Why Businesses Are Slow On Wireless
Lots of businesses know that there are wireless technologies out there, and are interested in ways to better use them in their business, but they still seem to be holding back. Even companies that are setting up trials, and finding them successful, are fairly slow in moving to more widespread rollouts. There are a variety of reasons for this. First, it sounds as though many firms are simply afraid of the wireless world passing them by. They may have tested wireless enterprise applications on a GPRS connection, but now they're hearing about WiFi, WiMAX, UMTS and others... and they're afraid that making the wrong choice will do harm. Second, though related to this, is they're not quite sure how to manage all of these things. It's a much bigger deal to support workers who can connect from anywhere, using a variety of devices and technology. What needs to happen, is that service providers need to take a much more active role, rather than leaving it entirely up to an IT staff. If service providers could approach businesses with more complete wireless service packages, including support for a variety of applications and devices, as well as a plan for staying up-to-date on the latest wireless technologies, it would take a lot of the risk away from businesses. The risk would be much less for the service providers, who, by the nature of their size and position, would have economies of scale. Derek Adds: Nextel has been a leader at this, for example hiring plumbers and plumbing industry experts in order to develop complete solutions for the plumbing vertical. I have been advising carrier clients for some time to either develop verticalized solutions themselves, or in partnership with SIs, device MFGs, or consulting firms. I personally believe the carriers should follow the partnership route, and create complete solutions for enterprise customers, with a professional services option.
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