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In this paper, Frost & Sullivan has identified leading solution vendors in the mobile enterprise space based on market acceptance and product innovation.
Frost & Sullivan tracked and evaluated wireless email solution deployments, products in development, and new product features and modifications. This was accomplished through interviews vendors and extensive secondary and technical analysis. The solutions were then compared, evaluated, and ranked based on parameters considered as critical in the implementation of a wireless enterprise solution and the key demands of the enterprises.
The results of this research demonstrates that Motorola Good’s Good Mobile Messaging (GMM 5.0) solution and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry (BES4.1) solution are considered by customers (both IT departments and end users) to be the best of class solutions available to manage both wireless email as well as the deployment and management of mobile applications.
It is estimated that there will be 3.5 billion mobile users globally by the end of 2010 (Chart 1.1). In developed regions, market penetration has surpassed 70 percent but there are still developing regions like India and China where penetration is under 30 percent. And, most mobile users recycle their phone in an average of 18 months so that new sales of handsets are approximately 50 percent of the entire installed base. As the installed base of subscribers in these regions continues to grow, there will be a substantial amount of people for whom the introduction to the Internet and email will be through their mobile phones. The questions remains—who can get them to use this first?
Currently, the total worldwide addressable market of mobile workers stands at 375 million— an opportunity no one can possibly ignore. And, this number is expected to grow significantly over the coming years as more workers become educated and use wireless technology in their daily life. While most people still get a mobile phone to make phone calls, most enterprises acquire wireless handsets to enable wireless email and, subsequently, mobile applications. Since the market opportunity is huge, major vendors are aggressively marketing their products. This, plus the fact that there's now a social-psychological acceptance by most workers that it is prestigious to have a handheld device like a BlackBerry or Treo with wireless email.
The market for wireless email is still relatively small compared to the total addressable market. As can be seen by this chart, the penetration of wireless email into the total addressable market of mobile enterprise users is around 8 percent today and will grow to be approximately 20% in the next four years, with close to 40 percent penetration in the North America alone.
Enterprise mobility solution vendors continue focusing on innovative technology in order to garner a larger share of the available market in light of heavy competition. The enterprises adopting mobile technology are, themselves, challenged to provide their employees with the best solutions available but cannot change from one wireless email solution provider to another all the time. Therefore, they need to make a decision based on current and anticipated offerings from the major mobility solution vendors. Finally, enterprises today are looking beyond email for their mobility solutions. They require both custom mobile applications for wireless handsets and access of enterprise back end resources so that mobile workers can best help support what's now being called the 'real time enterprise.' Chart 1.1 and Chart 1.2 Depicts the Total Mobile Subscribers (World) and the Wireless Email Subscribers (Global) Forecasts, 2007—2011 respectively.
Methodology & Influencing Factors
Eight parameters were chosen to best reflect the requirements that enterprises consider when acquiring a wireless email and mobile application deployment solution:
- Features & functionality
- Solution management & deployment
- Device flexibility
- Security
- Mobilizing enterprise applications
- Service & support
- Usability
- Total cost of ownership (TCO)
Frost conducted a number of interviews of both vendors and organizations using wireless email. From these interviews, a ranked rating for each vendor was created for each parameter taking into account input from the surveys as well as opinions of the analyst team. In addition to the rankings of the eight parameters, Frost also asked that the users rate the importance of the parameters in addition to rating the vendors within each parameter. Chart 1.3 illustrates how the enterprises perceive each of the above parameters in terms of level of importance.
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