10 mobile trends: Should you care?
We rate these talked-about techs
On the verge of this year's big 3GSM show in Barcelona, silicon.com's Jo Best looks at 10 oft-debated areas in mobile and wireless and asks a simple question: how much should you care over the next 12 months?
1. FMC
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) to many is synonymous with dual-mode handsets. However, it's a broad church and for the purposes of this section, FMC means the converging functionality between desk phones and mobiles rather than converged handsets providing both fixed and mobile capability. Dual mode is covered in the mobile VoIP section.
FMC in this context is about ensuring corporate users can, for example, expect the same functionality from their PBX as their mobile and vice versa - same address book, call redirection and so on. In short, getting access to the same data and experience whichever network you use.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Nick McQuire, Yankee Group programme manager, told silicon.com: "Across the board, there are varying stages. There are certain verticals that are very much looking at FMC... There are certain organisations - utilities, financial services - where we're seeing more and more interest. Over the last 18 months there has been significant interest in fixed-mobile convergence."
The analyst recommends CIOs should undertake an audit of their mobility to really understand how the company is operating using mobility before embarking on any change.
McQuire says companies may want "their service provider to walk them through it" but advises CIOs to avoid being shoehorned into a particular technology at the behest of their supplier.
RATING: 3/5 - getting there.
2. Salesforce automation
Salesforce and field force automation have long been on CIOs' agendas and the possibility of taking such applications mobile has clear benefits. Yet deployments have often been sidelined due to issues around networks.
Few CIOs will doubt the utility of mobile email but mobile SFA presents a different set of challenges particularly around its bandwidth-hungry nature.
As 3G speeds increase in future, for example bolstered by rollouts of HSDPA over the next 18 months, the true potential of such mobile applications is likely to grow. Higher speeds will now mean the possibility of permanently connected SFA, unlike the historical trend for applications on devices that were only connected to the network periodically.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
According to analyst house Forrester, around a quarter of enterprises with SFA software have gone mobile with it.
While ROI may be hard to determine, much as is it for mobile email, mobile SFA generates hard benefits as well as soft. Among the benefits driving the deployments are speed of business - agents can have access to client data immediately and make changes in real time - and improving accuracy. Liz Herbert, senior analyst at Forrester, said: "With mobile SFA you tend to get more information and you tend to get better information."
For those pondering a rollout, issues of security should be writ large in any plan, with just one or two operating systems and only corporate devices supported. Usability is also key.
Herbert added: "Sometimes firms try to cram too much onto small devices for it to be useful. Firms should try to figure out what the key activities are where reps will benefit from having mobile device access and focus on those, not on trying to enable every single SFA feature on the device."
RATING: 4/5 - taking enterprise apps mobile isn't easy but can have immediate impact.
3. Mobile VoIP
Mobile VoIP has been garnering more than its fair share of headlines with a flurry of announcements from BT about its Fusion service and from handset manufacturers on the latest dual-mode phones but actual real world deployments of such systems are few and far between.
Research shows one-fifth of companies are looking into FMC and, for most, it is money-saving rather than a productivity boon that interests them. For that reason - and that alone - the buzz over FMC is unlikely to subside soon.
According to Quocirca analyst Rob Bamford: "All those other things you can do at the moment [with mobile VoIP] are all well and good but I think the initial thinking that it's a cheap way to make calls is not necessarily true, of course. A VoIP infrastructure or a [mobile] infrastructure capable of handling voice over IP calls could require some significant investment. It's not all free of course, especially in a mobile context."
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Such costs can come in the form of making sure a wi-fi network is able to support the increased traffic, resulting from calls taking place over cellular networks, and ensuring in-building coverage (i.e. coverage inside buildings) is sufficient.
IP is undeniably a part of most larger organisations' telecoms plans so for some it could make sense to take the IP even further out of the network and even into users devices. However, telecoms upgrade cycles are traditionally longer than those of IT, which may hamstring CIOs in their quest for upgrades. For those in such a position, putting the squeeze on operators for cheaper bundles of minutes may be more cost-effective in the short term.
Nevertheless, the next couple of years are likely to see the advent of hosted solutions, as operators tap into SMEs that don't have the time or expertise to run a converged infrastructure. Should offerings be priced right, SMEs could boost the movement to adopt mobile VoIP.
Bamford concluded: "It's pretty early days with mobile VoIP but this is probably the year that companies that are doing something in this space will be doing something more significant."
RATING: 2.5/5 - you should be at least thinking about this now.
4. M-payments
If mobile payments are to take off, they will doubtless affect those in the retail sector first and foremost, with some retailers potentially needing to install new infrastructure and security practices to deal with the new payment method.
With few handsets available and fewer retailers involved, it's unlikely that NFC - as attached to a mobile - will become a pressing issue within the next couple of years for corporates. However, NFC used for contactless payments with debit or credit is likely to be writ larger in enterprise thinking - Barclays and Visa are currently trialling a scheme which may yet give the tech the kick-start it needs to become as popular in the UK as it is in places like the US and Japan.
With that in mind, retail and financial sector CIOs may need to start planning for the advent of the technology and how it will affect their infrastructure. However, analysts believe it is unlikely to be a question that bothers even retail CIOs within the next few years.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Chris Coffman, senior research analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, said: "Whether you're the CIO of someone who needs to buy all this stuff or even a company like Fujitsu who do point of sale systems, I wouldn't be too concerned about integrating it all - it's a little ways out. You'll know which direction momentum is coming from as it will be coming from one specific application."
He added a possible kick-start to NFC could come if a scheme was built around Transport for London's (TfL) Oyster card, in the same way successful deployment in Hong Kong has been based around the country's swipe-and-pay transport card, Octopus.
While TfL and its partners did consider such a scheme, it eventually came to nothing and NFC cheerleading was officially taken over by BarclayCard and Visa, who are experimenting with a contactless card with debit card and Oyster functionality built in.
Coffman said: "It's more likely you'll see the scale of specific applications get larger and eventually it may snowball. When people get attached to one form of payment, they start to want to use it for other things."
RATING: 2/5 - though more like 4/5 for those in retail and financial services.
5. 3.5G in the form of HSDPA
HSDPA is essentially a faster version of 3G, with a theoretical top speed of 1.8Mbps for downloads. It's just starting life in the UK but all of the operators are building out their networks.
For CIOs, the advent of HSDPA will mean a boost in speed that will be noticeable for laptop datacard and smart phone users, making browsing and downloading email faster for remote workers.
Thomas Husson, mobile analyst at JupiterResearch, told silicon.com: "HSDPA is at exactly the same stage 3G was two years ago. The network is ready but there are few handsets and they are not available at different price points and form factors." Husson added he expects HSDPA to follow the same growth curve as GPRS.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
JupiterResearch forecasts that 25 per cent of the installed base of phones in Western Europe will be HSDPA-enabled by 2011.
CIOs should be aware of integrated 3G cards sold within laptops - and whether the card itself will become obsolete before the laptop that houses it. This thinking becomes especially pertinent with the evolution of HSUPA, the speedy uplink version of 3G.
HSUPA will theoretically mean uplink speeds of more than 5Mbps in time, meaning true mobile working is possible - the network will be able to support uploading epic PowerPoints or sending video to colleagues.
Consequently, within the next two to three years CIOs will be able to promise a better uplink for staff out of the office and make remote working a closer experience to being deskbound.
RATING: 4/5 - always a need for more speed.
6. Location-based services
Location-based services (LBS) are yet another technology that has been bordering on the big time for some time but failed to take off in the way many had hoped. Many envisioned 'find my nearest McDonald's' type services - yet enterprises have been making much more of LBS.
One of the more obvious examples of LBS on mobiles is fleet tracking and employee management - using GPS on mobiles to monitor and manage delivery drivers en route, for example, or to check on the locations of a water company's staff to make sure the nearest employee is despatched to fix a leak.
However, pundits believe that few other enterprise applications will enjoy similar success in the near future and even consumer applications could struggle.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis, told silicon.com that real-time use of location data is very limited. "You can get a certain amount based on cell ID but the main issue is there are not many handsets that have accurate location-based capabilities like GPS. There are some coming to market but they are high-end and they are niche."
While GPS is likely to make its way onto a greater number of handsets, mobile LBS services are likely to be restricted to fleet management and public sector applications in the short to medium term.
One use of location-based services may yet enter CIOs' consciousness before too long: mobile-charging dependent on location. It's an idea some operators are already using for consumers, charging a lower per minute rate when the call takes place in the home.
The operators are hoping to steal more minutes from their fixed-line rivals and stave off the threat from FMC by encouraging consumers to use their mobiles at home. Should the practice find its way to businesses it could mean a lower mobile budget for single site or single campus companies.
RATING: 2/5 - though a higher rating for certain sectors.
7. Mobile TV
While currently broadcast mobile TV is in its infancy and industry watchers are wondering whether, when and if it'll ever enter mainstream use, some future gazers are already considering if there might be any applications for business.
One suggestion is businesses might be able to use it as a sales channel - corporates would be able to broadcast their own marketing material to the public. The other point of interest for CIOs is slightly more plebeian - if all corporate phone users in the future are carrying devices that are capable of showing must-watch shows, will there be an impact on worker productivity?
And, for that matter, on cost. What corporate mobile buyer will want to spend budget on unnecessary functionality? It's this thinking that has largely seen cameras absent from most enterprise-focused smart phones until recent times and will be likely to see the same logic applied to mobile television.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Jim Morrish, from mobile market watchers Analysys, told silicon.com: "I can see the functionality for handling an equivalent of video-podcasts being implemented as standard very soon. However, actual broadcast mobile TV may not be implemented as standard until some way down the line. Initially it is likely that 'business phones' will remain business focused… however, as - or if - the technology evolves to the point where mobile TV functionality is implemented on standard mobile telephony chipsets, then economies of scale will result in business devices using the new integrated chipsets, and so having a mobile TV functionality."
The technological impact of mobile TV is likely to be minimal therefore for most organisations - although questions of productivity and appropriate use of data bundles may yet cause CIOs to take a second look at their usage policies for corporate kit.
RATING: 1/5 - of outside interest to the suits.
8. Mobile device management
Mobile device management (MDM) is the emerging trend CIOs are likely to be most familiar with and most interested in. MDM enables sensitive information on mobiles and smart phones to be backed up or deleted in case of theft or loss of the device. As mobility starts to become as pervasive as desktop computing in many organisations, equal care must be given to the information stored on portable devices as to patching security holes or managing user-access rights.
According to analyst house Ovum, the market is set to be worth $435m in 2009. Ovum analyst Jeremy Green told silicon.com that at present there remains a schism between the view of operators and the view of enterprises as to what MDM entails - for the former, it's about enabling users to get easier access to more data applications. For the latter, it's about lock and wipe - keeping the user from doing things they shouldn't with their devices and minimising the risk when they do.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
He said: "It's not that the operator and the enterprise are pulling in opposite directions but they have been pulling in different directions."
Nevertheless, as corporate mobility becomes more widespread and devices harbour more and more critical applications - salesforce, field force, mobile CRM - MDM will fast become indispensable.
For CIOs who have a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, some MDM is included. For those with a more diverse mobile environment, an external supplier could be an option.
Green noted: "With mobile device management, the operator can seem like the logical place to start but doesn't have to be." He added CIOs must first assess how much of the management they are willing to outsource. "It can seem like a bottomless pit," he concluded.
RATING: 5/5 - should be on everyone's radar.
9. M2M
Wireless of course is not just about the device in the hand or even the user. Sometimes it's all about the machines. Machine-to-machine communications, also known as M2M or telematics (in some instances), is often associated with freight - using sensors to monitor the conditions of cargo in transit and then alter conditions to suit.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
However, proponents of wireless M2M are looking at new areas where wires can be cut. One area is a back-up connection for alarms over cellular networks so in the event burglars cut wires, the alarms will still work. Another example is vending machines, where they wirelessly report back to stock-ordering systems when levels drop too low.
Other applications beginning to come to prominence are automated meter-reading and building automation, where M2M communications are used to govern the conditions of a given premises - heating, lighting and surveillance, for example.
According to Juniper Research, wireless M2M revenues will rise from $11.6bn in 2006 to $25.3bn by 2009.
RATING: 2/5 - with certain sectors leading the way.
10. Antivirus
Antivirus is a concern that's making its way from the desktop to the mobile device. But charges of over-hyping have been levelled and they have not been far wide of the mark to date - most mobile viruses require users to explicitly accept or download files to infect their phones. However, analyst house Gartner predicts viruses will move from chimera to genuine worry for CIOs as smart phone penetration begins to reach levels that will interest malware writers and hackers.
While antivirus on phones may yet be destined to remain a small area for some time - Juniper Research reckons just eight per cent of mobile phones will have antivirus installed by 2011 - as with many mobile services, the business market is likely to be the early adopter.
To date, mobile viruses have been largely toothless and required user action to execute the virus but analyst house Gartner predicts 2007 will see that situation change.
Ten mobile trends
1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus
Despite 'boy who cried wolf' fears over mobile viruses, CIOs should still direct their attention towards mobile viruses and their prevention. Gartner VP Nick Jones told silicon.com: "I wouldn't be surprised if we had a serious virus by the end of the year. CIOs have to ramp [antivirus] up their priority list."
For CIOs seriously considering antivirus, all mobile devices used within the company must be controlled by the company - foreign bodies such as iPods and personal phones shouldn't be connected to enterprise systems.
Jones told silicon.com: "Once you go down the road of anything like antivirus you probably need to integrate it with a wider system management strategy because you’ll need to push updates to devices, manage device configurations and so on. So antivirus is just one part of an integrated device management strategy. Ideally you’ll try to get some leverage by using the same vendors for mobile PC and mobile phone management, and increasingly this will be an option."
RATING: 3/5 - another one you should definitely be looking at.Jo Best will be at the 3GSM show in Barcelona from 11 to 15 February covering these and other topics.