Mobile operators missing out on easy pickings from unified comms

Stuart Corner
Friday, 04 September 2009 13:56

IT Industry - Strategy

Ovum estimates there will be 16 million mobile devices connected to enterprise unified communications systems by 2014, but says mobile operators are failing to implement some relatively easy strategies that could enable them to generate additional revenues from this market.

According to London-based principal analyst, Evan Kirchheimer, unless they seize the initiative they will lose what should be their natural advantage to other players eager to exploit the market. "There have been some early UC service launches, but for the most part many [mobile] operators have held back...Connecting enterprise mobile devices to a UC platform may be undertaken by enterprise IP telephony vendors, by large systems integrators, local IT-oriented VARs, device manufacturers, or by small independent middleware vendors which enable fixed-mobile convergence".

Kirchheimer told iTWire: "Most operators I spoke to don't have concrete UC plans. Many are hesitating in terms of entering the market (interestingly, tier 2 operators seem more advanced and adventurous in their approach). So if major operators continue to not do anything, they will miss out. In my view they already are missing out on the opportunity to define UC in customers' heads and gain early share."

He suggests that mobile operators should focus on the SME market. "MNOs have a natural advantage in their strong relationships with SMEs. In contrast, larger businesses most often have complex and varied fixed PBX estates, and PBX vendors and large SIs will be in a more natural position to extend UC functionality to mobile devices via the PBX than will MNOs. SMEs will not benefit from such high-end attention, and will be attracted to simpler solution bundles on simple terms."

He adds that such a strategy is not without major challenges. "A major obstacle for MNOs will be developing tariffs which accommodate device-independent employee behaviour, application management, and flat-rate bundled voice and data. The transition to UC will have significant implications for billing systems and internal cost allocations. Building a service infrastructure will be essential for MNOs, as they offer and support SLAs that involve elements in which typical operators will not have any expertise."

The issues are examined in an Ovum report "Building a Market for Mobile Unified Communications." It suggests that that mobile providers should not be distracted by the hype around mobilising enterprise applications. "Our recent survey of 2000 SME telecoms buyers indicated that most SMEs express much greater interest in core UC features (directory, presence, unified messaging) than in horizontal applications like mobile field force automation or fleet management."