Nov 18, 2013 - Endpoint caching is the best way to resolve the challenges caused by ... mobile users, cloud computing an
USING SHAREPOINT ON THE GO WHITE PAPER
Using SharePoint on the Go INTRODUCTION Considering how dependent we are on the Internet these days, it’s hard to believe how often we aren’t able to access the web or have a connection that is so slow it is essentially unusable. With the prevalence of 4G & LTE, from a consumer standpoint, it seems like you can always access the Internet without a problem. However, if you are in a crowded stadium or a busy conference, the network is typically so congested that even if you miraculously are able to use the Internet, it is so slow that you can’t really do anything. This is a problem that field personnel and traveling executives are all too familiar with. Yes, they can use WiFi on a plane, but not all planes have this option and the connection isn’t that great. Yes, most hotels have free WiFi or at least the option to purchase it, however as Om Malik of GigaOm notes: “it is virtually impossible to use the Wi-Fi for even getting the work done” (Malik, “Lost in (hotel) Wi-Fi: My love & hate relationship with hotel Wi-Fi” http://gigaom.com/2013/06/17/lost-in-hotel-wi-fi-my-love-hate-relationship-with-hotel-wi-fi/). Field service personnel are in particularly bad shape as 30% of field service tickets are performed in areas with poor or non-existent Internet connections (Dutta and Pinder, “Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise”), and without Internet to access their SharePoint sites they can’t get to the service materials they need to fix equipment. So in an environment that is so heavily dependent on the Internet, how can we combat these challenges to make sure that our field travelers are able to get their jobs done? Today, with the rising prevalence of mobile and remote workers, “the network is arguably more important than the physical office. Networks are the glue that holds businesses together, particularly when operations expand beyond the boundaries of any one physical space” (Enterpriseworkingplanet.com; “The WOC: WAN Optimization in a Box”; Aaron Weiss; Mar 30, 2012). It is therefore essential to make sure that field travelers are able to access the network to do their jobs. The answer is surprisingly simple: caching. Caching has existed for ages and has been used to speed up access to web applications in remote offices and locations situated far away from the origin server. The same concept can be used to solve issues of offline access and slow page loads on a poor Internet connection, with one new innovative twist: it must be done on the endpoint.
Offline Access One of the most important benefits of endpoint caching is offline access. Since the data is stored directly on a user’s hard drive, it can be displayed and edited in the browser even when there is no Internet connection available. This allows field service engineers to access support manuals on SharePoint while offline, provides bank auditors with the ability to access their SharePoint site and upload auditing materials when they are stuck in a basement without MiFi access, and traveling executives to view reports and documents on SharePoint no matter where they are. Since endpoint caching can be done for any HTTP or HTTPS delivered content, the benefits expand beyond SharePoint to Salesforce, Information Week, Amazon.com – any website or Mobolize
application, even home grown ones. Instead of having to cobble together several different offline solutions that only work for a single web application, endpoint caching can be used to handle all of an organization’s offline requirements. Additionally, endpoint caching allows for both offline reading and editing of SharePoint content in the browser. Many field personnel need to make changes to existing documents or upload case notes while they are working, so it is important to have more than just read-only access to these applications. Being able to interact with the SharePoint site in the browser while offline allows field travelers to use the SharePoint site in exactly the same manner that they are already accustomed to, eliminating the need for retraining. Faster Page Loads SharePoint is known for being slow. Combine an already sluggish web application with a low quality Internet connection, and you have a recipe for an unproductive day.
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USING SHAREPOINT ON THE GO WHITE PAPER However, with endpoint caching, the page loads are significantly faster. With data resting directly on the endpoint, there is no need for content to be served from the edge cache or origin server if it’s already been delivered. Since 88% of a web page is composed of static content, such as CSS and JavaScript, there is a great deal of content that does not need to be re-downloaded. Edge caches are commonly deployed to address slow page loads, but in the case of SharePoint, they are ineffective. Since the edge cache typically can’t decrypt SSL traffic (SSL is used by SharePoint and many other business web applications), they are unable to assist with SharePoint page load times. Devices can also be deployed on the server side to reduce page load times, but those using a cloud-hosted SharePoint site can’t utilize that either. Those with on-premises SharePoint sites will see a decrease in page load times if they deploy a server side solution, but endpoint caching will enhance this benefit and make the SharePoint site even faster. When the Internet connection is so slow that it is unusable, employees waste a lot of time and will search for workarounds to complete their jobs (breaking procedural
workflows). For a field service representative, this can mean a return trip to a client site or calling a colleague to see if they are available to look up materials on the SharePoint site for them. For a bank auditor, this can mean returning to the client on another day if they can’t access their required SharePoint materials. And for a traveling executive, this can mean that there is no access to important management reports – on a long trip to a bandwidth challenged country, this can be a serious problem. Regardless of how exactly the problem manifests itself, there are several common repercussions to an organization. Employees are much less productive, clients are not satisfied with the time it takes to fix issues, profitability is hurt and people are unable to effectively work when they are out of the office. In a mobile world, managing content on the go is not an option – it is a necessity. Mobolize CacheFront Endpoint caching is the best way to resolve the challenges caused by unreliable Internet access. When field personnel and traveling executives cannot access their SharePoint sites, productivity is diminished and service tickets take much longer to close. Mobolize CacheFront provides an innovate caching method that stores data directly on the endpoint, allowing for offline read/write access to web applications in the browser, as well as faster page and file downloads. To learn more about CacheFront visit www.mobolize.com.
About Mobolize Mobolize CacheFront™ is Endpoint Web Optimization software that provides network optimization where traditional approaches fail: mobile users, cloud computing and encrypted web traffic. Our Global 2000 customers use CacheFront to remove 80% of web traffic from their networks, accelerate websites by 10x and allow access to web content when offline. To learn more about Mobolize CacheFront, please visit www.mobolize.com/solution Corporate Headquarters 2800 28th Street Suite 160 Santa Monica, CA 90405 United States
Tel: +1-310-693-8340 Fax: +1-310-943-2155 www.mobolize.com
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©Copyright 2013 Mobolize, Inc. All rights reserved. Mobolize, the Mobolize logo and CacheFront are registered trademarks of Mobophiles, Inc. All other trademarks listed in this document are the property of their respective owners. Last revised 2013November-18.
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