I find myself increasingly in commercial situations where we are bidding for business selling solutions based around Dynamics Nav.   This is all great, but what makes one Microsoft partner any different to another when put in from of a company selecting an ERP solution.   The answer we've found is value add.

Having Windows Mobile LOB applications in the tool box is a great commercial differentiator.  Being able to say that we can take ERP screens out of the box and deliver them to mobile devices can mean the difference between winning the gig or not.

Of course there are lots of factors when changing a key line of business system like an ERP;  however showing something real on a mobile device is normally a good way to ensure that your proposal sticks in the panel making the shortlists mind.

We also find that Windows Mobile and SQL Compact providing store-and-forward offline access is key.     The last thing in this price competitive world (certainly in the UK) a company can stand is to install a vast wireless infrastructure to support permanently connected mobility.   SQL compact lets you build solutions where you can work anywhere pretty much over any network.  When you have wireless access of some kind (wifi, GSM, 3G, satellite) the devices sync back to our central ERP system (in our case Dynamics Nav).   

We also challenge other vendors to look how they would support staffs that routinely climb in the back of delivery trucks or the hold of ship.   Normally most other offerings rely on two way permanent connections continually between ERP and handheld device.    This is not the case with SQL Compact.

So life with Windows Mobile for LOB is good.   Having a core set of key technologies that do the heavy lifting like SQL Compact and .Net Compact Framework means I can focus on building the desired functionality rather than worry about the plumbing underneath.   Furthermore having a SQL based ERP system such as Dynamics doing the really complex stuff, means that we can achieve amazing results in a timeframes and costs appropriate to 50-150 user systems.

I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this, because you'll go out and do the same    But it certainly is working for us...

http://www.angliabs.com