MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: The market for Unified Communications (UC) is likely to grow significantly in the next five years. Even in the midst of the economic downturn, Ovum estimates over 16 million enterprise-owned mobile devices will be connected to UC platforms by 2014.
Fixed telecoms operators, IT services providers, UC technology vendors and specialists are all jostling to take a share. In the midst of this, Ovum has identified a significant opportunity for mobile network operators (MNOs) to influence and profit from UC.
Ovum interviewed a number of global wireless operators and UC platform providers. While many operators were aware of the opportunity UC provided, most were holding back from launching services in a market which is poised for dramatic growth. Based on feedback from enterprises large and small, Ovum has identified a gap in service provision which should be filled by mobile operators.
Evan Kirchheimer, Principal Analyst, comments: “Connecting enterprise mobile devices to a UC platform may be undertaken by enterprise IP telephony vendors, by large SIs, local IT-oriented VARs, device manufacturers, or by small independent middleware vendors which enable fixed-mobile convergence”.
“With such a varied array of players, Ovum has found that MNOs are not in the driving seat when it comes to mobile UC market development. There have been some early UC service launches, but for the most part many operators have held back,” he adds.
Kirchheimer believes the key for hesitant mobile operators is to focus on SMEs. MNOs have a natural advantage in their strong relationships with SMEs. In contrast, larger businesses most often have complex and varied fixed Private Branch Exchange (PBX) estates, and PBX vendors and large SIs will be in a more natural position to extend UC functionality to mobile devices via the PBX than will MNOs.
SMEs will not benefit from such high-end attention, and will be attracted to simpler solution bundles on simple terms. Several operators indicated that they plan to base their UC solutions for SMEs on mobile centrex services, thereby eventually aiming to fully displace fixed handsets with mobile devices in many smaller businesses.
However, continues Kirchheimer, “Centrex-based solutions will not appeal to all, especially larger enterprises with significant fixed investments”. “To attack this base of prospects, mobile operators should develop partnerships with some of those very firms they may one day compete against: IP telephony vendors, local value-added resellers and messaging software vendors (e.g., Microsoft).”
The report highlights that mobile providers should not be distracted by the buzz about mobilizing enterprise applications. Our recent survey of 2000 SME telecoms buyers indicated that most SMEs express much greater interest in core UC features (directory, presence, unified messaging) than in horizontal applications like mobile field force automation or fleet management.
“However, mobile operators do face major challenges in this market. UC is not a connection, but a service”, Kirchheimer adds. “A major obstacle for MNOs will be developing tariffs which accommodate device-independent employee behaviour, application management, and flat-rate bundled voice and data.
“The transition to UC will have significant implications for billing systems and internal cost allocations. Building a service infrastructure will be essential for MNOs, as they offer and support SLAs that involve elements in which typical operators will not have any expertise.”
Kirchheimer continues: “If mobile operators craft the right strategies and execute well, then UC could be the first application which enables them to provide more than just voice minutes, email and SMS to a large number of enterprises, and in particular, to small businesses.”
Showing posts with label SMEs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SMEs. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Telcos localise SaaS for the SME market
Comment by Claudio Castelli, Senior Analyst at Ovum
UK: National and regional telcos are increasingly picking applications with localised content to cement existing relationships with SMEs and differentiate from the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers.
The goal is to be the preferred ‘one-stop shop’ for ICT services for SMEs, combining applications and services from local developers and global providers. However, some of these partners will eventually also be competitors.
Administrative applications high on the agenda
With software delivered as a service from virtually anywhere, telcos entering the SaaS game will increasingly face competition from global players in their own backyards.
With much smaller scale, telcos will need to be creative in finding ways to differentiate in their marketplace. Existing customer relations and good knowledge of their particular needs will be key to telcos' ambitions to maintain a broader role in the value chain and avoid the risk of becoming only connectivity providers.
An increasing number of telcos are launching services focusing on SMEs' local needs. Telstra, for example, launched its SaaS proposition in April, with offerings including Workforce Guardian, an HR service that helps SMEs in Australia to create compliant employment contracts.
It has now announced Xero, a hosted accounting tool that provides SMEs with access to bank transactions, invoicing reports and tax data. In both cases, applications will run based on local requirements. This is expected to provide a competitive advantage against global players.
Telcos want to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for SMEs
Having a single ICT provider is on the majority of SMEs’ wish-lists. Ovum research shows that 65 percent of SMEs globally prefer to purchase all their fixed and mobile services from a single provider. Telcos are listening to their demands.
An important value that telcos can add is integrating multiple services into end-to-end offerings. They normally have relationships with the majority of small business customers, which in many cases extend beyond billing. Their reach and understanding of SME pain points might attract the right ISV partners.
However, some of these partners might eventually become competitors. Telstra will also offer Microsoft Online Services through its SaaS platform T-Suite. Although not broadly promoted, Microsoft also offers applications online directly to customers. We think there is potential conflict in the future.
SingTel is another operator that is working hard to build an end-to-end ICT proposition for SMEs in Singapore. The operator released a range of ICT packages for SMEs, and recently launched an Innovation Exchange programme to bring application developers into the service provider’s SaaS offerings.
The aim is to combine solutions from global players such as Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.com with local ISVs. Like Telstra, SingTel included HR applications in these initial offerings.
Other telcos are also rolling out their SME plans. AT&T has just re-launched its small business portal; AT&T Small Business InSite now provides a library of practical ‘how to’ articles, podcasts and video resources to help small companies integrate technology into their business, with a strong emphasis on mobile solutions, remote access and wireless applications.
UK: National and regional telcos are increasingly picking applications with localised content to cement existing relationships with SMEs and differentiate from the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers.
The goal is to be the preferred ‘one-stop shop’ for ICT services for SMEs, combining applications and services from local developers and global providers. However, some of these partners will eventually also be competitors.
Administrative applications high on the agenda
With software delivered as a service from virtually anywhere, telcos entering the SaaS game will increasingly face competition from global players in their own backyards.
With much smaller scale, telcos will need to be creative in finding ways to differentiate in their marketplace. Existing customer relations and good knowledge of their particular needs will be key to telcos' ambitions to maintain a broader role in the value chain and avoid the risk of becoming only connectivity providers.
An increasing number of telcos are launching services focusing on SMEs' local needs. Telstra, for example, launched its SaaS proposition in April, with offerings including Workforce Guardian, an HR service that helps SMEs in Australia to create compliant employment contracts.
It has now announced Xero, a hosted accounting tool that provides SMEs with access to bank transactions, invoicing reports and tax data. In both cases, applications will run based on local requirements. This is expected to provide a competitive advantage against global players.
Telcos want to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for SMEs
Having a single ICT provider is on the majority of SMEs’ wish-lists. Ovum research shows that 65 percent of SMEs globally prefer to purchase all their fixed and mobile services from a single provider. Telcos are listening to their demands.
An important value that telcos can add is integrating multiple services into end-to-end offerings. They normally have relationships with the majority of small business customers, which in many cases extend beyond billing. Their reach and understanding of SME pain points might attract the right ISV partners.
However, some of these partners might eventually become competitors. Telstra will also offer Microsoft Online Services through its SaaS platform T-Suite. Although not broadly promoted, Microsoft also offers applications online directly to customers. We think there is potential conflict in the future.
SingTel is another operator that is working hard to build an end-to-end ICT proposition for SMEs in Singapore. The operator released a range of ICT packages for SMEs, and recently launched an Innovation Exchange programme to bring application developers into the service provider’s SaaS offerings.
The aim is to combine solutions from global players such as Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.com with local ISVs. Like Telstra, SingTel included HR applications in these initial offerings.
Other telcos are also rolling out their SME plans. AT&T has just re-launched its small business portal; AT&T Small Business InSite now provides a library of practical ‘how to’ articles, podcasts and video resources to help small companies integrate technology into their business, with a strong emphasis on mobile solutions, remote access and wireless applications.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
SMEs in India: Opportunities in credit crunch
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: According to Ovum, SMEs in India are highly price sensitive, less exposed to the global market, and confident about spending in the current economic climate. They are keen to move to managed services, although reluctant to increase the proportion of expenditure on mobile services.
India has a broad diversity of suppliers and is a highly competitive market place. There is no single dominant player across the country for telecommunication services and the competition is greater than in most of the Asian markets. The number of options for mobile service is greater than on the fixed services.
“As a result, in order to get the best of breed, the majority of SMEs prefers not to have single provider for multiple services”, says Claudio Castelli, Senior Analyst at Ovum and author of this report. “The common strategy of bundling services, deployed by service providers in many other places, is less likely to be effective in this market,”
SMEs in India are looking at ways of reducing unnecessary up-front capital investment. Castelli adds, “Seventy one percent of the companies surveyed prefer to have a predictable monthly recurring charge per user for telecoms equipment and services.”
The high interest in opex-based models for telecoms equipment and services in this market is reflected in the SMEs mature views on managed services. A few SMEs are already using managed services and many others are planning to do so in the future.
“They are most keen to adopt managed audio/video conferencing, PBX/IP PBX, security and specialist business software applications”, says Claudio, based in Melbourne.
In addition, the share of mobile workers is growing; 43 percent of SMEs' employees have some degree of mobility. “However this isn’t reflected in the budget allocated for mobile services”, says Claudio. “Unsurprisingly, controlling the cost of mobility is a high priority amongst the SMEs.”
Like in many other Asian countries, the majority of the companies does not provide wireless devices to employees needing mobility for business purposes. This is a clear indication that users are generally providing and supporting their own personal mobile devices when at work.
Ovum believes this practice is dangerous and might result in business risks. For example, if a salesperson goes to a competitor, their customers will continue to contact him at that number.
Overall, players taking the managed services path will have higher chances to succeed with SMEs in this market. At Ovum, we expect the software as a service (SaaS) approach to be a good opportunity for services providers and solution vendors.
India has a broad diversity of suppliers and is a highly competitive market place. There is no single dominant player across the country for telecommunication services and the competition is greater than in most of the Asian markets. The number of options for mobile service is greater than on the fixed services.
“As a result, in order to get the best of breed, the majority of SMEs prefers not to have single provider for multiple services”, says Claudio Castelli, Senior Analyst at Ovum and author of this report. “The common strategy of bundling services, deployed by service providers in many other places, is less likely to be effective in this market,”
SMEs in India are looking at ways of reducing unnecessary up-front capital investment. Castelli adds, “Seventy one percent of the companies surveyed prefer to have a predictable monthly recurring charge per user for telecoms equipment and services.”
The high interest in opex-based models for telecoms equipment and services in this market is reflected in the SMEs mature views on managed services. A few SMEs are already using managed services and many others are planning to do so in the future.
“They are most keen to adopt managed audio/video conferencing, PBX/IP PBX, security and specialist business software applications”, says Claudio, based in Melbourne.
In addition, the share of mobile workers is growing; 43 percent of SMEs' employees have some degree of mobility. “However this isn’t reflected in the budget allocated for mobile services”, says Claudio. “Unsurprisingly, controlling the cost of mobility is a high priority amongst the SMEs.”
Like in many other Asian countries, the majority of the companies does not provide wireless devices to employees needing mobility for business purposes. This is a clear indication that users are generally providing and supporting their own personal mobile devices when at work.
Ovum believes this practice is dangerous and might result in business risks. For example, if a salesperson goes to a competitor, their customers will continue to contact him at that number.
Overall, players taking the managed services path will have higher chances to succeed with SMEs in this market. At Ovum, we expect the software as a service (SaaS) approach to be a good opportunity for services providers and solution vendors.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
SMEs in China: Promising in mobile UC
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: With a strong domestic market, SMEs in China are less exposed to the global economic climate than most of their counterparts in other countries. As a result, they expect to continue spending on telecoms during the downturn.
“They are price-sensitive and are more likely to adopt managed and hosted services in order to avoid up-front capital investments, however we recommend caution when looking at these expectations”, said Claudio Castelli, Senior Analyst based in Melbourne.
"Even in China, economic growth is slowing considerably. At some stage it is likely that cash-strapped SMEs will look to cut costs and that budgets may not be converted into actual spend”, advised Castelli.
Mobility is growing fast among SMEs in China -- currently 61 percent of their employees have some degree of mobility; but this high level of mobility is not yet reflected in expenditure on mobile services. As is the case in most Asian countries, SMEs in China don’t supply mobile devices to their employees; mobile users supply and support their own personal mobile devices when at work.
“We believe this practice has a high degree of risk for the business”, added Castelli. However this scenario is likely to change, as SMEs expect their expenditure to grow more on mobile services than on fixed services. “Moreover, recent reforms in the Chinese telecoms market and the release of 3G licences nationwide will promote more services and competition, further accentuating this growth”, he adds.
SMEs in China are also expecting to adopt new mobile applications. Considering the magnitude of the Chinese market, this is a major opportunity for vendors and service providers.
Mobile email has the highest potential to grow, while other promising mobile applications include mobile IM and mobile multimedia, which offer great opportunities for mobile UC providers. Applications that address the specific needs of mobile workforces, such as tracking of goods or vehicles, field service automation and sales force automation, will also be in demand.
In addition, there are a few companies deploying specific solutions for people moving around within the workplace, and we see potential for fixed–mobile convergence (FMC) solutions.
Many SMEs are willing to deploy PBX-like features on their mobile phones -– some expect these to be provided by a mobile service provider while others expect to deploy them at their own premises. However, it will be difficult to deploy integrated solutions based on users’ personal devices. “SMEs will need to take full control of their mobility solutions, including mobile devices”, concludes Castelli.
“They are price-sensitive and are more likely to adopt managed and hosted services in order to avoid up-front capital investments, however we recommend caution when looking at these expectations”, said Claudio Castelli, Senior Analyst based in Melbourne.
"Even in China, economic growth is slowing considerably. At some stage it is likely that cash-strapped SMEs will look to cut costs and that budgets may not be converted into actual spend”, advised Castelli.
Mobility is growing fast among SMEs in China -- currently 61 percent of their employees have some degree of mobility; but this high level of mobility is not yet reflected in expenditure on mobile services. As is the case in most Asian countries, SMEs in China don’t supply mobile devices to their employees; mobile users supply and support their own personal mobile devices when at work.
“We believe this practice has a high degree of risk for the business”, added Castelli. However this scenario is likely to change, as SMEs expect their expenditure to grow more on mobile services than on fixed services. “Moreover, recent reforms in the Chinese telecoms market and the release of 3G licences nationwide will promote more services and competition, further accentuating this growth”, he adds.
SMEs in China are also expecting to adopt new mobile applications. Considering the magnitude of the Chinese market, this is a major opportunity for vendors and service providers.
Mobile email has the highest potential to grow, while other promising mobile applications include mobile IM and mobile multimedia, which offer great opportunities for mobile UC providers. Applications that address the specific needs of mobile workforces, such as tracking of goods or vehicles, field service automation and sales force automation, will also be in demand.
In addition, there are a few companies deploying specific solutions for people moving around within the workplace, and we see potential for fixed–mobile convergence (FMC) solutions.
Many SMEs are willing to deploy PBX-like features on their mobile phones -– some expect these to be provided by a mobile service provider while others expect to deploy them at their own premises. However, it will be difficult to deploy integrated solutions based on users’ personal devices. “SMEs will need to take full control of their mobility solutions, including mobile devices”, concludes Castelli.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Farnell looking to convert 3,500 prospects this year in India!
Now that's what I call aggression!
Last July, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms Harriet Green, CEO, Farnell Electronics, a part of the Premier Farnell group of companies. It is soon going to be a year since the company set up presence in India. Farnell has aggressive plans for India, with the company likely to look at converting at least 3,500 prospects this year.
I met up with Nader Tadros, Commercial Marketing Director APAC, Premier Farnell (see picture here), and Navin Honnavar, marketing manager, Farnell Electronics India Pvt. Ltd to get an update on Farnell.
According to Tadros, Farnell is said to be the number 1 small-order high service multi-channel distributor in the world. "We carry obver 3,500 leading suppliers and 450,000 product stocks globally. We have 36 transactional websites in 23 languages," he added.
Farnell currently has six warehouses -- one in America, and two in Europe and three in Asia -- Sydney, Shanghai and Singapore. In India, it now has nine branch offices, and one contact center and one global tech center (GTC) -- in Bangalore. The GTC provides live chat and board level support, which also translates into global support.
Tadros said that Farnell is aggressively are supporting the EDE (electronic design engineers) community and MRO (maintenance, repair, operatoinal) marketplace. "We have taken particular focus on developing the EDE space, providing support, services and relevant products. We want to make sure the value proposition is mapped on to the EDE needs," he said. Elaborating on the value proposition, he cited an example of x-ray machine manufacturers.
Global business strategy
Farnell has a four-pronged global business strategy. This includes:
* Focusing on global EDE customer segment.
* Increase business via the Web.
* Internationalization
* Continue to develop profitable MRO business.
Tadros believes that the power of the Web is tremendous. "It is very useful for customers to search and transact. Another area is customer demand. They are looking for efficiencies," he added. "An important aspect that can help us is that we are able to understand customers; needs. The data that the web search is able to provide gives us the critical information. If a customer searches for a part, and we track that, we are able to service their needs better."
Hasn't Farnell been affected by the recession? Tadros said: "We are not immune to the recession. The volatlity is higher, and it is also at the customer level." Honnavar added: "Our strategy seems to be working for us. We are maintaining our base in the MRO space. We are still pulling in customer requests and still growing."
So, what else is Farnell doing, besides these activities? Well, it has adopted a multichannel approach for the Asia Pacific region. It has 154 staff in eight call centers, besides being involved in direct and e-marketing. The company has nine local websites -- simplified chinese for China, thai for Thailand, and English for India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, it has 103 field sales engineers in 29 sales offices.
Aggressive plans
I started this post by saying I liked Farnell's aggressive plans. It currently has 2,500 active customers and 9,000 prospects in India alone. The company has a target to reach $25 mn by 2010. It is also a walue added distributor offering products to leading suppliers such as Texas Instruments, Molex, and 3,500 other leading brands.
Touching on Farnell's clients in India, Honnavar said: "We have independent design houses, resellers, R&D centers, educational centers, government organizations (such as BEL, HAL), etc., among our customers. The prospects includes a huge list of people. We have touched the top layers in tier 2 cities -- such as Coimbatore and Ahmedabad. We are looking at converting 3,500 prospects this year."
More focus on components, SMEs
The components industry isn't exactly in the pink of health right now. Giving his views on the electronics and components space, Tadros said: "Customers themselves are not able to anticipate the demand for the next quarter or periods. We are seeing that there is still growth in the EDE space and inquiries are still coming in. During a recession, you have an opportunity to distinguish yourself from competition. There is pressure on teams as they have to continually innovate. Customers require more even support, more technical documentation, and look for faster turnaround times."
Farnell is in a position to help those SMEs who are in the electronics and components spaces. Tadros said that the company can support such SMEs by helping them to build their markets in a timely fashion.
Honnavar added that Farnell is focusing on building a product and purchasing team, sitting out of Singapore and Hong Kong. "Moving forward, you will probably get to see more buying happening in the Asia Pacific region. Going ahead, a lot of sourcing will also be done from India." The company intends to be extremely close to suppliers, especially in the Greater China region.
Last July, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms Harriet Green, CEO, Farnell Electronics, a part of the Premier Farnell group of companies. It is soon going to be a year since the company set up presence in India. Farnell has aggressive plans for India, with the company likely to look at converting at least 3,500 prospects this year.
I met up with Nader Tadros, Commercial Marketing Director APAC, Premier Farnell (see picture here), and Navin Honnavar, marketing manager, Farnell Electronics India Pvt. Ltd to get an update on Farnell.According to Tadros, Farnell is said to be the number 1 small-order high service multi-channel distributor in the world. "We carry obver 3,500 leading suppliers and 450,000 product stocks globally. We have 36 transactional websites in 23 languages," he added.
Farnell currently has six warehouses -- one in America, and two in Europe and three in Asia -- Sydney, Shanghai and Singapore. In India, it now has nine branch offices, and one contact center and one global tech center (GTC) -- in Bangalore. The GTC provides live chat and board level support, which also translates into global support.
Tadros said that Farnell is aggressively are supporting the EDE (electronic design engineers) community and MRO (maintenance, repair, operatoinal) marketplace. "We have taken particular focus on developing the EDE space, providing support, services and relevant products. We want to make sure the value proposition is mapped on to the EDE needs," he said. Elaborating on the value proposition, he cited an example of x-ray machine manufacturers.
Global business strategy
Farnell has a four-pronged global business strategy. This includes:
* Focusing on global EDE customer segment.
* Increase business via the Web.
* Internationalization
* Continue to develop profitable MRO business.
Tadros believes that the power of the Web is tremendous. "It is very useful for customers to search and transact. Another area is customer demand. They are looking for efficiencies," he added. "An important aspect that can help us is that we are able to understand customers; needs. The data that the web search is able to provide gives us the critical information. If a customer searches for a part, and we track that, we are able to service their needs better."
Hasn't Farnell been affected by the recession? Tadros said: "We are not immune to the recession. The volatlity is higher, and it is also at the customer level." Honnavar added: "Our strategy seems to be working for us. We are maintaining our base in the MRO space. We are still pulling in customer requests and still growing."
So, what else is Farnell doing, besides these activities? Well, it has adopted a multichannel approach for the Asia Pacific region. It has 154 staff in eight call centers, besides being involved in direct and e-marketing. The company has nine local websites -- simplified chinese for China, thai for Thailand, and English for India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, it has 103 field sales engineers in 29 sales offices.
Aggressive plans
I started this post by saying I liked Farnell's aggressive plans. It currently has 2,500 active customers and 9,000 prospects in India alone. The company has a target to reach $25 mn by 2010. It is also a walue added distributor offering products to leading suppliers such as Texas Instruments, Molex, and 3,500 other leading brands.
Touching on Farnell's clients in India, Honnavar said: "We have independent design houses, resellers, R&D centers, educational centers, government organizations (such as BEL, HAL), etc., among our customers. The prospects includes a huge list of people. We have touched the top layers in tier 2 cities -- such as Coimbatore and Ahmedabad. We are looking at converting 3,500 prospects this year."
More focus on components, SMEs
The components industry isn't exactly in the pink of health right now. Giving his views on the electronics and components space, Tadros said: "Customers themselves are not able to anticipate the demand for the next quarter or periods. We are seeing that there is still growth in the EDE space and inquiries are still coming in. During a recession, you have an opportunity to distinguish yourself from competition. There is pressure on teams as they have to continually innovate. Customers require more even support, more technical documentation, and look for faster turnaround times."
Farnell is in a position to help those SMEs who are in the electronics and components spaces. Tadros said that the company can support such SMEs by helping them to build their markets in a timely fashion.
Honnavar added that Farnell is focusing on building a product and purchasing team, sitting out of Singapore and Hong Kong. "Moving forward, you will probably get to see more buying happening in the Asia Pacific region. Going ahead, a lot of sourcing will also be done from India." The company intends to be extremely close to suppliers, especially in the Greater China region.
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