One key message to enterprises that mobilize their work force, according to analyst Iain Gillott at iGR:
“If you think networks are fast today, there’s more coming – what are you going to do with it?”
The challenge to make use of higher network speeds and bandwidth involves both I.T. managers and carriers and their partners, according to Gillott.
“We surveyed I.T. managers and they tell us they’ll cap costs at $90 per month per subscriber, no matter what carriers deliver in terms of speed and bandwidth,” Gillott said. “So, from a carrier perspective, there’s a ceiling on the potential payback for building these networks. That means carriers will have to sell applications and services to recoup their investment.”
In another survey of mobile enterprise workers, Gillott discovered that – if network speeds double – those workers’ No. 1 priority is the same applications they use today, namely voice, e-mail and document transfers. Their No. 2 priority? Very large file transfers, typically attached to e-mails. Imagination-provoking applications such as video conferencing were way down the list, the analyst said.
“If you’re on a desk-bound PC, you assume that your e-mail and its file attachment is reaching someone with a broadband connection,” Gillott said. “It’s becoming the same in the mobile environment. People expect you to have a mobile broadband connection. That’s rapidly becoming a standard assumption.”
Data use on the rise
iGR found that today’s heavy data user transmits about 40 megabytes of data each month and forecasts that, by 2010, that’ll increase 250% to 100 megabytes per month. Today’s moderate data users transfer perhaps 20 megabytes per month, which is expected to more than double by 2010.
Consumers, in contrast, today use about 5 to 6 megabytes per month, which is projected to increase to more than 20 megabytes per month by 2010 – a profile akin to today’s moderate enterprise user.
This picture reflects the growth of smartphones and includes applications beyond e-mail, such as video, picture-sharing and other social-networking activities, according to Gillott.
“The point is: mobile data use is going to go through the roof,” Gillott predicted. “And that will reflect the amount of time mobile workers and consumers spend using mobile data solutions.”
“At one time, only the most productive mobile workers could justify the cost, but now, the cost of using data means further penetration across the enterprise,” Gillott said. “We think voice and e-mail will remain the ‘killer apps.’ But there will be a ton of what I call the 5% solutions.”
That means small slices – perhaps 5% of the whole – of mobile workers will use horizontal or vertical applications such as vehicle and pedestrian navigation or access to corporate payroll data.
“The big thing that enterprise often misses is that they have to have policies in place to govern usage, such as hours and limits on access to certain corporate databases, which device functions should be enabled or disabled,” Gillott said.
Who’s in charge?
One perennial issue: does the enterprise develop a mobility program on its own, or outsource it?
Vendors such as Integrated Mobile, which serves 200 of the Fortune 1000, typically pitch that a company outsource their mobility programs. There are simply too many angles to consider, according to IM’s VP of marketing, Jeff Fugitt.
“We’ve outlined a ‘top 10 best practices,'” Fugitt said.
Samples: the enterprise needs a comprehensive mobile strategy, build a business case to manage total cost of ownership, ensure that mobile technology is delivering according to that business case and track utilization.
The advent of mobile broadband technology has seized the imagination of department heads, who are becoming more likely to drive the uptake of 3G services than are I.T. departments, Fugitt said.
“We’re seeing a shift there,” said Fugitt. “This year, new applications that require mobile broadband – such as sales force automation – are being driven by department heads, not I.T.”
