Mobango hosts Nimbuzz and aggregates IM
services like Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and other
into one interface. It also plugs into a smartphone’s address book, providing
instant access to all contacts already using Nimbuzz. It uses a wireless or 3G
data connection and allows users to make free calls to other Nimbuzz users and
really low cost calls to fixed line and mobile phones across the world. The
opportunity for enterprises here is to provide a closed user group
communication system to their users over a service like Nimbuzz and increase
the utility of already paid for bandwidth while saving on telephony costs for
mobile or distributed workers. Alap Ghosh, head of Sales Mobango, shares trends
in enterprise mobility applications:
What are the trends in enterprise
mobility application market in emerging nations such as India, Brazil, China,
Africa and the Middle East?
The one common consensus over the last 5
years between stakeholders in desktop and mobile computing has been the
convergence of hardware in these two otherwise distinct streams. As mobile
phones get smarter and ubiquitously connected with increasing bandwidth,
desktops and laptops are shrinking or getting taken over by more mobile
technologies like netbooks and tablets. The advent of the tablet last year has
been evidence enough of this convergence. Naturally, large enterprises, being
the largest consumers of desktop computing, are waking up to this trend and are
addressing direct requirements from users to make enterprise functions and
enterprise data available on mobile devices.
What are the new demands of
telecom service providers, technology vendors and enterprise customers?
Not much has changed in what an enterprise
needs from mobile applications. However, enterprises are looking at going
beyond pure email. The five most demanded streams for enterprise mobile
applications are Unified Telecommunication : VoIP, Video Conferencing, Audio
Conferencing; Enterprise Communications: Mobile Email, Instant Messaging,
Calendaring and Scheduling; Enterprise Asset Management: CRM, Supply Chain,
Inventory; Enterprise Human Resources: Attendance, Time Tracking, Expense
Reporting, Resource Utilization and Enterprise Data: Dashboards, Critical
Occurrences, Data Visualization, Decision distribution.
What are your new challenges and
opportunities in emerging nations such as India, Brazil, China, Africa and the
Middle East?
A lot is to be learnt from the success of
mobile phones as a platform for service access in the BRIC and MEA regions. The
need for social connectivity has educated young users on how to use the mobile
phone to gain access to data. The challenges are however unique and center
around the creation, control and consumption of services carrying enterprise
data and function into a mobile phone.
Do you expect market revival in
2011-12 for enterprise mobility application?
The notion that enterprise mobility as a
market has lost its traction is a result of speculative silence. Enterprise
mobility is receiving its fair share of attention, only the fragments of
solutions that exist are being consolidated, the need is being re-evaluated and
rationalized and a new approach is being adopted for delivering enterprise data
and function. A simple case could be the process of new talent acquisition in
enterprises. Mobile platforms like SMS are still being used for scheduling and
RSVP for interview line-ups. However, the concept of building an app for a
single company for job seekers to download and use to attend walk-in
interviews, an idea that was absurd to begin with, didn’t fly, killed a few
ambitious minds and is now being looked at from the perspective of solving the
problem of discovery of interview schedules and not mobile availability of the
same.
Which are the new technologies
that will be deployed quicker in enterprise mobility application space?
While consumer applications are still a
distance away from being fully useful in enterprises, users are paving their
own way in finding solutions to enterprise demands. As enterprises invest in
finding optimal mobility solutions for their users, users will truly drive the
direction in which application developers will go to cater to their largest
revenue pool – the enterprise.
By
TelecomLead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
