Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

New Analyst Report by Mobile Market Development

Mobile Market Development and Wireless Profits has just published a report, that I authored, called Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions which is now available here.

The following is the synopsis.

Enterprise customers potentially offer MNOs (mobile network operators) high profitability, low churn rates and strong demand for mobile data services - but they bring challenging application requirements as well. Additionally, neither of the purchasing models of large enterprises or SMEs make it a given that MNOs will achieve the value-added primary relationship with regard to mobile data solutions that would assure future margins in this sector of the market.

Large enterprises will be likely to partner with vendors and systems integrators with specialist skills and knowledge of the business area, potentially making MNO selection a tactical issue based on coverage and price and allowing for multiple, competing MNOs to be selected.
Smaller enterprises (SMEs) are more likely to buy off-the-shelf solutions with some customisation performed by value-added-resellers.

As a consequence, a large and profitable market with strong growth may be difficult to address efficiently by MNOs unless they configure offerings and develop partnerships that will work well with the enterprise customers' own business and purchasing models. Mobile Market Development has researched and analysed this market to identify specific trends, strategies and models that can be used by MNOs to help them profitably address this market and its opportunities. The report concludes with a range of recommendations, some addressing the specifics of individual segments of the opportunity and others that deal with the overall approach that MNOs need to take to maximise their return from the very large spend that enterprises will make over the next few years in order to upgrade efficiency and effectiveness in their own mobile workforce.

Table of Contents

1	Overview	1
2	Introduction	2
2.1	Background to the Report	2
2.2	Report Content	3
2.3	Currency and Conversions	3
3	The Mobile Enterprise Market	5
3.1	Historical Perspective of Market Development	5
3.2	Current Market Status, Size and Growth	7
3.3	The Future - Convergence of Mobile Technologies	9
3.3.1	Introduction	9
3.3.2	GPS Integration	10
3.3.3	Location Based Services	10
3.3.4	Mobile Workflow Extensions from the Enterprise	10
3.3.5	Turn by Turn Navigation and Route Optimisation	11
3.3.6	Geotagging - Static and Dynamic	11
3.3.7	Mobile Business Analytics	12
3.3.8	Network-Centric Businesses	12
3.3.9	Enterprise 2.0 and Mobile Data Solutions	12
3.3.10	Mobile Training Videos and Live Video Streaming	12
3.3.11	Smartphones - Personal and Professional	13
3.3.12	Mobile Device Management	13
4	Sales & Distribution Models	14
4.1	Introduction	14
4.2	Orange's Partner Progamme and The Application Shop	14
4.3	AT&T MEAP	16
4.4	BlackBerry App World	18
4.5	Alltel Wireless Business Solutions	19
4.6	AT&T and Psion Teklogix	19
4.7	Sales and Distribution Channels Analysis	20
5	Mobile Enterprise Application Segments	22
5.1	Introduction	22
5.2	Size-Based Segments	22
5.2.1	Large Enterprise Markets	22
5.2.2	SME Markets	23
5.3	Mobile Field Service Automation	23
5.3.1	Industries Served	25
5.3.2	Value Propositions	25
5.3.3	Recommendations	27
5.4	Mobile Sales Force Automation	28
5.4.1	Industries Served	28
5.4.2	Value Propositions	29
5.4.3	Recommendations	29
5.5	Mobile Asset Management	30
5.5.1	Mobile Proof-of-Delivery	30
5.5.2	GPS Fleet Tracking and Fleet Management	30
5.5.3	Industries Served	31
5.5.4	Value Propositions	31
5.5.5	Recommendations	31
5.6	Facility and Asset Management	31
5.6.1	Industries Served	32
5.6.2	Value Propositions	32
5.6.3	Recommendation	32
5.7	Mobile Resource Management (MRM)	32
5.7.1	Industries Served	33
5.7.2	Value Propositions	33
5.7.3	Recommendation	33
5.8	Mobile Data Collection	33
5.8.1	Common Use Areas for Mobile Data Collection	34
5.8.1.1	Mobile Inspection Services	34
5.8.1.2	Mobile Job Estimates	35
5.8.1.3	Mobile Insurance Applications	35
5.8.2	Recommendation	35
5.9	Machine to Machine (M2M)	36
5.9.1	NV Energy and Telemetric M2M Case Study	36
5.9.2	Recommendations	37
5.10	Mobile Public Safety Applications	37
5.10.1	Recommendations	37
5.11	Mobile Health Monitoring and Telemedicine	37
5.11.1	Mobile Health Monitoring and Hemophilia	38
5.11.2	Recommendation	39
6	Mobile Device Considerations	40
6.1	Introduction	40
6.2	How Enterprises Select Mobile Devices	40
6.2.1	Environmental Factors	40
6.2.2	Using the Device in the Real World	40
6.2.3	Device Technology & Functionality Issues	41
6.2.4	Budget Issues	42
6.2.5	Deals Available	42
6.2.6	Reliability and Support	42
6.3	How Enterprises Support Mobile Devices	43
6.3.1	Supporting and Managing the Mobile User	43
6.3.2	Technical Fixes	45
6.3.3	Security, Control & Central Support	45
6.3.4	Operational, Commercial & Management Issues	46
6.4	Recommendation	47
7	Recommendations	48
7.1	Introduction	48
7.2	Market Opportunity	48
7.3	Segment Recommendations	48
7.4	Overall Recommendations	50

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Author Kevin Benedict
Independent Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Marketing Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: @krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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Postage Stamps, Units of Time and the Mobile Internet

Yesterday my wife sent me to the post office to purchase stamps. I grumbled that the line would be long due to people shipping gifts. Haven't they heard of Amazon.com's direct shipping? After completing my assignment my wife asked me how long I waited in line. My answer, "About 5 online articles." That is the power of Internet enabled smartphones. They can change the very units of measure we use for time!

According to investment firm Morgan Stanley, the mobile web is experiencing faster growth than its desktop predecessor ever did. They go on to forecasts that more consumers will access the Internet by mobile devices than PCs within five years.

For any person blessed or cursed with time on their hands, waiting in lines or on mass transportation, time will increasingly be measured by what they accomplished on the mobile web.

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Author Kevin Benedict
Independent Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Marketing Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: @krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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Google and Mobile Phones - Analysis

"It is understandable that Google wants to be a serious player in mobile communications," writes Martin Peers in an article on December 15th, 2009 in the Wall Street Journal. However, he follows by saying, "It is unclear why it (Google) needs to sell mobile phones to dominate mobile search."

Lets discuss: Google Goggle allows you to take a picture of a landmark or building and then automatically combine the photo with the integrated GPS coordinates to conduct an automatic query that displays information about it. This convergence of technology, GPS radio, digital camera and wireless radio to connect to the Internet are all hardware components in the phone.

The GPS and digital camera components are mobile data collectors. The information collected is used to perform automated searches. These searches can bring up the details of the objects in the photos as well as other choices for food, hotels, shopping etc, near that location. The LBS (location based services) where local companies pay money to have their presence and products marketed is the profit center.

Google would also recognize value in knowing who owns the phone. As the manufacturer and vendor, they would have a good reason to know who owns the phone. They could then connect this information with what they know about you from your existing Google Accounts. They could combine what they already know about your browsing habits and interests in the virtual world with your travels, habits and interests in the physical.

I can fully understand Google wanting to control and own the mobile data collection hardware. It will drive mobile marketing that they want going through their search engine and LBS business now and in the future.

Is it a bit creepy? Yes.

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Author Kevin Benedict
Independent Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Marketing Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
twitter: @krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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Geospatially Aware Mobile Inspection Applications for Military and Commercial Use

I have spent many years working with mobile application development tools. Each of the vendors I have known speak about the simplicity and speed of using their tools to develop and implement mobile applications. It is, for the most part, marketing speak.

Developing a mobile application is as simple as the database schema of the business application in which it will be integrated. If it is a simple data collection form that can be integrated with a simple spreadsheet or database, then it is fairly easy and will usually take days or a few weeks to develop. However, if the user wants a mobile version of their ERP, then I hope they have a few months and a significant budget. The point is, most mobile applications that synchronize with back-office enterprise database applications are not easy and simple and this is a problem for companies that need to inspect a wide variety of things.

I have witnessed over and over the challenges an inspection company has with mobile applications that run on handheld computers. The applications take longer to develop and cost more than the inspection task or project justifies. As a result, the inspection company continues to do it by hand. In another scenario, one inspection project may justify the time and expense of developing a mobile inspection application, but the next project does not. As a result, the inspection services company continues to use paper inspection forms on the majority of their projects. That is the economic reality, at least until now.

Recently I read an article called "Kenaz and Touch Inspect: Must-Have Products for the Warfighter" written by Don Jewell. Jewel writes articles for GPS World focused on Defense and the military. He has spent more than thirty years in the Unites States Air Force, where he was involved with GPS systems from their inception, either as a test system evaluator or user. He served as a Commander at Schriever AFB, the home of GPS, and retired as the deputy chief scientist at Air Force Space Command.

In Jewell's article he speaks of a mobile solution called Touch Inspect by Mobile Epiphany. It is essentially a computerized, geospatially aware, data-collection application with an amazing user interface. "The user interface matters to our warfighters!" Jewells writes, "because one of the biggest complaints from our warfighters concerning military user equipment (MUE) such as the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR) and the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) is the user interface."

Mobile applications for the military need to be geospatially aware. I wrote an article called Network-Centric Mobile Field Force Automation that explores this requirement in detail from both a military and commercial perspective.

Touch Inspect is unique. It focuses on geospatially-aware inspections and provides a powerful pre-built platform in which custom mobile inspection applications can be developed in just hours. It is unique in that no coding or programming is required and the solution is designed by a company that has a deep history in the electronic games industry. This is quickly apparent when you see the intense graphics and sophisticated features that I have never seen before in a Windows Mobile application.

Jewell writes, "Touch Inspect allows you to build databases on the fly for inspecting things, and I do mean just about anything. But more than that, it is a flexible, user configurable database system that can be adapted for so many uses that are critical to our warfighters and first responders."

Jewell sees applications for this software in almost every aspect of a warfighter’s day, starting with running the various checklists they need to run for weapons, radios, vehicles, and GPS devices. With GPS devices and GIS mapping information right on the device (in other words, you don’t need an Internet connection to see your geospatial maps like you would using something like Google Maps), this new software really shines because it incorporates the warfighter’s current GPS position and time — or the asset’s GPS position — into every database entry, with photos if necessary. And this system uses the topographical maps or aerial images you want it to use, not just simple street maps. Plus, when the computer is once again in Internet, LAN, or WLAN range, it automatically updates the server at HQ and downloads new information automatically without any user interaction.

I recently wrote an article about the use of rugged handheld computers and mobile inspection applications following the devastating fires that killed 173 people last year in Australia. In this case the police and emergency responders had an immediate need for a mobile inspection application that was geospatically aware. This immediate need for a custom mobile inspection application could not be solved by taking weeks and months to develop a mobile application. They needed it now! Touch Inspect has all the appearances of solving requirements for near-real-time dynamic and custom mobile inspection applications.

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Author Kevin Benedict
Independent Mobility Consultant, Wireless Industry Analyst and Marketing Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
www.twitter.com/krbenedict
http://kevinbenedict.ulitzer.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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Analysis - SAP's Emerging Mobility Strategy - Fasten Your Seat Belts!

SAP has announced this week that one of their strategic focuses for the next 5 years is mobile computing and mobile software applications according to SAP chief technology officer Vishal Sikka said. The pervasiveness of mobile computing and social networking also have SAP developing applications and extensions, which will allow wireless users to collaborate and utilize SAP and non-SAP related data for on the fly computing.

I write wireless industry analyst reports and provide consulting on mobile strategies so have been keeping a careful eye on this market. It is moving at warp speed now! After many years of mostly small software companies in the mobile enterprise software applications market, the big kahunas are jumping in with both feet and this will change the industry. Read a few of these article titles:

A quick glance at the above articles shows you that the biggest technology companies in the world are now taking mobility seriously and the M&A activities are heating up. Mobile Epiphany is not a large company, but its parent is well funded and sets a higher standard for other start-ups than was faced in the past.

SAP is planning to compete against Salesforce.com in 2010. Salesforce.com has a popular mobile application and SAP will be required to launch one as well to successfully compete. This is an example of what entrepreneurs should be looking for now. Opportunities to help the ERP vendors meet their 5 year plans with add-on mobile solutions that extend their business processes to the mobile workforce.

My analysis - mobile start-ups cannot simply have a good idea now days. They must do a thorough investigation into the plans of the wireless carriers, mobile device manufacturers, mobile operating system developers and ERP vendors to understand the solution gaps and market place ambitions before launching another mobile application. The enterprise mobile applications market has just been promoted to the big league.

The growth strategies for mobile start-ups these days in the enterprise mobile applications space should involve working closely with the wireless carriers, mobile device manufacturers, ERP vendors and mobile operating system developers. Mobile start-ups are going to need to get in the game quickly or be left behind.

"Sixty to seventy percent of the population have mobile devices" said Don Bulmer SAP VP industry relations, adding that mobile gear is the preferred communications and computing platform. "There are lots of opportunities for SAP," he said.

SAP users want to be able to use social networking sites such as Facebook to collaborate, said SAP executive board member Jim Hagemann Snabe. "Companies want to take advantage of these technologies without disrupting business," he said. Much of SAP's innovation focus will revolve around flexible extensions to core applications and processes, which can be developed and deployed quickly, via an on-demand or on-premise model, said Hegemann Snabe.

Mobile start-ups - Did you catch the model proposed by SAP? They want innovations (think mobile) that are flexible extensions to their core applications and processes that are available to customers in an on-demand model (SaaS).

Social networking is responsible for much of the huge growth in mobile data usage these days. Adding social networking to the enterprise market promises many opportunities for mobile applications companies as SAP has described. If the enterprise adopts mobile solutions with a social networking emphasis, you will quickly see the wireless carriers plunge into this market as well. Keep your eyes open!

I look forward to your thoughts and comments.