Technologies are not what is important. Businesses need to look at what wireless [products] will do for them. They need to determine what their problems are and then look to see if there is a wireless solution. When looking for a wireless vendor, companies must look for one that understands their business model and the problems that they face in that industry. How important is the speed of wireless networks? Should companies wait for better technologies, like 3G?
Speed is not that important. The most effective wireless implementations are simple and don't employ a lot of multimedia. Usually they involve transmitting simple data, like filling in a form. These simple things can really help drive revenue. It is a big mistake for a company to take its presence on the Internet and wirelessly enable that. With wireless, companies need to look at what works now with low data rates and solve concrete business problems with their deployments. Carriers seem to be devoting a lot of attention to consumer markets right now. Are any of them offering compelling business services?
Right now, carriers are trying every way they can to build a community of enterprise users. But for them, consumers are the first step. Consumers use instant messaging and share photos and vote on American Idol with their phones, and that helps drive revenue. For the business market, the carriers have to go beyond connectivity
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Kate Gerwig, Editorial Director
to applications and access to corporate data. Businesses are very concerned about how data moves from point A to point B, and they are concerned with security. Businesses are also skeptical about losing control of their data. It is a more complex market. Are they missing something by not being more aggressive today? I don't think so. The wireless industry as a whole has pushed technology over solutions. It has talked up infrastructure without focusing on the benefits of return on investment and the total cost of ownership issues, those issues that are very important to businesses today. Right now, slow and steady is the way to go. How important is wireless technology to enterprises today?
Every enterprise user out there is thinking about wireless. It is not a question of whether or not to deploy wireless applications; it is a question of when. With a tight economy, slim budgets and a war, companies are being very conservative with their wireless deployments. But they are doing beta tests and small implementations; they are testing the waters, so when the economy does turn around, they can hit the ground running. What kind of value will 'anytime, anywhere' connectivity bring to businesses?
With pervasive always-on systems, people can get messages as quickly as possible and act on them. The success of the Research in Motion BlackBerry device has been in part due to its pervasive system. Companies will be able to have closer contact with their customers, and field force workers will be able to have immediate access to customer databases. It will eliminate a lot of bottlenecks.
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