Capturing Value in the Enterprise Wireless Market

Despite the delayed deployment of so-called 3G technology in the U.S., wireless enterprise applications and e-commerce solutions are now available, generating revenues for their creators and new efficiencies for early adopters. Corporate America can profit from this technology today, with payback periods measured in weeks.

Nevertheless, there are many applications, from simple messaging to wireless extensions of existing CRM and ERP solutions, that do not require high bandwidth to be of value. Data transmission speeds of 28K to 56K are enough to support 2.5G solutions being introduced today. And some applications can perform admirably even at the far slower 14.4K digital cellular rate.

No Need to Wait
Although consumer applications have generated the most wireless Internet buzz, we believe that more sustainable opportunities exist for wireless and mobile — what has come to be known as m-business — solutions. Rich wireless applications will break traditional wire tethers and extend the boundaries of the enterprise. CIOs who have spent millions on Siebel or SAP installations can layer on wireless technology for $50,000 to $100,000 and get it into the hands of people who can use it immediately.

The coming wave of wireless enterprise adoption will reflect previous developments. A few farsighted, tech-savvy businesses have integrated wireless technologies into their mission-critical applications since the mid-1980s. This first wave of wireless enterprise applications enabled early adopters — for whom mobility was critical — to incorporate wireless capability into the hearts of their basic businesses and operations (e.g., FedEx, UPS, Avis, and Hertz). In the mid- to late 1990s, the second wave enabled companies to provide consumer content wirelessly (e.g., CNET, Yahoo, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity).

More Than Sex Appeal
The third and latest wireless wave will be characterized by the development of focused end-to-end enterprise solutions that facilitate critical applications, and also have attractive cost-benefit economics. In this pre-3G environment, the concentration will be less on “sex appeal” (the focus of the wireless consumer boom) and more on delivering real economic benefit to the enterprise. This will be achieved by leveraging already significant IT investments to deliver higher productivity, more sales, and better customer service.

In the U.S. alone, subscribers to such wireless enterprise services are expected to number 26 million by 2005. Growth will be driven by:

• advances in wireless application development and mobile security;
• key technology enablers such as always-on connectivity, higher mobile bandwidth, and location-based services; and
• increased enterprise comfort with and demand for wireless applications.

A Fourth Wave
Technically skilled, venture-capital fueled, and B2B oriented, Wireless Application Development (WAD) companies to date have concentrated on discovering, developing, and delivering applications, the exact nature of which may not yet be apparent. Europe already has around 3,000 such firms, most less than two years old and employing fewer than 40 people.

This emerging core of hot companies may hold the key to unlocking the value of mobile data. For established players, the ability to embrace innovation could make the difference between winning and losing in the race to develop “killer apps.” Yet, as this report by Booz Allen finds, many leading WAD vendors seem not only to be poor at capitalizing on the inventiveness of their industry, but they also are unwittingly stifling it.

Many major firms exhibit the very behaviors that threaten to undermine the young industry at birth: slowness to commit (the No. 1 worry for WAD players); an unclear position toward other WAD players (Are they partners? Suppliers? Competitors?); and lack of focus. One especially common complaint among major players is that they lack a single point of contact for handling new partnerships.

Before 3G: Plenty of Opportunity
The value and ROI of truly mobile, real-time, higher bandwidth access to business information is unmistakable, but it will be at least another year or two before the industry is ready to offer truly vertical end-to-end wireless enterprise solutions. In the meantime, CIOs should be considering the potentially significant improvements in sales force productivity, customer service, and supply chain and manufacturing efficiencies that can be realized today.

Over time, up to 70 percent of industry value will shift from the provision of pure network capacity toward the delivery of end-to-end solutions to the enterprise. However, no one player in the value chain has all the capabilities required to capture this value, and gaps in skills are becoming apparent. Ultimately, the winners will develop and deliver end-to-end solutions by recognizing their capability gaps and filling them. Success will come through partnerships and innovation — but the window of opportunity is closing.