Gartner calls for better educational system

With enterprises embracing Web 2.0 like never before, there is an increased involvement from the top management to include mobile as a medium to converse with their customers/clients.

Prasad Ramasubramanian of CyberMedia News caught up with Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner Research, to gauge the nuances of the mobile technologies and developments that would shape up in the time to come.

What initiatives do corporations need to undertake to identify mobile solutions, which would deliver value to its customers?

I recommend three ways that need to be done. First, it is very important to see the current functioning and it becomes critical to better things that you are doing at this point of time.

For example, areas such as mobile email must be augmented. This would help you increase your return on investment. They are very useful.

Second, one must look at a process and try to re-engineer that process and make it more efficient in terms of functioning.

Areas such as sales force automation -- typically those things that pay back you in 6-12 months. That I would call as the second layer.

Third and the most important layer is -- transformation of your businesses and that’s where most companies and products need to work out. That is completely redefining your business.

If you compare the call rates in the Indian sub-continent with East European countries or any other geography in the world, it is way too low here.

Is this business model replicable elsewhere?

India is very different, because yours is a country, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and your mobile markets are growing at 30-40 per cent, you are in a position to look at $5 per month, which is not possible in markets in the UK or in the US.

To come to your question whether this model is applicable, yes it is. But the pricing model would be different and more geographic-centric.

Could you talk about technologies that would affect the future of wireless devices, networks and applications?

The business people want simple stuff and whoever brings technology at an affordable price would be the winner.

In my smart phone, I have a PowerPoint presentation and am really happy. We would see more processes coming into the mobile phones by 2010.

Smaller laptops with cheaper prices are driving Indian markets currently. Despite this, mobiles are still the need of the hour.



Would we see mobiles overshadowing laptops in the near future?

I think what is happening is that when you need to create information, you need graphics; you need to have MS Word and things like that.

We have to remember that for content creation you need a bigger screen and I would not want to do the same in my mobile.

However, for shorter trips, I can take a smart phone and get an Internet connection and we are on! But for a longer time I wouldn’t really want my mobile phone but a laptop to go with it!

So, laptops are very much there. What would be the key drivers and inhibitors for mobile business 1.0 to evolve to mobile business 2.0?

If you take countries such as India, one of the key drivers is the huge mobile penetration.

You see more of mobile banking due to the bigger banking population. Smarter mobile technologies would drive the business and companies such as banks and financial institutions would be benefiting from this.

Talking of inhibitors -- cost is an inhibitor -- when you are roaming, the costs are high and if you speak it drills a hole in your pocket. Also, the service provider would know which part of the world I am in -- I wouldn’t want to trust my operator always.



With the Indian Union Budget round the corner, what would be your expectations?

Technology is driving a lot of development in the country. A significant part of growth in Europe is done through technology.

Places like Bangalore are seeing tremendous growth. To fuel this growth, better education systems need to be put in place. You need to have resources for people to use technology.

People are seeing communication as a paramount need. You have to be a little cautious about having a laptop per child.

If you have a systematic education system in place, then you can train your teachers and then they train the children and again the government must make adequate investments in infrastructure.

Investments in technology, communications, infrastructure and education are the way to go.

(prasadr@cybermedia.co.in)