With NASA reporting in early March on solar storms that had the potential to disrupt power grids, GPS systems, satellites and airline flights, provider of mobile software solutions, TAAP, has warned that mobile software applications that operate purely via the internet as opposed to directly on the device may not function in the event of extreme weather systems.
Solar flares have triggered storms of charged particles that hit Earth. The solar storms are known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). The charged gas collides with Earth’s magnetic field and disrupts it, which can interfere with technology such as electrical grids, satellites, and communications systems.
Because many mobile applications are not ‘true’ applications that operate offline, as they need an internet connection in order to download, view or transfer data, extreme weather occurrences could mean that entire field service departments, marketers, and mobile workers, are unable to use their software applications.
Steve Higgon, TAAP product architect, commented: 'There are numerous reasons for poor connectivity, so it’s important for organisations that rely on mobile systems to run their daily operations to have a backup plan in place if their internet services are intermittent, when they are travelling or working out of the office.'
