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| SAMPLE REPORT |
| IT Connection Real-Time Analysis reports are timely assessment of an industry event such as a product or service launch, acquisition, major corporate strategy adjustment, or a change in technology direction. Click here to view sample reports. Click here for subscription information. |
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| Business Network and IT Services |
Quick Take
Competitive Positives
• MSEP is the fifth pillar Verizon promised for its managed mobility suite
• Complements Verizon’s other four pillars of enhanced mobility services
• Provides multi-OS and multi-carrier mobile access to corporate apps
• Simplifies design, delivery, management and support
• MSEP can mobilize diverse application types
Competitive Concerns
• Competition from ITSPs and operators heating up
• Mobile application enablement still in its infancy
• Multicarrier relationships still an issue for prospective managed services customers
• Sybase beginning to lean towards acquirer SAP as primary solution provider
Event Summary
November 16, 2010 - Verizon Business launches Mobile Services Enablement Platform (MSEP) to help global enterprises design and manage mobile access to diverse corporate applications across major smartphone platforms. Sybase-powered MSEP is the fifth pillar of Verizon’s Managed Mobility suite. The platform complements and is integrated with Verizon’s other enhanced mobility services launched last fall: Inventory and Expense Management, Logistics, Mobile Device Management, and Security. Verizon Business fortifies the offer with mobility-focused professional services.
View Full Press Release
Verizon Introduces New Mobile Services Enablement Platform to Help Businesses Develop, Mobilize, Manage Applications Across a Global Enterprise
November 16, 2010
NEW YORK – Multinational corporations want to provide mobile workers with access to key business applications, but must navigate an often complex mix of existing and emerging technology standards. To help customers address this challenge, Verizon is introducing a new Mobile Services Enablement Platform that helps enterprises design their applications for a mobile environment so that workers can access the applications across different devices – and have the same experience as when the applications are accessed from a desktop environment.
(Note: Listen to an audio podcast about this new enterprise mobility solution.)
The Mobile Services Enablement Platform (MSEP) is the latest addition to Verizon’s Managed Mobility portfolio, which enables on-the-go professionals to securely and seamlessly conduct business where and when they need to. This innovative platform provides a flexible way for organizations to design, develop and manage mobile business applications across multiple devices and carriers.
In addition to providing customizable application-development templates that can be tailored to create new business-specific applications, the platform is already integrated with major enterprise software applications including Siebel, SAP, Oracle, Remedy, Salesforce.com and Amdocs. As a result, individuals can have a similar experience with these capabilities whether accessing them from an office or remotely.
“To enable a truly borderless enterprise, businesses need to arm mobile workers with secure access to the applications essential for their day-to-day operations,” said Carrie Gray, executive director of solutions marketing for Verizon. “With this new offering, Verizon now offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive managed mobility solutions to help our customers innovate and execute a successful mobile-workforce strategy.”
According to the October 28 Forrester Research report, “Managing Mobile Complexity,” “enterprises are prioritizing mobility initiatives as a key strategic focus, expanding the use of smartphone devices, and investing in a range of mobile applications to address the needs of information workers.” In looking at the coming year, according to the independent report, 46 percent of companies surveyed identify supporting more mobile applications for out-of-office users as a key priority, and 33 percent identify supporting more mobile applications for employees who work in the office, as a key priority.
As mobile application development and delivery become more complex, Verizon is prepared to help customers every step of the way. The company’s IT Professional Services have helped some of the world’s leading enterprises conquer challenges associated with managing dispersed technologies and evolving business processes, maintaining consistent application performance, and providing secure access to information. The professional services underlying the new MSEP solution feature enterprise mobility assessment, enterprise mobility business process engineering, enterprise mobile application development and testing, and enterprise mobile application certification.
Users also have access to world-class customer care and support via the Managed Mobility Portal, part of the award-winning Verizon Enterprise Center, a one-stop shop for service and account management, information and support.
Verizon Managed Mobility Services Portfolio
The Verizon Managed Mobility portfolio leverages the technology and expertise of leading mobility vendors, including Sybase, an SAP company and industry leader in enterprise mobile software. The Sybase Unwired Platform, which is managed and maintained by Verizon, enables the synchronization and delivery of information between mobile devices and customers’ back-end enterprise applications.
Leveraging the strength of its world-class IP and wireless networks, the Verizon Managed Mobility portfolio is designed to improve mobility programs in five key areas, enabling enterprises to subscribe to one or more of the following modules:
• MSEP – Supports mobile enterprise applications by enabling the deployment of new and enhanced applications, as well as the mobilization of business processes and traditional desktop applications.
• Mobile Device Management – Delivers tools, applications and data to employees, where and when required, and creates and enforces flexible mobile policies across devices, groups or individual users.
• Mobile Security – Enforces access codes; establishes “lock/wipe” policies by which devices that are stolen or lost can be locked by the administrator and data wiped out; encrypts devices and data cards; delivers firewall and antivirus applications; and supports mobile access to corporate applications.
• Inventory and Expense Management – Tracks mobile assets, usage and spending. Delivers consolidated and departmental reporting, as well as auditing, electronic billing and chargeback information for accounting purposes. The same platform can also track global wireline telecom spending.
• Logistics – Automates procurement workflow and device deployments across carriers via a centralized procurement portal. Defines approved devices by work group or function, and procures devices and tracks ordering process.
Verizon Managed Mobility services are available throughout the U.S. and in many countries in Europe, with plans to roll out the services in the Asia-Pacific region early next year. The services, which can be purchased individually or altogether, are sold by the enterprise sales forces of Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless.
Analytical Summary Perspective
• Positive on Verizon Business’ MSEP launch, because this important fifth pillar to its managed Mobility Suite is well-integrated with Verizon’s other four pillars of enhanced mobility services launched last fall. MSEP will help Verizon win U.S. and MNC business as enterprises continue to tap the potential productivity gains that mobile access can provide. Verizon’s suite of services can help potential customers mobilize business processes and applications, generating new recurring revenue streams for Verizon Business from managed services as well as professional services engagements.
Vendor Importance
• High to Verizon Business as it is clearly focused on the global enterprise mobility market as a key and high-growth revenue source. Mobile application enablement may end up as the most important managed mobility service of all, as it gets to the heart of why businesses see mobility as so important for their own future, facilitating better customer response, enhanced productivity and streamlined business workflows.
Market Impact
• High on the Managed Mobility segment as competition for services ranging from TEM and logistics to MDM and security has been heating up over the last year and a half from both ITSPs and telecom service providers. Managed mobile apps are viewed as kind of a holy grail, but have been complex to deliver. Verizon’s Sybase-powered market entry will provide competition to AT&T’s MEAP in the U.S. In the future, similar announcements should come from European providers such as BT GS, Orange Business Services, Telefonica and Vodafone Global Enterprise.
Competitive Strengths Competitive Positives
• MSEP is the ”fifth pillar” that Verizon Business promised for its managed mobility suite, the rest of which were announced last year and include Inventory and Expense Management, Mobile Device management, Logistics and Security. A SaaS-based mobile application enablement platform may ultimately be the most important of the five pillars, as mobilizing corporate apps is where enterprises are focused when it comes to mobility – the rest of the services are more about “plumbing” such as cost savings and management.
• MSEP is complementary to Verizon’s other four pillars of enhanced mobility services. Similar platforms (with the exception of AT&T’S Mobile Enterprise Applications [MEAP]) have not yet been launched by most of Verizon’s competitors on the operator side. On the ITSP side, the professional services groups at companies such as IBM, HP and CSC are offering custom mobile applications and are exploring offering them as standard SaaS based managed services.
• Verizon is offering MSEP across all major smartphone platforms. MSEP is also a global offer, not constrained in any way by the Verizon Wireless network in the U.S., although certainly the wireless operator will be a key supplier of connectivity for U.S. customers. It is important that any managed mobility service work across all carriers, given the reality of multi-carrier relationships already in place for MNCs.
• Enterprises are having difficulty mobilizing core applications themselves, especially if they have multiple back-end corporate data stores to which they need to provide access. The Sybase platform features connectors to major software platforms from the likes of Siebel, Oracle, Remedy and of course SAP (which recently acquired Sybase). A lot of the hard work for connectivity has already been done for the customer, and as the platform is hosted and managed by Verizon Business, the entire process is simplified.
• MSEP will help businesses mobilize applications of all kinds, empowering a kind of enterprise “app store” for both custom-developed and third-party applications. These can range from simplified workflow solutions that mobilize basic business processes (e.g., time and expense reporting or requests and approvals), to more sophisticated horizontal line of business apps (e.g., field force automation or sales force automation), to custom vertical applications. The platform can support software distribution for enterprise created applications that are developed independently of MSEP.
Competitive Weaknesses Competitive Concerns
• Although not many operators have launched a service for mobile enterprise application enablement yet, competition from both ITSPs and operators is heating up. AT&T launched its MEAP platform back in 2009, and AT&T and most other major operators have already launched managed TEM and MDM services. ITSPs that offer custom development of mobile (and non-mobile) applications are also in active discussions and/or trials about offering SaaS-based mobile applications as standardized managed services.
• In spite of all of the hype surrounding enterprise mobility, large deployments of mission-critical, enterprise-wide (let alone global) mobile applications are still relatively scarce. Mobilizing the enterprise is certainly a growth market for service providers, and application and platform developers; but there is a long way to go. Businesses are just beginning to appreciate the importance of mobility as a way to streamline (and transform) business processes.
• Multicarrier relationships are still an issue for prospective managed services customers. Verizon Business is still associated with Verizon Communications and Verizon Wireless, even if it is an independent organization with diverse service provider partnerships outside of the U.S. Some organizations will still hesitate to go to a company affiliated with a network operator for multi-carrier managed services.
• Sybase was acquired by SAP this past summer and the jury is still out on what this may mean for Sybase’s traditionally software-agnostic stance for providing mobile access to corporate back end software systems and databases. While Sybase can likely provide especially strong capabilities when it comes to mobilizing SAP applications, it is very important for it (and its service provider partners) to be able to provide agnostic access to SAP competitors’ software platforms as well.
Response & Recommendations
• Verizon Business should note that platform integration between its “pillars” of enhanced mobile services is complete, and that the addition of MSEP was relatively straightforward as Sybase is also the vendor behind its mobile device management service. Verizon should point out that other service providers may have a more difficult time integrating platforms from diverse suppliers. It should further stress how important it is to be able to share information between TEM, MDM, Logistics and Mobile Applications platforms in order to maximize visibility and control, optimize usage and streamline business process workflows.
• Personal-liable mobile device ownership options are becoming very important. IT managers face increasing “consumerization” as employees buy and bring in their own mobile devices to the job. Verizon Business should focus on its personal-liable mobile device support as a differentiator as the Sybase platform has built-in capabilities to address secure application download and usage, cost allocation, and centralized management and security, whether the device is owned by the enterprise or by the employee.
• Competing service providers need to decide and disclose where they are on the roadmap towards providing managed services that help customers with mobile application development and management. Some wireless operators are simultaneously determining how to monetize enterprise apps, for example by participating in a revenue share for hosting and managing the apps, and by providing them securely to businesses via an enterprise “app” store. There remain a variety of diverse relatively untapped opportunities for service providers as enterprises extend their applications to the mobile workforce.
• AT&T needs to respond to Verizon Business’ MSEP launch with an update on its MEAP platform, discussing its unique benefits, how it differs from Verizon’s approach and optimally some evidence of traction through customer case studies.
Buyer Actions
• Large enterprises have typically tried to cobble together mobile applications themselves, or may have gone to a systems integrator (or a middleware provider such as Antenna Software or Sybase). A managed service has some unique benefits, as the enterprise does not have to invest in its own infrastructure, minimizing the risk. Going to a single service provider for mobile apps, TEM and MDM solutions may be especially compelling. There is always the ability to take back some of these functions in house as IT learns more about mobile technology.
• If an enterprise uses a single dominant corporate software vendor (e.g., Oracle) for multiple apps, it may make sense to go directly to that vendor to mobilize the applications. ITSPs that manage ERP deployments are also likely to offer custom solutions for mobile access across diverse device and OS types.
Analytical Perspective
We are taking a positive stance on Verizon Business’ launch of the Mobile Service Enablement Platform (MSEP), because Verizon has done a particularly good job of articulating and implementing its managed mobility services in a holistic fashion. The company describes MSEP as the fifth pillar of its managed mobility suite, which also includes integrated platforms (that can share data and can be accessed and reported on from the same management portal) for TEM, MDM, security and logistics. The new service takes the risk out of leveraging mobile technology in an increasingly difficult environment, where enterprises may have different device platforms (including smartphones and tablets), have employees that want to buy and use their own (i.e., personal-liable) devices for business tasks, and have a variety of diverse applications that rely on different back-end databases. Providing mobile access to these applications is not simple in this environment, especially considering the risks involved in providing secure access to mission-critical and often confidential data stores. Mobility has the potential to not only provide access to existing apps (but on a more portable device with a smaller screen) but can be transformative, replacing manual, cumbersome processes with electronic, instant, real-time information-enabled ones. Enterprises that want to be sure they get all this right are likely to need outside assistance, especially as they test the waters with their first deployments.
The industry is still at the beginning of the mobile revolution when it comes to the enterprise. Most major operators and ITSPs recognize the growth potential to provide consulting, integration, outsourcing and managed services to tap into this new growth engine. Verizon Business faces increasing competition from AT&T (which already has its MEAP platform) in the U.S., from global wireless operators, and from an array of big SIs such as IBM, CSC, HP, Accenture, Tech Mahindra and T-Systems. While few of these companies have launched a standardized solution for mobilizing applications, most are on their way to an offer and have already begun with TEM and MDM services. Verizon Business will face increasing competition, but is coming to the market as an early entrant with a solid value proposition.
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