Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Remote Wireless Data: Is it time yet?

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 14:34:37 -0500

Remote Wireless Data: 
Is It Time Yet?

December 31, 2002
By David Haskin

Two years ago, wireless carriers and many industry analysts claimed that remote wireless
access to enterprise data would revolutionize how companies do business. Sales would
increase dramatically when sales representatives could check inventory and submit orders
from customer sites in real-time. Field service technicians could handle more calls if
they could instantly check whether parts were in inventory. 

So why have most companies failed to embrace remote wireless data access? And with the
advent of faster wireless access and better devices, is it time to consider -- or
reconsider -- wireless data for your enterprise? 

The answer to the latter question is yes, according to analysts, vendors and end users
with whom we spoke. But not for the reasons you might think. 

After the initial wave of hype subsided, wireless carriers and some analysts claimed that
enterprises would flock to remote data wireless access when that access became faster. In
the last year, carriers have spent billions on faster systems, but it turns out that many
enterprises have been waiting for something else. 

"Wireless access is still happening in fits and starts," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice
president of research for Nucleus Research, a firm that specializes in
return-on-investment (ROI)-related issues. "But interest is increasing because we're
finally seeing wireless applications that are actually paying off." 

The ROIs Have Arrived

Wettemann noted that successful wireless applications pre-date the hype of a few years
ago. For instance, parcel delivery companies learned long ago that, if they knew in
real-time how many packages drivers were picking up, they could save money by deploying
trucks and jets more cost-effectively. Hence, the wireless tablets carried by parcel
delivery personnel. 

Now, Wettemann said she's seeing positive ROIs for wireless access to customer
relationship management (CRM), inventory and field service data. In addition, she said she
is seeing a lot of interest in remote access to e-mail by organizations such as law firms,
in which rapid response to clients is crucial. 

"The three most positive ROIs are sales reps, people like attorneys who work on a billable
hours basis and field service," she said. "Wireless is about productivity and that's
particularly important for expensive people and people who are on the move." 

As a result, more early adopters are finally starting to adopt wireless access to data.
One such early adopter is Optimus Solutions, which, ironically, helps other firms install
wireless data access applications. 

"I guess it's like the shoemaker's kid not having shoes," laughed Steve McDonald, managing
consultant of the Optimus' wireless and mobile practice. "But we're just now in the early
part of our own wireless roll-out. We have about 10 sales reps using it and we'll be
rolling it out to 50 or 60 reps before too long." 

McDonald noted that his company got an early example of how wireless access can improve
sales. 

"We had a rep who checked his e-mail with his wireless device while at a customer site,"
he said. "He read a message from within our organization about some hardware we were
having a special on and he mentioned it on the spot to the customer. The customer bought
five of the 10 units we had for sale. That type of impact is more than enough to justify
the use of wireless." 

McDonald said the best payback on a wireless investment he has heard about came from a
client that previously ran a call center just to provide information to sales reps in the
field. After making CRM data available via a wireless device, the company was able to
eliminate the call center. 

"They never even did an ROI because the benefit was so obvious," McDonald said. 

However, it is wrong to think that a positive ROI in one part of a business means it will
be successful everywhere, according to Letina Connelly, director of pervasive enterprise
strategies for IBM. 

"If wireless access can give an hour of productive time back to the field engineer, the
engineer can service more customers or do a more complete job," she said. "But if I give a
sales guy an hour back, it's a different ROI. Will a sales rep really close the deal and
go other customers or will he take a two-hour lunch? It's almost like a time and motion
study needs to occur." 

So What Changed?

All of the experts with whom we spoke said that faster speeds and larger wireless coverage
areas often aren't important when considering whether to deploy wireless access to the
enterprise. 

"Faster isn't necessary much of the time," said IBM's Connelly. "Often, we're talking
about basic applications, not streaming media that needs a lot of bandwidth." Also, most
applications can wait until the person returns to a coverage area if he or she has
traveled away from one, Connelly said. 

In the end, then, the billions of dollars invested by wireless carriers to provide faster
wireless data access is less important than successful ROIs. And the emergence of positive
ROIs is just starting to happen. 

"Wireless was definitely oversold at first," said IBM's Connelly. "But now, new
applications are surfacing and better revenue streams are surfacing, too. Enterprises are
starting to see that there are some real case studies that prove real benefits." 

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/netsys/article.php/1562731

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