January 16th 2013 – Mobile Trends for 2013

Bob Croll and Charles Barratt from Equanet comment on likely trends for this year

Since the introduction of the iPhone and the iPad the consumer drive towards a mobile life has been dramatic. Industry has been slower to catch up in the main choosing to allow users onto the network with their own devices using the out of the box functionality on iOS. In 2013 this trend is likely to continue but with an extra focus on Employee Purchase and BYOD schemes making the ownership of devices more attractive for the user through a digital contribution and more attractive for the employer removing assets from the ledger and sharing the burden of capital expenditure.

We also expect to see business and industry drive their mobility proposition to the next level of maturity. On top of the considerable benefits seen from native iOS apps, companies are now investing strategically in business process reengineering projects that drive savings and efficiencies through native app development. Links to ERP and CRM systems will give organisations access to core data and the functionality to operate from wherever they chose. Bespoke native apps will move from typically being sales and marketing tools to core back office enhancement tools. Apps that perform the task of key simple functions will grow in popularity with a raft of them already available to download from the company content locker covering a the breadth of business functions.

Other mobile players will start to aggressively attack this market. Microsoft, HP and Samsung will increase their market share in both the consumer and commercial world of mobile. With many organisations having embedded legacy with Microsoft platforms, the take up of windows tablet devices is expected to be brisk. That however may not be at the cost of Apple's volume of sales, as the market segment according to Gartner is expected to double over the coming 18 months. It is the PC and laptop market that is expected to see a contraction with world-wide sales of tablets expected to overtake that of laptops and PCs by the middle of 2013. In 2013 we also expect to see the main network operators roll out 4G networks. With continuous streaming of high speed data the move to mobile will change the world of screens at home and work as we know it. Maybe not in 2013 but soon, will come a world where the TV you watch or the tablet you use will all be tethered through your phone on a 4G network. From Sky video accounts to access to company SAP data, access to all will be through mobile apps with the users choice of viewing screen determined by them, at the time for that app. Be it a TV, phone, tablet of whatever size or any new creation from the brains of the big tech companies - what will be the next development to spark our consumer driven imaginations?

The market place is aware and comfortable now with the Consumerisation of IT and like it or not the work/life balance has become blurred. Microsoft has long dominated the lounge with the Xbox, and are clearly using this interface for their operating systems moving forward. No longer are we just talking 3 Screens but the move into the living room will continue to heat up providing a completed connected 4 screen experience.

At the same time we expect a shift within the enterprise towards device consolidation as Microsoft brings to the table with a number of its OEM partners end user devices that are multi-purpose, combing the best of tablets and laptops into a single unit. Microsoft has seen the Surface launch this year with mixed response from the market place, once the Intel version is launched in Q1 2013 there will be a lot of interest in the build up around the operating environment with its native integration into Wintel architectures.

Another area of growth we expect to see happen over the next year [largely fuelled by BYO] is the interest in Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms (MEAP), no longer is a single way of developing applications acceptable or affordable for businesses to adopt. There has been significant promise of HTML5 being the development architecture of choice but this has yet to come to fruition. It is clear that this is an opportunity within the market place to provide one framework to all devices, the browser maybe the right approach but that is yet to be seen. Expect to see more development come to the market in this technical landscape in 2013 through to 2014. There will still be a huge demand for native applications as they provide the most rich user experience to date. The approach of mobilising applications will largely be driven through improved development skills as they need to adopt new design skills to deliver touch-optimised applications that operate across a range of devices.

ENDS

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About Equanet:

Equanet is the specialist channel of DSGi Business for large and medium sized managed customers and the public sector providing IT solutions. With more than 30 years of industry experience, accredited by major brands and the ability to tailor its solutions to meet all IT requirements, Equanet has become a preferred partner to businesses and public sector organisations throughout the UK.

With accredited professionals and experienced engineers, Equanet offers complete end-to-end services. These include off-the-shelf and fully customised managed services and solutions that provide efficient and cost-effective support for IT networks. These range from simple, reactive monitoring systems for networks through to pro-active performance management solutions and specialist project management.