I've recently had to assist a family member with filing a homeowner’s property and casualty claim resulting from a fire. Much to my surprise, the independent claims adjuster showed up with all the data and applications he needed nicely packaged on his iPad. He was able to sit, on the spot, and touch his way through the meeting, no laptop in sight. I, still carrying two devices, was envious.
I’ve also recently had the opportunity to speak with a retail application developer, or ISV, about the new iPad application. To be delivered via SaaS, it’s targeted at high-end retailers with the goal of enhancing the high-touch, personalized shopping experience for their valued customers. The application supports complementary purchases and customer offers on the spot without the need to visit a retail point-of-sale device and incorporates the sales associate's knowledge of high-end customers' history.
What drives the above two mobile computing examples are employee productivity, customer satisfaction and competitive advantage.
Much has been written recently regarding the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) momentum driving slate and tablet sales, and the resulting wireless surge. Your recent response to our IPED mobility study indicates you are placing Apple iPads into your customers’ mobile environments four times more often than the next most popular tablet or slate alternatives. When doing so, you indicated a higher gross margin contribution than the tablet or slate alternatives.
If we broaden the picture and consider laptop vs. slate or tablet, there is a notable difference in your capabilities and solutions. Your service offerings and revenues lean toward security, antivirus detection and support when the user device is a laptop or netbook. When the user device is an iPad, slate or tablet, application development and integration capabilities in support of business intelligence and customer applications are the leading revenue-generating services you deploy, behind e-mail access.
J. P. Morgan estimates Apple will have shipped 6.75 million iPads in the second calendar quarter. iSuppli reported PC shipments trended down 300,000 units in first quarter 2011 compared to first quarter 2010. Tablets up, PCs down ... and we haven’t yet factored in the rash of new tablets expected to hit the market by major vendors.
The infrastructure is also undergoing a potentially dramatic change. As the network transitions from wired to wireless to support laptops, netbooks, tablets and slates, efforts to “right-size” wired networks to an appropriate mix of wired and wireless accelerates. The refresh cycle presents a wireless opportunity if it is not driven by a wireless application deployment. Concurrently, there is the effort to manage the environment with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), offering easier provisioning of user devices and lower costs. Our data indicates VDI solution provider revenue doubling by 2013; other IPED customer data shows growth at an even higher rate.
New times require new skills. The ability to sell and support new wireless applications, the resulting communications infrastructure and the management of these ubiquitous devices offer the next growth opportunity around new and innovative applications for many of you. Have you assessed your capabilities yet?
Back to the insurance claims adjuster and his application suite. We’ve learned that many of you, your family or friends have been impacted by the recent storms that ravaged the eastern U.S. this spring. Many members of our channel family are rebuilding and restoring order to lives and businesses. More indicate the great fortune of having lived through the storms without sustaining damage. Our thoughts continue to be with you and yours.
BACKTALK: Contact SVP, IPED MarketBridge Alliance Rauline Ochs via e-mail at rauline.ochs@ec.ubm.com.
