The Annual Alpha Anywhere Developer Conference is coming up soon - check out this link for more details - and as the date gets closer, it is clear that it will be sold out. (The training day prior to the conference is already sold out.)
The reasons for the interest in attending the Alpha Anywhere Developer Conference are clear. (see below for an updated conference schedule)
Mobile is no longer a "nice to have" for business but has become a "gotta have."
Also we all know, building enterprise-class mobile apps is not a trivial undertaking because of issues such as; BYOD, offline support with large amounts of data and robust synchronization, mobile devices having less computing power than desktops and laptops, mobile devices having much less screen real estate, additional security challenges and a new user experience expected by users along with a heightened demand for a great visual design.
The challenge is compounded by the shortage of skilled low-level coders to build these apps.
As a result of this Gartner has identified a new category of development/deployment platforms designed to a) speed up development of mobile apps and b) designed to broaden the base of people who can build these apps. They call this new category RMAD (Rapid Mobile Application Development.) as opposed to the traditional MEAP or MADP platforms, which require low level coding by very skilled developers. Furthermore their extensive research is that RMAD will, over time represent over 1/2 of the market for mobile application development. (Forrester has come to similar conclusions and has called this new category LOW CODE.)
Because of Alpha Anywhere's completeness on the front and back end and because its unique low code/coding optional approach, (see diagram below) Alpha Anywhere is increasingly acknowledged by analyst like Gartner, Ovum and Blue Hills as the most productive RMAD for building enterprise class mobile (and web applications.)
So coming back to the the Alpha Developer Conference, it is filling fast because developers and business people want to learn and leave the conference better equipped to deal with and take advantage of the changes and the enormous opportunities that mobile is bringing to the business landscape. In addition they see the potential that Alpha Anywhere offers in the area of building applications involving tablet optimized forms for rich data capture.
Below is an updated Conference Schedule that we wanted to Share with you. (It is still subject to some refinement)
WEDNESDAY
9-930 Join us for Coffee and a quick orientation with Richard Rabins and Amy Groden Morrison
930-1015 A View from the Top: where are enterprises struggling with Mobile With Michael
Facemire, Gartner
1015-1030 Break
1030-1200 A Glimpse of the Future: The Roadmap of Alpha Anywhere development by President
and Co-Founder, Selwyn Rabins. See technologies that have just been released and are in the
pipeline for the next version of Alpha Anywhere.
12-1 - Lunch
1:00-2:30 - Tablet Optimized Forms - a revolutionary approach to the digital clipboard
that you can use today. Watch as Alpha CTO (and VisiCalc Inventor) Dan Bricklin, shows
you the optimal way to bring paper-based forms to tablets. Topics include custom
keyboards, swipe controls, digital ink, and much more.
2:45-3:30 - Tablet Optimized Forms in ACTION a panel discussion - Tablet Optimized
Form technology has been in beta for months. See how fellow developers have put these technologies
to use in their applications in this panel discussion.
3:30-4:30 Card Tricks - Alpha Anywhere's Panel Card technology is a unique and flexible way
to create virtually any kind of mobile interface you can imagine. Watch as Lead Solutions
Engineer, Dion McCormick, uses cards to build application interfaces that look and feel
like some of the most popular (native) applications today. (Examples include the BBC News
mobile application and the Apple Stock Tracker).
5:30-8:00 cocktail reception -
THURSDAY
9:00-9:45 KEYNOTE The User Experience - User experience is critical to the success of any
application, and it encompasses many factors. Learn about Elizabeth Rosenzweig's
cutting edge work at the Bently University User Experience Center, and
gain practical insight and advice on how you can create a successful user experience.
9:45-10:30 Casting the .NET (the What, Why, and How of .NET in Alpha Anywhere) - Alpha
Anywhere allows you to incorporate .NET assemblies into your Alpha Anywhere applications,
allowing you to take advantage of a plethora prewritten code, and permitting you
to incorporate server side code written in any .NET supported language (including C, C#, PERL,
Python, Java, and many others). In this talk, VP of Research and Development, Kurt Rayner,
will show you the benefits and capabilities of .NET in Alpha Anywhere. This is a primer to
the Pulling in the .NET talk at 2:45.
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00 Deep Dive with Selwyn Rabins. Alpha Anywhere's founder and President takes
you on a detailed tour of Alpha Anywhere features and techniques.
12:00-1:00 lunch
1:00-1:45 Bob Moore - PhoneGap Build Start the Finish - in this session Alpha
Software's VP of Mobility, shows you the exact steps for taking your Alpha Anywhere
applications and deploying them to iOS, Android and Windows devices using PhoneGap build.
While Alpha Anywhere greatly simplifies this process, with Bob's guidance the deployment
process is even smoother.
1:45-2:45 Are you Being Served? - Alpha Anywhere has 3 types of servers, the
Development Server, the Application Server, and the Application Server for IIS. In this
talk Lenny Forziati (VP, Internet Products and Technical Services) and Terry Smith (Senior
Software Engineer) talk about the multiple ways servers can be deployed, the advantages of
each and how to debug HTTP issues should they occur.
2:45-3:30 Pulling in the .NET (.NET in action with SOAP) - Kurt Rayner continues
his discussion of Alpha Anywhere and .NET integration with a practical demonstration
of using .NET to connect to services using SOAP.
3:30-4:30 Mobile Best Practices Panel with Dan and Dion and Bob
4:30 - 6:00 BONUS SESSION - PhoneGap: Debugging and Advanced Topics with Bob Moore
FRIDAY
9:00-10:15 Developer Questions
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-10:45 Twin Peaks Research Training - Max Hammond
10:45-11:30 Apperian - Alpha Anywhere features an integration with Apperian,
the Mobile App Management company. Through this integration, you can bring
extra security to your mobile applications - such as the ability to remove
sensitive data remotely if a mobile device is lost or stolen. It also can
provide you with a private store where employees in an enterprise can download
applications. In this session, Apperian will discuss the benefits for
you (and your clients) and answer questions.
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