Mobile business

Years of hype of how mobile phones will revolutionise the way we do business is finally delivering. Network providers have called a truce, of sorts, in the tedious text minutes tariff war and are actually focussed on making the technology out there work for you.
Interested You should be. After all, the ideological power of mobile business has always appealed – it was just the reality that left us under whelmed. Any one of you who has actually tried to fully mobilise your business will, until recently, have found it rather self defeating.
By the time you’d laden staff with all the must have cutting edge technologies laptop. data card. chunky multi functional PDA almost certainly another mobile – and tried to configure it with your server and systems and got someone in to keep it all flowing together you’d have most probably added layers of inefficiency, not removed them. And that’s before you’ve tried to keep the ongoing costs under control.
All that’s changed. Fully converged technologies are here. Really. A single mobile device can penetrate every level of your business or you can assign all the technologies you want to one supplier and one bill – and that’s where productivity potential becomes a reality.
According to John Lillistone, head of enterprise data services for Vodafone, providers have tackled the traditional barriers to entry for business. Networks have answered concerns over security, cost control, reliability, speed, and support, he assures.
OK, the technology is here, but how do you mobilise it First of all, take a step back. Remove the piece of technology you were told would boost your productivity and switch it off. Now start thinking the other way around. where is there room in your business to improve productivity Once you’ve identified this, you’ll be in a better position to think again about your technology need
Today’s mobile market is a three horse race, with a fourth making ground rapidly. The usual suspects are Orange, 02 and Vodafone, while T obile is the new kid on the block.
Who occupies what position in the top three is open for debate. O2 has made exceptionally fast progress over the past 12 months, pushing traditional market leader Vodafone hard and claiming it is now No. 1.
O2’s SMB director Peter Rampling says his company has 34 share and we’re the ones with the momentum . Vodafone while not openly disputing this, questions it. Orange claims to be No.2 level with O2 despite insisting it’s focused on quality rather than quantity. Indeed, it seems each of the big three likes to claim supremacy while at the same time masquerading ambivalence for it.
T Mobile has no such qualms. Newer to the market, it claims to be collecting new subscriptions on par with the big three. We have aspirations to break level with the others, asserts Derek Williamson, head of business marketing for T Mobile. Research Growing Business conducted among readers earlier this year revealed that Vodafone held 27.7 of the magazine’s readership, O2 26.7 , Orange 20.8 and T Mobile 9.2 . Another 17 used alternative networks. What does all this mean Well, not a lot – except, you’ll be pleased to hear, that it’s very much a buyers’ market. So what is each network doing to attract your business
We asked all four providers what their USP was. Tellingly, the answers weren’t that different. It seems wherever a key differentiator opens up, the others work on closing it – this doesn’t, of course, mean there aren’t any. It just means the message being radiated is ‘we’re no longer about technology, we’re about enabling your business’. Nice sentiment, but not overly helpful. So let’s see what we know about their strengths.
O2 has claimed much of its growth on value for money. Its impressively priced unlimited service bundles have attracted plenty of custom from elsewhere, while it’s offered 20 off loyalty incentives to hang on to what it’s got.
Orange’s message has traditionally been about quality and service, but since its acquisition by France Telecom is increasingly about convergence and views itself as a complete communications provider.
In the same way O2 has looked to counter Orange’s traditional strengths by over investing in its customer care, Shaun Orpen, SME segment director for Orange, was keen to spell out the company’s commitment to value, with incentives such as half contract tariff reviews. Value is quality and reliability at a fair price, says Orpen.
Vodafone made its mark with BlackBerry, selling more than any other company outside the US and than O2 and Orange put together – but it too is becoming increasingly blurred on its USP Microsoft’s entry into the market has forced Vodafone to open its market and it’s led the way with a range of other devices, solutions and innovations. Security is high on the agenda and is deep rooted in its mantra of being a trusted business partner that responds to businesses’ needs.