Orange aims to 'demystify' mobile for enterprises. Check it out:
(Total Telecom Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) First it launched Orange Mail, its attempt to "democratise" mobile email and provide a broad range of mobile email solutions for enterprise customers small and large.
Now mobile operator Orange wants to help demystify the entire area of mobile communications within the enterprise and is embarking on a long-term strategy to educate users and change negative perceptions about the perceived risks of implementing mobile solutions.
"Today we are taking about phase one," said Cynthia Gordon, vice president of business marketing in the Orange group, during a roundtable in London on Wednesday. "There will be more to come."
Phase one will largely involve the distribution of educational literature throughout the Orange channel to enterprise users across the operator's entire footprint. Next will come actual products relating to issues such as device management and security, although the operator is giving little away as yet.
According to Martin Crossley, head of commercial evaluation across the entire France Telecom group, a key issue is to first resolve the lack of understanding about mobile communications within the enterprise and establish the actual risks involved in order to remove the "fear factor" and overcome vendor hype.
"My focus is on balancing risks with revenue opportunity," Crossley said.
He commented that while there is always some risk involved, "if you don't take any risks, you don't have a business."
This view is backed up by a recent report from Quocirca, Securing the Enterprise, which seeks to provide a guide for enterprises that want to deploy mobile technologies.
According to Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca, an important aspect for IT and business managers is to balance any problems with the likely benefits of a solution, rather than just dismissing a mobile solution out of hand. He said if managers have the right attitude to the technology, this could also translate into a need for less control, although Bamforth stressed that some level of control is always required.
Gordon said operators should be taking a greater role in educating users about the pros and cons of mobility, although not going so far as turning themselves into managed services providers or systems integrators.
She stressed that particularly when it comes to smaller companies, operators have an increasing responsibility to help and advise customers on what they should deploy.
"We have to step back and realise people don't understand this area," she commented. "Operators need to take a more proactive role."
Mark Beattie, head of information technology at utility company LondonWaste, which awarded Orange its mobile communications contract almost three years ago, said his main requirement is that an operator is honest about the potential risks.
"Just be honest with us," he said. "Tell us if it's high risk or not and then we can make the decision."
Beattie said he chose Orange after an open tender because the operator was able to meet the majority of his company's requirements a key one being the ability to provide devices without a camera.
LondonWaste has so far deployed 25 PDAs from Orange across its 320-strong workforce, while simpler mobile devices are also installed in trucks to enable communication with drivers.
Beattie said the nature of his business is very unpredictable, and it is often the case that a waste-disposal order will come in at 5pm. He said the fact that such orders can now be communicated quickly and efficiently to the transport fleets means that the company is able to carry out business it would otherwise have been unable to do.
"I have seen increases in productivity," said Beattie, who said he ensures against the misuse of the devices by providing every member of staff with a technology policy.
"Telecoms has to be pulled back into IT it's now part of their budget," he added. "For us, the business is everything and the technology is there to support it. We've become a very email-dependent business."
Gordon noted that cost is not always the issue when deploying mobile technology. The most important aspect is to ensure that the cost of any solution fits in with the overall business case and adds value for the company.
Crossley added that a great deal of what Orange is doing in the enterprise area forms part of broader cross-industry developments, such as the plan to put SIM cards into laptops.
"We work with a high level of disclosure," he said. "We share information with other operators."
Copyright 2006 Terrapinn Ltd
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