Mobile operators must not neglect
enterprises\' mobility solution needs or they will be marginalised,
according to a new report, Seizing the Opportunities from Enterprise
Mobility, published by Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and
media (http://research.analysys.com).

Enterprises account for a large proportion of total mobile service
revenue, their share reaching 37% in Western Europe and 39% in the USA
in 2006. However, mobile operators put most of their effort into the
mass market, where they can sell the same set of services to a very
large number of consumers. \"Neglecting the enterprise market is a risky
strategy\", says report co-author, Dr Alastair Brydon. \"Mobile operators
in developed markets are finding it increasingly difficult to boost
their revenues from consumer services, despite the advent of 3G services
and handsets. Furthermore, in the absence of comprehensive enterprise
mobility solutions from the cellular industry, the IT community is
exploiting the increasing adoption of WLAN, particularly in North
America. This threatens to cannibalise cellular revenue.\"

Key findings from the new report include:

*        Mobile services and applications can bring major benefits to
enterprises, including cost savings, productivity gains and strategic
advantages. However, the take-up of enterprise mobility solutions is
still relatively restricted, being limited to, for example, senior
executives and mobile workers that are critically dependent on mobile
communications.

*        A battle to seize control of critical parts of the enterprise
mobility market has developed between cellular and WLAN communities.

*        A number of technological breakthroughs - such as indoor base
stations (picocells and femtocells) and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) -
will enable mobile operators to substantially improve their enterprise
mobility solutions.

This new report assesses the current state of enterprise mobility,
revealing that today\'s solutions do not meet all the needs of the
enterprise community, and considers the threat of mobile operators being
marginalised by new competitors. It provides a thorough review of
enterprises\' challenging requirements and identifies the issues that
mobile operators need to address. The report also illustrates how a
number of important developments, including indoor base stations and
IMS, will add essential capabilities to cellular networks, if mobile
operators shape their development appropriately.