Customer demand driving mobile enterprise

Customer demand is definitely driving the trend towards the mobile office, says Anna Bager from analyst firm IDC. Many companies today have plans to implement mobile office solutions and, as many countries go through an economic upswing, she believes investment is about to start.

Friday, 16 September, 2005

Anna Bager says the trend towards mobility is strongest in the IT sector, business services, banking, public services and health care.

Bager has extensive experience working with the enterprise sector and has spent five years with IDC focusing on telecommunications research and consulting. Before that, she worked for Ovum in London. Bager says that after a couple of tough years, the market for mobile office solutions is starting to take off.

"It is definitely a hot area that we receive a lot of questions about; mobility and enterprises," she says. "Mobility is a natural step for many companies, as it will make them more competitive. And in many cases it is a necessary step."

Bager says the trend towards mobility is strongest among enterprises that offer business services, such as the banking, public service and health care sectors.

"Most companies in Western Europe and Scandinavia have plans to implement mobile office solutions," she says. "This trend is also growing in the US. The interest in mobility in Asia has been low so far, but we are seeing evidence that enterprises in Asia are starting to realize the benefits."

Introduce users gradually to the system

Bager says incentives involving both technical and pricing aspects could be offered to make mobile solutions more attractive to enterprises. As well, phones and laptops have to be easy to use and batteries have to last longer. The networks have to be reliable and stable and new price models have to be developed to attract enterprises. Users have to be introduced gradually to a system to be able to appreciate the benefits. "Often you only get one chance," Bager says. "And if the system doesn't appeal to the users, they might not try it again. The move towards mobile office solutions should also be included in companies' long-term plans.

"A very important factor is customer demand. Already, most customers expect to easily reach everyone in their organization."

When it comes to services, Bager cites e-mail and personal instant messaging as popular services. But she also believes that technologies such as, IP Multimedia Subsystems and services such as file-sharing services and location-based services will be increasingly popular. Access to sales systems and company files is also attractive.

Hosting becomes more common

"It is, of course, important for enterprises to review their total communications solution and find out where old parts can be exchanged and what opportunities new, advanced mobile solutions might give employees at different locations. Enterprises will also gain from negotiating price with their operator. It is also important to thoroughly analyze what benefits different employees might gain. This might sound obvious, yet many enterprises neglect to do so."

Hosting is yet another trend and Bager emphasizes that it will become much more common in the PBX market.

"If we look two or three years ahead, we will see a period dominated by hybrid solutions, such as a traditional PBX that includes mobility," Bager says. "Ericsson's MD110 with mobile extension is a good example. IP functionality will also be introduced gradually so users can get used to it. This also means that enterprises don't have to replace all their infrastructure at once.

"Mobility is, of course, easier to implement in smaller organizations. And many small enterprises have already provided their employees with mobile phones. Medium-sized companies will be the ones most interested in hosted solutions. Larger companies might implement different solutions for different groups within the company. It is matter of deciding who needs what and which staff will get the opportunity first, then the rest of the organization can learn from their experience."

The IDC 15th annual European IT Forum will take place in Paris, France, on September 26 and 27. Ericsson is one of the main sponsors.