I attended an excellent program this Saturday (14th May, 2011) at Welingkar’s  Institute of Management, Mumbai. This was organized by the upcoming PM (Professional Management) Forum, which is trying to bridge the gap for the IT pros, in understanding multiple technologies and frameworks.

Luckily, the speakers, who spoke, were “actual “ professionals, who are working in the Mobile Application Domain. Therefore, the participants were able to ask their doubts in the topics and get clarified. The quick (and sometimes witty)

answers held the audience glued in their seats. In comparison, there are programs and seminars held by Consultants, who have barely understand the practical issues.  I was sorry that, a lot of my fellow professionals might have missed this exhilarating experience.

The chief speaker was Prafulla Mathur, the young CEO of Queppelin (http://queppelin.com), who explained the various aspects and challenges of developing and distributing mobile applications. His, along with Ravi Kadam (Head-Design School, Mastek(www.mastek.com))’s  primary concern were: the absence of a standard platform and tools for developing mobile applications. In the current scenario, there are wide range of Operating systems from Apple, Goggle, Samsung, Symbion and Microsoft, to name a few. In the Android OS, there are so much variations, that the applications may not work consistently on each one of them. This also creates a nightmare of test scenarios, including the hardware variaants, in which the app needs to work. Prafulla, also discussed the specific challenges of the ROI and therefore the importance of selecting an appropriate business models, for the successful usage of the application(s). A case in point he made was, that of several “Mobile App Developers”, with a strong backing of Venture Capitalists, are accumulating a user bases. Even after a few years,  these companies does not make money and hope to utilize the acquired user base at a later date for monitory gains.

Durga Prasad (Senior Executive, Accenture(www.accenture.com)) introduced the audience to the exciting world of mobile applications and how they are changing our lives. His comparison of contrasting opportunities in the developing and the developed world was enough to kindle the imagination of the audience about the possibilities. He made the audience believe that the “mobile commerce” will be the next explosion, once the government bodies approve the mobile based transactions for the Financial Institutions.

Ravi Kadam’s points were extremely specific and practical. He had emphasized the requirement of “mid” layer tools, to make the life of a developer peaceful. He had also highlighted the challenges of the security in mobile transactions and the panel came out with the ways of addressing the same.

Professor Pradeep Pendse (http://www.welingkar.org) was kind enough to contribute to the conference and unveiled exciting plans for the future for the community and the students of the college. I am (already) eager to attend the Various Business Design conference planned by him!

Thankfully, we had Hitesh Rawtani and Yagna Boorada, for steering the seminar (and the subsequent panel discussions) in an effective and efficient manner.

If the PM forum conducts such focused and successful programs in the future, sky is the limit for the forum and the IT professionals associated with it.