MaaS360™

Many organizations face the challenge of maintaining the productivity of an increasingly mobile workforce. IT support for this “workforce on-the-go” frequently depends on the effective deployment of wireless devices and services for data applications.

However, few organizations reach this objective, and even fewer do so while also maintaining cost efficiency. A common problem is that few organizations have a company-wide wireless strategy. Each department buys off-the-shelf services and does so independently of other departments, meaning that different vendors and service terms are used. This can serve as a barrier to reducing the total cost of ownership of mobile technology. Even if the organization does have a single approach to the market, it can still be hampered by the service constraints imposed by the service providers in North America. In Europe, for instance, Vodafone will sell a package of a fixed quantity of megabytes, allowing an organization to bulk-buy at a reduced price, and then allocate the data allowances around the organization as they see fit. This flexibility has only slowly arrived in the North American market where the buyer more commonly is offered either unlimited or per-user usage terms. For many, going wireless has simply meant added cost and not enough benefit.

In order to achieve its productivity goals while keeping costs under control, the organization must understand and proactively address its own needs and requirements for wireless service as well as the unique business and technology environment of wireless networks. This can be addressed through a four-step process:

1. Understand the unique nature of the wireless industry.

2. Change your assumptions when implementing wireless devices.

3. Integrate wireless to your IT strategy.

4. Leverage the understanding of the wireless industry in selecting service providers.

Understand the unique nature of the wireless industry

Wired networks have become an inexpensive, commoditized means for delivering an organization’s data traffic. Wireless networks offer more flexibility and mobility, but use of wireless networks among businesses in North America is inhibited by two challenges inherent to the wireless industry in the region: spectrum licensing and the huge variety of competing coverage patterns, network capabilities and wireless devices.

The majority of wireless service providers use the radio spectrum to transmit voice, video and data. The spectrum is licensed by the government, thus the service providers hold a monopoly over a fundamental link in the wireless supply chain. In addition, there are limits to how much data can be delivered across a particular piece of the spectrum. Given that the wireless link is a scarce commodity, service providers who hold licenses have considerable power in determining what they will offer customers and at what price point. Even virtual service providers, the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), ultimately rely on agreements with license holders.

Each wireless service provider holds a unique view of the attractiveness of certain market segments and therefore they have rolled out networks with a wide range of coverage patterns, network capabilities and devices to exploit them. Furthermore, in comparison to the standardization witnessed in Europe and Asia, North American service providers use a mix of transmission technologies such as CDMA, GSM, iDEN and WIMAX, which are compatible with devices manufactured by a limited number of vendors and often contain hardware modules that tie the device to a particular service provider. Even where the technology allows greater flexibility, North American service providers choose to duplicate this hardware tie-up artificially. This frequently means that service providers are the exclusive device suppliers to their customers. This allows the provider to determine the price of devices in a market with little direct competition. In addition, some technologies and frequencies are found only in North America, further limiting the network and device choice for organizations with international operations.
 
These issues place the burden on the organization to research which network will be most useful for their particular business needs.

Change your assumptions when implementing wireless devices

Wireless capabilities are not a straightforward addition to an existing IT infrastructure—in order to achieve the benefits of the mobile enterprise, an organization must be wary of the assumptions it makes within the traditional IT environment. IT departments typically recognize the challenges of wireless, but are sometimes mistaken in thinking that simply “bolting-on” wireless capability to the existing hardware infrastructure and application architecture is the easiest and cheapest way of implementing wireless. This mistake is compounded by the fact that IT organizations rarely have the tools or expertise to conduct a thorough analysis of any alternatives.

The functionality of the desktop is dependent on basic computer components such as monitors, the operating system, adequate memory, keyboard and mouse, an always-on Internet connection and a power supply. When incorporating wireless devices, many of these basic components are only present in an abbreviated form, and while IT departments are aware of the limitations of wireless devices, they often don’t appreciate the implications this has for the usability of an application designed with a desktop in mind. For example, an application with heavy graphics and complex menus that is suited to a large screen and a reliable Internet connection may be unusable or frustrating to use when accessed through a wireless device.

It is also important to address the security implications of wireless devices. The device is unlikely to be physically protected on company premises, so an organization must implement an appropriate security policy. The wireless industry offers a number of solutions to mitigate the risk of wireless device loss or damage; for example, remote control capabilities to delete data from a lost or stolen device, biometric authentication, and encryption of the wireless link (beyond the basic encryption offered by the service provider). However implementing these solutions requires the organization to revise its security policies and overcome this change to the basic assumptions of asset security.

Integrate wireless to your IT strategy

To reap the greatest benefit from deploying wireless devices, organizations need to apply their understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the mobile enterprise early on in the planning cycle for new IT applications and hardware upgrades. Apart from the technical differences discussed previously, organizations must be conscious that a wireless device is unlikely to be used from the comforts of a desk in an office. A salesperson visiting a customer may need to input basic text or conduct simple searches for corporate data; they are unlikely to need the extensive on-screen data useful in the desktop environment back at the office.

Of course many applications existed before modern wireless networks were built, so there are legacy challenges to overcome, and even off-the-shelf software has only recently offered full support for users constrained by bandwidth and device size.

An organization looking to provide effective and efficient support to a mobile workforce needs to conclude immediately that a growing and significant part of user interactions with corporate systems and applications will be from wireless devices (or at minimum with a wirelessly connected laptop substituting for desktop access). Implementing software design guidelines such as limiting the complexity of screens required for user input, adding resiliency when the application loses its network connection, limiting heavy data downloads and eliminating browserdependent web-service scripting will vastly improve the wireless user’s experience.
 
Leverage the understanding of the wireless industry in selecting service providers

 So how does an organization use this understanding of the wireless industry to implement its wireless strategy? Figure 1 demonstrates a best-practice approach to determining the optimal sourcing strategy to meet an organization’s wireless capability needs. The analysis will deliver an understanding of the business’ needs for wireless capability. The next step is to go to the market and find a provider. Through market research and the procurement process, the organization can gain a good understanding of how well a service provider will meet its needs.

The service provider responses should be evaluated using a weighted point system for all areas including pricing, service levels and terms and conditions. Where an organization’s devices need to roam onto international Figure 1: Determining an optimal wireless sourcing strategy networks, the provider’s ability to offer a discount on traditionally expensive roaming charges may carry the heaviest weighting in the assessment. Figure 2 shows an example of a service provider assessment. It includes the key criteria an organization should consider, the importance of that criteria and the extent to which each of the providers fulfil the criteria.

Once an organization has determined the networks that could meet its needs, it can manage the selection and sourcing process to get the best long-term deal, as the focus of the negotiation becomes the price and service levels.

In some cases, regional service providers or virtual operators offering services on less-commonly-used frequencies may meet the organization’s needs, especially where the organization’s users are spread over a relatively small geographic area. The service provider knows it can’t compete on nationwide coverage nor does it have the expense of a broad presence, so it may be willing to offer service at substantially lower costs than nationwide providers.

The organization should also consider the service’s total cost of ownership. Up-front costs include software licenses and the fees associated with the acquisition of devices such as smartphones, laptop data cards or wireless modems. Ongoing costs consist of renewal of the license, hosting or maintenance fees for enabling software modules, or possibly the application itself, plus monthly and usage-based charges for the wireless network. Often, the service provider will subsidize the cost of the device connecting to its network, sometimes resulting in a “free” device, however, the service provider will recoup its investment by charging higher ongoing service rates or imposing a longer-term service contract.

Fulfil the promise of wireless services

In summary, to provide a mobile workforce with the means to conduct critical tasks away from the office, an IT organization must understand the unique complexities of leveraging wireless services and apply this understanding to the way it designs, develops, procures and delivers its IT services. Indeed, an organization that can truly integrate wireless IT services into its existing portfolio has the potential to enable a transformation in the wider business— increasing productivity and reducing total cost of ownership to achieve a much broader competitive advantage for the business. 360

Ted Bissell is a managing consultant with PA Consulting Group and is a noted wireless and telecoms expert. During Ted’s 20+ year career in the telecommunications industry, his strategy leadership and development of market-leading innovations have covered the areas of streaming media and Internet services, 2G and 3G wireless networks, hosted IP telephony, online communities and user-generated content, MVNOs and locationbased services. Ted has worked with or for companies including AT&T Wireless, Avaya, Bertelsmann/BMG, British Telecom/O2, Brunswick/Navman, h2g2/BBC, KORE Telematics and Webraska.

Gemma Rogers is a principal consultant in PA Consulting Group’s IT Consulting practice. Her expertise is in knowledge management (assessing KM competence, designing and implementing technical and business change solutions and effecting KM culture change), project management (setting up, planning and successfully delivering projects; instilling rigor to organizations’ project management processes) and process design/re-engineering (defining and analyzing processes, recommending and implementing improvements and developing metrics for ongoing monitoring).