Mobile Internet experience takes hold

Johannesburg, 22 Oct 2007

The mobile Internet experience is changing how we interact with the world, and customers are becoming an active part of the mobile chain.

This is according to Corrie Froehlich, senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, who addressed the recent Mobile Device Management & Security Forum, hosted by ITWeb, in Johannesburg.

According to Froehlich, mobile blogging and instant messaging are replacing SMSing, while the MMS is changing to media sharing and video blogging.

Instead of operator portals, we are moving towards mobile Web sites and mobile search engines, and push-to-talk is being replaced by mobile VOIP, he said.

"It`s not about content consumption anymore, but rather content creation. Customers are not simply 'users` any longer, but are becoming content producers."

Froehlich believes there will not be a killer application, but a variety of customised services based on customers` needs.

Choice replaces voice

According to Dobek Pater, managing member of Africa Analysis Team, voice was the first killer application, but now it is choice. "The killer app will be user community specific."

Convergence is a huge global trend in organisations, with The Radicati Group estimating that the market will reach $10 billion by next year.

"Converged services, such as VOIP and IPTV, are becoming prominent," said Pater. "But many more convergence products and services are expected over the next few years."

Mobile problems

However, this mobile revolution and global convergence does not come without problems. Research shows that as much as 10% of cellphones are lost in the average year, according to Leon Perlman, chairman of the Wireless Application Service Provider Association.

"A poll done by Mformation Technologies showed that more than 50% of US CIOs said technical product data, sales data and customer data are accessible through corporate mobile devices," he noted.

Furthermore, only 12% of these CIOs actually record the data that users store on their devices, making a security breach near impossible to trace.

"Security of mobile devices involves both hardware and platform security, but it is also imperative that organisations employ clear and specific policies on cellphone and mobile use within the work environment," he advised.

Device security

According to Stuart Jack, MD of My Mobility, device management consists of inventory management of field devices and software, deployment of software updates, file and data encryption, and the provisioning and deploying of mobile devices.

Each of these areas has a unique set of challenges, he explained.

One thing that is important to keep in mind, he said, is security cannot be effectively controlled without a good master data management system in place, and the strict enforcement of a mobile device policy.