In 2002, it appeared wireless data was stuck at the gate among enterprises. However, sometime during the past 12 months it was cleared for takeoff. Our 2002 Corporate Wireless Survey showed that enterprises were interested in adopting wireless data; the 2003 survey indicates that large corporations finally are following through on their plans.
According to the Yankee Group's 2003 Corporate Wireless Survey, 37 percent of large enterprises are either piloting (17 percent) or have deployed (20 percent) a wireless wide-area data solution. An additional 14 percent expect to implement such a solution in the next 12 months, and another 14 percent plan to do so within the next 2 years (see Exhibit 1).
Although respondents expect overall telecom spending to remain flat between 2002 and 2003, total telecom spending on wireless has increased from 22 percent to 34 percent in the past year. And 43 percent of wireless spending will be on wireless data, as compared to 31 percent last year.
E-mail access is the leading driver of wireless data adoption, with 84 percent of respondents listing it as one of the driving applications, and 33 percent listing it as the key application driver. Access to custom corporate databases and applications is not as universally viewed as important among enterprises (61 percent list it among the driving applications), but is not far behind as the key driver (27 percent). In fact, among those companies that already have deployed or piloted a wireless data solution, access to e-mail and access to custom corporate applications almost are tied as the key application driver (36 percent and 32 percent, respectively).
Vendor Recommendations
Address the key barriers as identified by our respondents: security and immaturity of technology standards. Vendors need to articulate clearly how security technologies are incorporated into their solutions. Adhering to an open-standards approach is the best way for vendors to alleviate enterprise concerns.
Put ease of integration and cost-benefit analyses near the top of your sales pitch. Vendor reputation and prior vendor experience mean less than you might think. Respondents listed compatibility or interoperability with existing applications (38 percent), low price (16 percent), and scalability/flexibility (16 percent) as the most important criteria for choosing a wireless data product. Vendor's reputation for market leadership and prior experience with vendor scored remarkably low, each listed by only 3 percent of respondents. For large enterprise IT vendors (such as IBM, HP, SAP, and Oracle), this means familiarity will only go so far.
Carrier Recommendations
Take the opportunity, while you still have it, to forge significant joint marketing and sales partnerships with large IT and computing vendors. Carriers can take solace in the fact that they retain significant mind share as a wireless data solution provider, but other vendors want to steal a little. Forty-five percent of respondents list wireless carriers as the vendors from which they would prefer to purchase a wireless data solution. However, systems integrators, hardware vendors, and application platform/database vendors present a competitive challenge, receiving 29 percent of responses combined. In fact, the Yankee Group believes enterprises increasingly will rely upon these IT vendors most often for wireless data.
Focus on the basics, at least initially. As was the case with criteria for a wireless data software product, experience only goes so far when enterprises select wireless data carriers. Existing relationship with the wireless carrier ranked eighth when enterprise respondents ranked the importance of certain criteria when choosing a wireless carrier for data connectivity. Instead, geographic coverage , cost , and in-building penetration were the top three. Data throughput was close behind, and 83 percent of respondents listed it as somewhat important or very important when choosing a carrier.
Survey Methodology
The Yankee Group conducted its 2003 Corporate Wireless Survey online with wireless technology evaluators and decision-makers at U.S. companies with more than 500 employees. The survey consisted of 37 questions: 3 screening questions to qualify candidates; 32 questions related to wireless technology and services; and 2 demographic questions. Some high-level information on respondents:
303 total survey respondents:
36 percent of respondents make final purchasing decision for wireless communication services ; 64 percent evaluate or recommend wireless communication services .
The survey was fielded in May 2003 and was conducted along with the Yankee Group's Wireless Small and Medium Business Survey and Wireless LAN Survey. Data from all three surveys is available for purchase through the Yankee Group.
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