1. Introduction
The convergence on open standards had a profound impact on the IT industry and is now having a similar effect on the telecommunication industry. The once separate aspects of voice and data, fixed or mobile connectivity are now blurring, and this changes the nature of what is expected and what should be offered by service providers.
Organisations can follow two paths when dealing with network service providers – look for each single specific service and manage many relationships, or seek out providers who offer solutions that span technology and geographic divisions. This will depend on the ability and willingness of service providers to step up to the mark, and customer appreciation of the value on offer.
The aim of this report is to look at the continuing trends in enterprise communications. As background to this, interviews were conducted in larger organisations from across Europe involving 600 managers with responsibility for, or active involvement in, the relationship with mobile operators (see Appendix A).
The report examines the issues involved in dealing with the complexities of mobile communications, and where businesses should legitimately expect their telecommunications suppliers to offer more services. Many of the questions asked during the course of this research are repeated from previous studies, and show trends in thinking among European companies.
This report is intended to be read by those with responsibility for sourcing mobile data services and dealing with mobile operators. It offers them a peer review and information that may be useful in their negotiations with mobile operators.
2. Changing working patterns
Distance no object
The geographic spread of business associations, the need to remain in contact, and the need to be more responsive and competitive in a fast-moving market place all have an impact on the mobility requirements of organisations whether large or small.
The need for mobile technology in the workplace has grown steadily in the last two decades, but employees have always been mobile. Coming to and from work, selling at customer sites, meeting suppliers and prospects, carrying out maintenance on location, have always been factors in the working environment. Now, there is an expectation of always being in contact, whether in a fixed location, constantly mobile, or as with most roles, a requirement for something somewhere in-between.
The mobile phone has had a big part to play in this communication flexibility allowing all sorts of workers to keep in touch with their colleagues, customers or suppliers. But with increasing reliance on access to corporate and public IT services such as the internet, remote and mobile access to data has become a requirement for many more types of employees in a diverse set of organisations.
Mobile costs still growing
In the realm of fixed communications, costs are fairly predictable, especially when looking at data. Companies typically buy capacity as bandwidth, and then use it as much as their services demand. Increasingly fixed voice communications are also based on a similar cost model, with bundles, all you can eat flat tariffs and for some the use of IP telephony to exploit capacity in the data network.
The extent of mobile costs for calls and data is one area of concern for many organisations as they see the costs for providing this flexible connection still growing significantly year on year (Figure 1).
Somehow, this needs to be brought under control, and the escalating costs have prompted some companies to explore alternatives including converging fixed and mobile technologies. These try to combine the flexibility of mobile with the flatter, more predictable cost levels of fixed, but this convergence also opens up other opportunities and potential problems.
Broadband – home from work or work from home?
As the communications converge, the locations diverge, adding more complexity to the issue. At one time working from home was seen as a binary choice – either fulltime at a place of work or at home – but the distinction is now far more blurred.
Those working even occasionally at home still require access to corporate IT systems, and still need to be able to make and receive calls – ideally to be contactable on the same number and with access to the same telephony services as they would use in the office.
