DvDand Solutions, LLC

Recently I came across a blog post by Phillipe Winthrop discussing whether carriers can make inroads in the Enterprise Mobility market using consumer-centric devices like iPhone and Android-based devices. This got me thinking about what are some of the things that are needed for enterprises to adopt these consumer-centric devices.

This is first in a series of posts discussing the mobility needs of an enterprise. In this post, we will discuss some of the requirements as they relate to the devices. In future posts, we will talk about the network requirements and enterprise readiness.

Let’s talk about devices. Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in the consumer market and have been for a while in the enterprise market thanks to RIM’s Blackberry devices and also Windows Mobile based devices. However, Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platforms have opened up new avenues in both the consumer and enterprise market. Both these companies entered the mobile market with consumer centric devices. Hence their consumer offerings are strong, especially in the case of Apple. Android is also catching up thanks to the many partners Google has signed up in the Open Handset Alliance, who are offering several devices on that platform.

In the enterprise market both these device platforms have been slow in gaining traction. Here is what I believe needs to happen in order for these platforms to crack the enterprise market:

- Dual Profiles – The enterprise end users would like to use a single device for both personal and business purpose. They are loathe to carrying multiple devices if they don’t have to. Devices that can support dual profiles to segragate the personal and business use would find a welcoming market. Android seems to have taken a step in that direction by allowing different home screens based on the profile selected, whether it is work related, social, fun, etc. Howerver, this is very superficial in that it only customizes the apps available on the home screen. What is needed is true segregation whereby the data is also protected and also some specific features are enabled based on the profile.

- Data Security – Enterprises are leary about allowing users access to its data while they are away from office or not on a secure network. Devices need to support not only  data encryption, but also ability to connect securely to the enterprise network. Part of this connectivity is network and enterprise dependent and I will talk about this in future posts. However, from the device perspective, data encryption is absolute must.

- Remote Device Management – This goes hand-in-hand with Data Security. Enterprises want the ability to manage devices remotely so that they can push updates to the devices to ensure data security and also be able to remotely wipe the device in case it is lost or stolen. A lot of companies are working on this for both the Apple and Android platforms, however, they are still in early stages and have not gained enough traction yet.

- Private Application Market – Enterprises would like to control what applications users can install on devices owned by the enterprises. Currently, Apple controls the iPhone App Store and only it can decide which applications can go into the store. Google too has its own Android Market, however, so far it has been relaxed in its control over the applications and also lets developers host applications on their own servers. Apple will have to allow for private app stores if it wants to crack the enterprise market. Both will also have to rethink their pricing strategies for the private app stores because enterprises would not want to pay 30% to Apple or Google for every application a user downloads.

While this is not a complete list, I believe these are the top priorities for consumer devices manufactures like Apple or HTC or others to penetrate the enterprise market.

Clearly the current economic climate is beginning to affect the mobile business. Last week RIM released stellar Q2 earnings but with downward guidance for Q3. Another sign of that is today’s announcement by Nokia that it was “renewing” its business mobility strategy. It is shutting down its behind-the-firewall mobility solutions business and is in talks to sell its security appliance business. It is also talking up its relationship with Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and others. To me it appears that Nokia has decided that it does not expect enterprises to invest in mobility solutions until such time as the economic climate improves. As a result of this, Nokia realizes that it will have an uphill task to win sales against entrenched solution providers like the ones named above.

Self-Promo Alert! Here is an article I wrote for Mobile Marketing in which I talk about the challenges companies face in launching mobile campaigns in this tough economic climate. Justifying the investment is just the first hurdle. If you can successfully get past that, you have to consider other issues which I talk about in the article. So, click on the link to read it and then come back and let me know what your take is.

Enterprises thinking of mobilizing some of their staff face many challenges. In the current economic climate, justifying the investment can be a tough sell. In addition to the proliferation of new devices and training issues for users, there are some key issues that need to be addressed.

- Mobile use cases: In case of some solutions like Field Sales and Service Management, Logistics, Delivery Management, the use cases are very well defined and hence easy to implement. as such, these are the first ones to get mobilized and several companies have been doing that for years. However, there are several others where the mobile use cases have to be really thought through and vetted.

- Integration with existing systems: Either mobilizing existing data or capturing data at customer location, enterprises have to integrate and extend the existing systems to support mobility. This typically involves custom development. A number of vendors have developed connectors to popular systems like SAP, Oracle, etc., however, there is some degree of customization required to support the enterprise specific use cases. 

- Security: Another big issue with mobility is the security headache of so many disparate devices trying to access the enterprise data. A lot of effort are ongoing into addressing this with integrated device management solutions. Sybase did announcethe first integrated firewall and anti-virus management solution mobile devices under its Afaria brand of device management solution.

- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): The aforementioned integration and security solutions come at a price which increase the TCO for an enterprise mobility solution. In addition, most of the mobility middleware solutions themselves require a lot of consulting expertise to implement successfully without customization.

- Time to market: Considering all the integration, customization and security resolution, the time to market will be extended. Certainly the prebuilt connectors help speeding the development up, but still the average time to market to get these solutions out are upwards of six months.

With all these challenges, enterprises certainly need to plan their mobility strategy carefully and select the right vendors for their needs.

Analysts have proclaimed the advent of mobile enterprise and the vision of enterprise data being available on any device, anywhere are being spun like it is the next best thing to slice bread. As an enterprise executive, I would love to have information related to my work on the tips of my finger while I am traveling. However, there is a huge gap between the reality and the vision.

Peter Price, CEO of Webalo, hits the nail on its head when he says:

Despite claims to the contrary, the path between enterprise data and the handheld is littered with complexity, programmers, time, expense and frustration. The industry is desperate for a simple solution.

Peter goes on to offer a good and well-known solution, SaaS or Software as a Service. He argues in favor of SaaS versus other models like custom solutions and middleware solutions, citing development costs and time as reasons against these other models.

SaaS has a lot going for it that would make it an enticing solution for mobile enterprise. However, there are two major issue that SaaS has to overcome. That is the perception of a potential security and operational risk. Most enterprises today, still prefer to control their information assets under their internal controls. As such, SaaS has a long way to go to overcome this perception.

Another issue with SaaS is that they are designed as multi-tenent solution. As such, the features are meant to fit 80% of cases. To make it work for your particular enterprise, you would have to then customize, configure which increase costs and time. Thus negating the reasons why you would want to deploy SaaS in the first place.