mobility at a crossroadshosteddocs.ittoolbox.com/managedmobilitywhitepaper.pdf · the diagram on...

Mobility at a Crossroads

Are You Missing New Business Opportunities in Mobility Management?

www.sybase.com

WHITE PAPER

Mobility at a Crossroads

Contents:

The Changing Face of Business Mobility ...................................................................................................2 New Opportunities for Traditional Service Providers............................................................................................2

What An Organization Needs to Effectively Manage It’s Mobility Infrastructure ....................................3 Inside Managed Mobility .......................................................................................................................................3 The Million $ Managed Mobility Question: Should Managed Mobility Be a Corporate IT Responsibility or A Vendor Provided Service? ..............................................................................................................................5

New Opportunities for Service Providers..................................................................................................6 Opportunities for Telecom Expense Management Providers ...............................................................................6 Opportunities for Carriers .....................................................................................................................................7 Opportunities for System Integrators....................................................................................................................7 Opportunities for OEMs ........................................................................................................................................8

What To Look for in a Managed Mobility Solution ...................................................................................9

Making Managed Mobility Part of Your Business ...................................................................................10 Notes ...................................................................................................................................................................11

2 Mobility at a Crossroads

The Changing Face of Business Mobility Industry analysts estimate that more than 95% of enterprises are currently implementing or planning to implement new mobility initiatives.1 Modern mobility is transforming the way business works. As smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices become the data access and communication tools of choice in the work place, the systems needed to support this new generation of mobility are changing.

New Opportunities for Traditional Service Providers

Many companies today are faced with a choice. Do we manage mobility internally, or do we outsource to a provider who offers mobility software as a service (SaaS)? For most companies, the right answer is not necessarily clear cut. However the demand for managed mobility solutions is rising. According to VDC Research, by 2013, 25% of all mobility deployments will be hosted SaaS type solutions.2

Traditional telecom and IT service providers can fulfill many requirements of this new generation of business mobility by expanding their current service offerings. By adopting the right managed mobility platform as the basis for providing business mobility services, traditional service providers have a real opportunity to dramatically grow their businesses. Let’s see how.

Mobility at a Crossroads 3

What An Organization Needs to Effectively Manage It’s Mobility Infrastructure The diagram on this page shows key management tasks that make up a managed mobility solution.

In some ways, managed mobility performs services similar to those used to manage other end‐user computing systems in the enterprise. Devices need to be purchased, configured and provisioned with software, secured, protected against theft, and decommissioned at the end of their life cycle.

Mobility solutions for yesterday’s information worker typically extended the desktop to a laptop. The mobile computing environment was the same as the desktop environment, except that workers could now take it with them.

What’s different about managing today’s mobility? Several factors make managing mobility a challenge for traditional Corporate IT departments. These include:

With smartphone based mobile solutions, the mobile network itself is provided by outside vendors – the phone service carriers. This means carriers have a necessary role to play in business mobility.

Employees are increasingly usurping IT’s traditional role of selecting the devices they use at work.

Client applications designed for mobile handsets are not the same as those that run on client desktops. That means modern business mobility requires a whole new layer of application development and management.

Mobile devices are harder to track and easier to lose. These factors change the way companies secure and maintain devices.

Let’s take a closer look at what is needed to manage modern business mobility.

Inside Managed Mobility

The following table lays out the essential services needed to manage business mobility. It also lists those business entities that have roles in the different aspects of a managed mobility solution.


Managed Mobility

Device Management

Application Development

and Provisioning

Security Management

Operational Support

Performance Monitoring

Expense Management

SERVICES

Services typically needed to manage enterprise mobility.

Device Procurement

Device activation

Configuration and software provisioning

Compliance tracking

Remote lock and wipe

Device locating Device

inventory

Device disposal

Application development and customization

Application provisioning

Application updates

Data migration

On‐device Encryption

Device and user authentication

Virus protection and firewall management

Backup and restore

Network access management

Remote lock and wipe

Self service support

Help desk support

Application self‐healing

Automated syncing and data retrieval

Automated electronic file distribution

Process and policy enforcement

Trouble‐shooting

Application Monitoring

Managing and monitoring software license use

Compliance Tracking

Device Monitoring

Network Monitoring

Contract Management

Dispute resolution

Usage accounting and auditing

Service and billing optimization

Cost allocation

Payment

Usage and cost forecasting

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Entities that traditionally provide these managed mobility services.

Corporate IT Users Telecom

Expense Managers (TEMs)

Corporate IT System

Integrators

Corporate IT

Corporate IT Users System

Integrators

Carriers

Corporate IT Users System

Integrators

Carriers

Corporate IT TEMs

In today’s mobility environment, these services need to support a broad range of mobile devices, from mobile PCs to smartphones to tablet devices like iPads. Additionally, there is a new consideration for those involved in managing business mobility. Employees increasingly bring their own smartphone or tablet to work seeking to access company systems. That's very different from the past when all devices were corporate‐owned and corporate‐managed. This means employees have a role to play in managing their mobility. It also means managed mobility service providers need to differentiate between personal and business use when the same mobile device is used for multiple purposes.

So what does all this mean to traditional telecom and IT service providers?


The Million $ Managed Mobility Question: Should Managed Mobility Be a Corporate IT Responsibility or A Vendor Provided Service?

The answer, of course, depends on the strategic objectives of those organizations that are ramping up their business mobility strategies.

For some, particularly the very largest enterprises with tens of thousands of mobile employees whose productivity depends on the strategic deployment of mobile solutions, it makes sense for their IT departments to become their own corporate managed mobility service providers. They will purchase the leading device and software management applications, security management solutions, and expense management applications. They will develop their own mobile applications and integrate these with back‐end servers and legacy data. They will become masters of their own mobility solution.

However many large companies will decide it makes more sense to invest their resources elsewhere. They will seek vendors who can provide high performance managed mobility services. A cost effective managed mobility service also makes managed mobility available to a large universe of small to mid‐sized companies who do not have the budget to manage mobility in‐house. Many of these organizations are on the leading edge of embracing mobility as part of their business operations, but they either do not have nor want to invest in the resources necessary to manage their mobility deployments.

Clearly there is a huge opportunity for service providers. But how can a service provider offer managed mobility services without making enormous investments in technology?

Suppose it was possible for a phone service carrier, a TEM, or a system integrator, to enter into a partnership that would enable them to immediately expand their portfolio of service offerings?

These companies would suddenly be in a stronger competitive position in the rapidly growing market for managed mobility solutions. And that is exactly what is happening. Let’s take a look.


New Opportunities for Service Providers Business mobility is creating opportunity for service providers who can fulfill some or all of the managed mobility functions required. New technology is now available which makes it easy for service providers to expand their offerings.

For instance, Sybase Managed Mobility consists of four core components that service providers can use to strengthen their managed mobility services:

Sybase Managed Mobility SDK serves as the foundation for a managed mobility service. This includes an integration framework to interface with external systems such as SMS aggregators or telecom expense management (TEM).

Afaria is the leading mobile device management and security solution in the market. It supports a wide range of mobile devices including laptops, smartphones and tablets. It provides device tracking, security management, and provisioning of mobile devices, and real time tracking of device status.

Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) is a mobile enterprise application platform that provides tools for building and deploying cross‐platform mobile applications. Developers use common programming languages to create applications, then they use Afaria to stage the mobile applications for deployment over the air to mobile devices.

Managed Service Administration Portal is an online tiered administration portal that can be used for membership management, service plan assignment, and reporting across multiple service providers, companies, and subscribers.

Sybase Managed Mobility enables companies to provide core mobility services via a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business model. The real question for service providers is whether the opportunity warrants developing an organization to support new mobility management products and services. For a growing number of service providers, the answer is clearly yes.

Opportunities for Telecom Expense Management Providers

Telecom Expense Management (TEM) providers offer their customers telecom management products and services that typically include contract management, billing and cost allocation, usage auditing, and other telecom related functions. Some providers offer TEM as part of a more comprehensive Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solution.

TEM providers make their proprietary software tools available to their customers by either licensing the software directly, or providing it as a hosted software service.

Demand for business mobility solutions is creating new opportunities for TEM providers. With functionality like that provided by Sybase Managed Mobility, TEM vendors are able to offer expanded services in these ways:

More granular and real time usage monitoring and reporting;


Real time user alerts;

More detailed billing;

Deeper device management capabilities on some platforms like remote device control, remote application deployment and provisioning, application blacklisting and more.

More efficient device management controls.

Quickcomm, one of the world’s leading TEM service providers, and Verizon Business, an enterprise mobility service provider, have teamed up with Sybase to develop a comprehensive, carrier neutral managed mobility solution. This managed mobility service offering, which is based on Sybase’s Managed Mobility solution, enables Verizon Business to offer a comprehensive service that covers all aspects of managed mobility, including application development and management, device management, operational support and security management, and expense management.

Opportunities for Carriers

Telecommunication service carriers stay competitive by offering leading edge voice and data communication capabilities to their corporate customers. As business mobility becomes a more important part of business operations, many telecoms are eager to provide more comprehensive business mobility services.

A great example is Orange Business Services, a France Telecom company. Orange provides its customers a complete portfolio of networking and business mobility products and services. Sybase Managed Mobility enables Orange to offer its customers a breadth of managed mobility functions, including:

Mobile device management for inventory control, upgrades and distribution, and device configuration;

Application provisioning and management, and email control;

Performance monitoring and cost management;

Mobile Security management to control access to corporate applications, enforce access codes, handle device lock and data wipe policies, encrypt data stored in mobile devices and SIM cards, and distribute firewall and antivirus applications.

Opportunities for System Integrators

System integrators build IT infrastructure and business process solutions by assembling component hardware and software systems, typically from different vendors, and assuring that the assembled solution works. In some cases they provide operational support to monitor and maintain the system.

As companies seek to mobilize their business processes, system integrators who are able to incorporate mobility into their solutions will be in a stronger position than those who can not.


A good example of this is a service provided by Accenture that enables the company to offer comprehensive mobile communications solutions.

Accenture Mobility Operated Services (AMOS) offers a “one‐stop shop” for an enterprise’s mobile communications needs:

AMOS works with a client to define its overall mobility strategy.

AMOS implements the supporting architecture that enables mobility.

AMOS then manages ongoing operations in a managed service capacity.

AMOS’s functions are wide ranging including everything from mobile advertising and tracking of fleet vehicles using mobile devices to mobile health and safety services.

Opportunities for OEMs

OEM manufacturers develop software solutions for resale by other businesses. Taking advantage of hosted software solutions that provide managed mobility functionality is one way OEMs are entering the business mobility market.

MobiDM is an excellent example. MobiDM, a mobility management product offered by VeliQ, is powered by Sybase Managed Mobility. VeliQ licenses its MobiDM product to other companies, allowing them to offer managed mobility services.

In June 2010 Vodafone Netherlands announced that it was partnering with VeliQ to offer MaaS to its enterprise customers. Vodafone described managed mobility as a “vital add‐on to its enterprise portfolio.”3

By adopting a software solution like Sybase Managed Mobilty, OEMs can offer extended services based on device management capabilities. For example OC Transpo has been the City of Ottawa, Canada’s public transit provider since 1870. It currently operates approximately 1,050 buses. OC Transpo chose Bell Canada to design and implement a system (based on Sybase Managed Mobility technologies) that includes placing mobile devices on buses. The system has already saved more than $1 million a year because more efficient fleet allocation has reduced the need to purchase new buses.

Business mobility is providing lots of opportunities for service providers, but what is the best way to add managed mobility services to your product offering?


What To Look for in a Managed Mobility Solution Working with a visionary software vendor with a strategic focus on addressing mobility and hosting requirements is the best way to add managed mobility capabilities to your current service offerings. There are big benefits for customers who opt to provide their managed mobility services through a MaaS model rather than through traditional licensed software. These same benefits accrue to service providers building managed mobility capabilities into their own product lines. These include:

Dramatically lower up‐front costs – licensing costs, deployment costs, and management expenses are minimized.

Speed time to market – Managed services can be deployed in much less time than on‐premises solutions.

Scalability – a hosted solution allows customers to easily scale their user base and add more applications. The same goes for service providers.

Protection against obsolescence –MaaS service providers keep their systems current with the latest technology, which is extremely important in this environment of rapid growth in business mobility.

However, not all managed mobility software solutions offer the same value.

The illustration to the right summarizes key components and features you should look for when evaluating a hosted managed mobility solution. Why are these features important? Consider these points:

Supports Multiple Networks and Device Types – This allows your customers flexibility in the devices and services they use, enabling them to adopt technologies that work best for their business strategy.

White Label Management Portal – Allows you to establish your own brand identity around the mobility management services you offer.

Single Console Management – A single management console is the most efficient way to manage a large fleet of devices, including security policies, software provisioning, and data management.

Robust Application Development Platform – Extremely important to companies who need to build and customize applications, and to vendors offering mobile application development services.

Seamless Integration With Existing Mobile Management Applications – You do not need to create a lot of custom code to make the managed mobility solution work with your existing proprietary products.

Single Portal Supports Multiple Accounts – This enables many customers to log in and monitor their individual mobility services through a common portal.


Making Managed Mobility Part of Your Business Analysts continue to forecast rapid growth in enterprise mobility deployments in the coming years, and as stated earlier, by 2013 25% of all business mobility deployments will be based on the SaaS model.4

Telecom services vendors and traditional IT service providers can quickly add managed mobility capabilities to their offerings by integrating a MaaS managed mobility solution into their portfolios. Keys to successfully incorporating managed mobility into your product offerings include:

Look at ways you can enhance your current offerings with capabilities that support your customers’ business mobility initiatives. For example, if you are a system integrator, how can a managed mobility platform enable you to include business mobility as part of your skill set and service offering? If you are a TEM, how can a managed mobility platform enable you to provide deeper levels of reporting, device management, and cost control than you are currently able to do?

Look at how managed mobility enhancements to your own service offerings enable you to partner with others and offer a more complete solution. A good example is the case in which Quickcomm and Verizon Business teamed up to offer a comprehensive managed mobility solution based on Sybase Managed Mobility.

When evaluating managed mobility platforms that might become the backbone of your mobility service offerings, go for best‐in‐class solutions. They outperform average solutions from both a technical perspective and from the total cost of ownership perspective. This will make your solutions more competitive on both a feature basis and a cost basis.

For more information about business mobility solutions, click here, or contact a Sybase or SAP representative.

http://www.sybase.com/mobilize/managed-mobility


Notes 1 Allen, D. Enterprise Mobility Management Could Lower TCO By 78 Percent. Billing & OSS World June 11, 2010

2 VDC Research Press Release, “Growing Demand for More Sophisticated Mobile Professional Services Delivered Through a Managed Service Model”, March 17, 2010.

3 “Vodafone announces Mobility‐as‐a‐Service for enterprise customers” (http://www.veliq.com/website/veliq/index.cfm/press/vodafone‐announces‐mobility‐as‐a‐service‐for‐enterprise‐customers/

4 VDC Research Press Release, “Growing Demand for More Sophisticated Mobile Professional Services Delivered Through a Managed Service Model”, March 17, 2010.

SYBASE, INC. WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS ONE SYBASE DRIVE DUBLIN, CA 94568‐7902 USA Tel: 1 800 8 SYBASE www.sybase.com

Copyright © 2010 Sybase, Inc. All rights reserved. Unpublished rights reserved under U.S. copyright laws. Sybase, and the Sybase logo are trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ® indicates registration in the United States. Specifications are subject to change without notice. 3/09.

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