Early m-commerce adopters achieve business success

The recent introduction of GPRS and the increased power of handheld computing devices have driven renewed interest from business in m-commerce applications. However, while bringing value, these technology improvements are not the overriding criteria for successful mobile projects.

"Business should focus on process improvement, the provider`s track record and a hardware independent architecture," says Gary Allemann of Information & Logistics Consultancy (Pty) Ltd. ILC has five years experience in the mobile space and has seen the technology constantly evolve during that period.

Early adopters in the mobile space have focused primarily on internal staff in the mobile sales and service areas. The focus on process improvement has allowed ILC`s customers to achieve measurable business returns on what can be a relatively small investment - typical ROIs are under a year. Mobile staff frequently rely on telephonic communication with support staff at head office who provide access to information systems. This adds directly to the cost of managing these staff while the verbal communications can result in unacceptably high error levels. ILC helped Nu Metro Video reduce errors on deliveries by 94% by providing mobile staff direct access to back office systems via a customised m-business application.

Supplier track record is critical to ensure business success. This is because traditional e-business applications do not address the critical factors necessary for successful adoption of mobile solutions. "Mobile users frequently have not used technology before and their initial experiences must be positive to drive adoption," says Allemann.

Technical factors influencing this experience include how well the application supports unique business processes, the device inputs, access to necessary data and application performance. These factors must be appropriately addressed and the users must be provided with support and training during the roll-out. ILC helped Nedcor assessors achieve high adoption of their custom mobile solution in spite of their limited prior exposure to technology. This resulted in significant cost savings for Nedcor.

While business improvement should be the driver for a mobile solution it is important to select the appropriate technology, particularly as the hardware and networks continue to evolve. For performance and availability reasons and to reduce operational expenses the application must be run on the handheld device. For low total cost of ownership the architecture should support multiple device types and allow for remote administration of the application.

In many cases the business benefits of mobility have far exceeded initial expectations. Johnson & Johnson Medical initially deployed mobile solutions to help sales representatives convert more business. However, additional benefits including reduced administration of the sales team and better access to management information have also accrued, helping J&J to maintain its dominant position.

Later entrants should surpass the success achieved by these early adopters by taking advantage of technology improvements and lessons learnt. This will drive continued growth in the m-business market.