Enterprise channel eludes mobile makers

Mobile manufacturers still do not understand how to sell mobile products to enterprise customers, industry experts have found.

According to research by Datamonitor, mobile communication device manufacturers are dismally failing to achieve "the solution sell".

Instead they are leaning too heavily on word of mouth from individual users who purchase mobile devices and then use them at work.

Small to medium sized companies are set to account for the largest share of the global corporate spend on mobile solutions.

Because of this, Datamonitor expects mobile operators to become an important channel to market in the future for enterprise mobile device manufacturers.

Current mobile solutions tend to be sold through large systems integrators or value-added resellers, a situation which is likely to remain for the next 12 to 18 months.

In time, there will be opportunities for mobile operators to become an important channel to market for enterprise mobile devices, the analyst predicted.

"Because we are still at the early adopter stage in the mobile enterprise solutions market, it is still the large systems integrators that tend to 'own' the customer," said Richard Clifford, mobility analyst at Datamonitor.

But as technology standardises and solutions commodify, operators will be able to offer packaged mobile solutions.

"Device manufacturers must be aware that their channel strategies need to remain fluid over the next couple of years, changing them according to company size and vertical, in addition to the type of solution and device being offered," warned Clifford.

"Operators will only be offering low-value mobile solutions, but the volume of sales could make this a very lucrative segment of the market."