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Vendors Must Modify Strategies To Reach New Segments Of Mobile Workers

Posted by Michele Pelino on January 22, 2011

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Vendors in the mobility ecosystem are dramatically underestimating the demand for mobility solutions in the corporate arena. Why? Because they are missing demand that will come from two emerging segments of employees: Mobile Wannabes and Mobile Mavericks. When combined, these two worker segments account for 22% of all employees today, but by 2015 they will grow significantly to 42% of all corporate employees. To identify the needs of these mobile workers, Forrester analyzed results from the Forrsights Workforce Employee Survey, Q3 2010, which was fielded to over 5,500 employees in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US and captures their smartphone device usage, purchasing behavior, and mobile application adoption.

Mobile Wannabe employees work in desk jobs at an office and do not get mobile devices from the corporate IT department, but they “want to” use their smartphone devices for work. Today, Mobile Wannabe workers account for 16% of all employees worldwide; however, by 2015, this segment will account for nearly 30% of all employees. Wannabe worker roles include executive assistants, clerical personnel, human resource workers, and customer service representatives. Momentum in this segment is driven by Millennial workers who grew up having easy access to personal computers and mobile phones and often purchase smartphones prior to entering the workforce.

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Enterprises Prepare For Verizon To Offer iPhone 4

Posted by Michele Pelino on January 17, 2011

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Last week Verizon Wireless announced it will begin selling Apple’s iPhone 4 to customers in February 2011. The new relationship between Verizon Wireless and Apple terminates the exclusive relationship AT&T had with Apple since 2007 to distribute iPhones in the US. Verizon Wireless will be able to address pent-up demand for iPhones among existing customers, as well as from customers who switch from competitors such as Sprint and T-Mobile to gain access to these devices. The introduction of Verizon’s iPhone also impacts the competitive smartphone landscape, mobile application developers, network operators, and other participants in the mobility ecosystem. Details regarding the Verizon Wireless iPhone announcement are highlighted in the report “Verizon’s iPhone Sets The Battleground For iPhone 5,” written by my colleague Charles Golvin.

Verizon’s iPhone and AT&T’s iPhone will look and cost the same, however Verizon Wireless has not yet announced the cost of voice and data service for these devices. There are also key differences in Verizon’s iPhone, which have important implications on enterprise smartphone purchasing decisions. Verizon’s iPhone will not have a multimode chip, so these devices will only roam onto CDMA networks, which are used in Verizon’s network. CDMA network technology is not as common in other countries so firms with employees who travel internationally may find this to be a limitation. Also, the timeline for replacing corporate liable smartphone devices is often 18 months. Therefore, although Verizon Wireless will begin offering the iPhone 4 in February, enterprise smartphone contract renewal cycles may mean these devices do not make their way into the hands of employees for more than a year.