With the start of a new year, it’s always good practice to reflect on trends and patterns from the previous year, and then project that forward as an industry roadmap for the future. An industry roadmap can help to prepare for upcoming changes to the mobile industry, as well as brace for the impact that these changes will have on short- and long-term decision making. The following seven predictions for enterprise mobility in 2016, based on current market research and trends, will be shared over the next few weeks.
A LOOK BACK AT 2015
2015 was the year of Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and Apple in the enterprise market, while other carriers and devices had a marginal presence. Last year we saw the US wireless price war escalate to the point where all major carriers were forced to substantially reduce pricing for domestic and international services. Additionally, carriers began phasing out subsidized device offerings in the consumer market while promoting Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) and Device Leasing. Net new subscriber growth slowed dramatically, forcing carriers to focus on retention and margin. As Tangoe predicted, pooled data became the plan structure of choice as carriers continued to phase out unlimited data while voice and messaging services have been commoditized to the point of being offered on an unlimited basis.
PREDICTION 1: BYOD: SHIFT FROM "DEVICE" TO "WHAT KIND OF MOBILITY EXPERIENCE AN ENTERPRISE WANTS TO OFFER ITS WORKFORCE"
Previously, mobility has been primarily used for email and phone calls (communication), but in 2016 we will see businesses truly embrace the concept of the “mobile business” model. Al Subbloie, President and CEO of Tangoe aptly states, “As mobile becomes the de facto IT computing platform, many companies want to shift their focus from what’s required to plan, deploy, and maintain their mobile strategy to how mobility can transform their business.”
Essentially we will see a greater swing from simply mobilizing the workforce to mobilizing the business. Cloud and mobile converge to create more efficient possibilities for end-user mobile computing within the business context. Organizations will most likely work to reduce unnecessary and redundant devices. For example, if an employee can accomplish works tasks on a tablet, he or she may not necessarily need a desktop and smartphone with the same capabilities.
The BYOD discussion will also change considerably in 2016. It will no longer just be about employees bringing their favorite device. It will be about what type of device is needed based on the work the employee is doing, thereby giving the control and scale back to IT.
This makes sense when we realize that IT typically releases very few apps per year. Even today (and over the last few decades) the main app has been email—but this needs to change. The new innovation drivers are BI, cloud, analytics, and big data. These elements will be used to offer more than just business insights; they will begin to proactively influence business outcomes. But to do that we need to move beyond email.
ABOUT TANGOE
Tangoe (NASDAQ:TNGO) is a leading global provider of IT Expense Management software and services to a wide range of global enterprises and service providers. The Matrix is Tangoe’s technology and services platform designed to help companies transform the management of IT assets, services, expenses, and usage to create business value, increase efficiency, and deliver a positive impact to the bottom line.
Additional information about Tangoe can be found at www.tangoe.com.
