help you with your own good housekeeping, but if you've got that right, we can't think of a smoother or easier way to go mobile.

mForms

Core components

Communications Server

Designer Wizard

Databases recognised Agnostic - works with ADO, ODBC and XML files

Client devices Any device running Microsoft Pocket PC or Windows Mobile

Communications Wired, WLAN, GPRS. Data push/pull managed by Server module automatically