The boss has a new gadget to keep tabs on the subordinates. The gadget is not
just for being connected while on the move, the device is a mobile office. We
are talking about smart phones and PDA phones, the latest competition to the
notebook computers and laptops.
Palmtops, PDAs, and handheld office devices have been around for some time
now and many executives on the move have considered these an alternate to the
bulky laptops. Initially the handheld office devices did not have voice
functions and were mainly used for: taking notes, making presentations, or any
other work which the user would have done over his desktop. Today a single
mobile handheld device can be used to: communicate over voice and e-mail, stream
video, conferencing, and also to browse the cyberspace. Gone are the days when
executives were seen carrying laptops, palm tops, and cell phones separately.
Most executives today like to keep their workplace in their pocket, while on the
move.
Betting on Mobile Apps
Though it is not easy discount the laptops, the future seems to be for the
smart phones or pocket PCs. Already, in high-security zones like the White House
and Pentagon, government officials private executives have been using the
BlackBerry instead of a laptop to be connected to their central office. With
sets like O2XDA II being Wi-Fi enabled, working on the move with a single device
has become easier.
In Japan, South Korea, and many other Southeast Asian countries PDAs and
smart phones over the Microsoft Windows Mobile platforms are becoming popular.
"Market research reports show the PDA market going down. Users prefer to
have smart phones or high-end feature phones with PDA functionalities,"
says Chia Eng Keat, vice president sales, O2 (Asia).
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In India, Hutch tied up with Motorola to bring e-mail and some of the other
Microsoft applications over its network. Reliance, Bharti, and Tata have made
their intentions clear on providing enterprise applications like corporate
e-mail to their subscribers.
Telecom operators have been trying to leverage on their networks by enhancing
data carrying speeds up to 2 Mbps from the current 30—40 kbps. GPRS and EDGE,
promising almost 144 kbps data throughput, were two such enhancements giving
decent surfing speeds though multimedia applications are still not efficient
over them.
Era of Converged Devices
In October, Airtel brought the BlackBerry devices to India. Under an
exclusive tie up these devices would be available to the enterprise customers.
"The compatibility of BlackBerry with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes
makes it an excellent device for both the enterprise and the retail customers.
Though our main focus would be enterprise users," said Dr Jai Menon, CTO,
Bharti group.
It extracts the content (text) from applications (e.g. PDF, Word, or Excel)
and shows it in a form compatible to the screen size, without loss of data, he
added. For many smart phones also you need software like RepliGo and ClearVue to
see the mail attachments.
The BlackBerry device works on a separate network that has been laid over the
existing one. The access points for BlackBerry are connected with leased lines
with lot of redundancy to give high quality of service-SLAs ensures 99.9
percent up time-and speed.
"Unlike the common perception, the data centers and enterprise servers
are not placed in London or Canada. They are very much in India and the deal
with Research in Motion, which makes BlackBerry, was struck only when they were
satisfied with the network quality and our capability to deliver to their
standards," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director,
Bharti Tele-Ventures.
Airtel also offers Microsoft Pocket PC phones, and officials say as an
operator they are technology agnostic and it depends on the customer to choose
from the two. "We have both and even though BlackBerry is being marketed
directly by us, only those who know its benefits opt for it and believe me there
are many who prefer it over smart phones which are available in the open
market," said Dr Menon.
Smart devices from Palm, iMate, Krome, Motorola, Kyocera, O2 XDAs, and HP
iPacs are some of the models that not only offer e-mail services but also have
chat messenger features and a camera too.
E-mail as the Selling Point
The USP of BlackBerry across world has been its push technology and the open
standard that enables developers to add applications according to customers'
needs. Due to the push technology, the email inbox on the desktop is in sync
with the device and the user gets instant email alerts instead of doing a
send/receive each time.
Hutch also claims to offer inbox synchronization between Pocket PC phones and
desktops. "You can get emails on both your phone inbox and your desktop.
The best part is, once you have opened the mail on the mobile, it is still
stored in your inbox and can be retrieved on the desktop," said Shanker
Bali, vice-president (sales and marketing), Hutch India. However,
synchronization happens either through a USB and data cable or over the air
(OTA).
If synchronization happens OTA, user gets the mails when they are delivered
in his mailbox. But for this exchange server needs to be installed and a VPN
link established if the user wants to access his office mail or office network.
Ease of Use
Being an open standard, BlackBerry is compatible even with Microsoft
Exchange servers and Lotus Notes. The Windows-enabled Pocket PCs run Microsoft
applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. "BlackBerry is a previous
generation technology. As most of the enterprises are using Microsoft OS and are
familiar with its usage, it requires practically no training to adopt Pocket
PCs," say Microsoft officials.
The BlackBerry urge, however, cannot be discounted and many handset vendors
are trying to integrate the BlackBerry platform on their devices.
"When the target audience are the enterprise, you have to fulfill their
aspirations. To attract the BlackBerry fans, we are soon going to introduce this
platform over our XDA sets. The integrated phones should hit the market in first
half of 2005," added Keat.
If applications are kept aside and just the form factor of these devices is
taken into account, there is no doubt they are getting smaller and sleeker. But
reduced form factor and features like touch screen often take away the ease of
use. These devices are being positioned to enhance efficiency but their keypad
is very small, reducing the typing speed. In touch-screen phones, even a slight
touch can change the application and this can be very irritating while making
calls and in moving vehicles.
"It is matter of getting used to the small size of keypads or the touch
screen. If you are using a PDA, there should not be a problem and once you get
used to these sets it gives a great experience," said Karan Narula, CEO,
eCharge.
Spend More to Keep in Touch
With Blackberry, pocket PC, or smart phones, apart from the cost of the
handsets (Rs 20,000 to Rs 44,000), one has to pay additional charge of services
like GPRS and EDGE. In case of BlackBerry, subscribers also pay a royalty for
using the BlackBerry platform. They also pays for the airtime used and Internet
(read GPRS) charges.
Besides these features, the real test would be device cost and customized
applications. Before going for the services, enterprise users would wait for
BlackBerry and Pocket PC to blink first. As in any corporate deal, negotiations
would hold the key for: a better deal, reduced capex, and increased opex.
"The package can varies. We are open to bundle it with other Airtel
services but the royalty has to be paid to BlackBerry. It is a platinum-grade
service for which the user is ready to pay," adds Dr Menon. Also, the MS
Exchange servers, license fee, and cost of application software are additional.
"Applications like field-force automation, inventory management, and
sales force management running on these devices neutralizes the investments and
in the long run it has been proved that overall efficiency of the enterprise has
gone up," said Donald H Morrison, chief operating officer, BlackBerry.
So the main question for a CIO to ask, before he opts for these devices for
his enterprise, is whether the amount spent is worth the value of productivity
enhancement. The real market for these devices is with the enterprise users and
individuals might use it for being 'in style'. And acceptance level among
the enterprise users would go up only if there is a case of remarkable rise in
efficiency due to these devices.