TMCnet News
92% of big businesses seek indoor mobility solutions & are willing to pay 30% more per employee(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MAJORITY OF LARGE BUSINESSES WOULD PAY OVER 30 PERCENT MORE PER EMPLOYEE FOR AN INDOOR CELLULAR SOLUTION WITH MANAGED SERVICES iGR Survey of IT Managers Reveals Two Thirds would Switch Mobile Carrier for Improved Indoor Coverage San Jose, California - SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc., the leading provider of scalable small cell Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN) systems, today commented on the results of a recent survey carried out by iGR that reveals 56 percent of IT managers at U.S. companies with 500 or more employees would be willing to pay an increase of between 15 percent to 30 percent per employee for improved indoor cellular coverage and capacity. Significantly, 92 percent would be willing to pay an even higher increase if the solution included managed services such as mobile device management (MDM), context-/location-aware services, Wi-Fi-as-a-service, hosted unified communications (UC) and cloud and/or PBX integration. iGR also found that 66 percent of IT managers would be willing to switch to a different mobile service provider if that carrier could deliver improved in-building coverage. Further, when switching, over 30 percent of companies would be willing to pay an increase of 15 percent to a new mobile service provider that offers improved indoor coverage. "Medium and large companies represent a significant opportunity for small cell solutions, both for vendors and mobile operators," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR. "Our research shows that the trend of bring your own device (BYOD) is acting as a driving force behind the need for a better in-building mobile experience. It is clear that a high proportion of businesses are now taking official steps to embrace BYOD and are prepared to pay a premium to the operator that can deliver a complete managed service." Other findings include: - 63 percent have an official BYOD policy and 14 percent of businesses have made it an official requirement for users to bring their own device - A quarter of businesses are within 18 months of being all-wireless for select segments of their premises - UC and MDM as hosted services are the most hotly in demand from enterprises: 29 percent of businesses are willing to pay between $1 and $19 per employee per month for hosted UC; 20 percent would sign up at the same cost for hosted MDM The iGR survey results support YouGov findings from 2013 where 47 percent of decision makers surveyed in Britain said they would be interested in mobile device management as an operator service. This leaps to 78 and 77 percent for Germany and Spain and a massive 89 percent in the US. These findings support a recent report by Exact Ventures, Enterprise Mobility Services are Market Opportunity for Mobile Service Providers, which concludes that managed mobility services represent a $100 billion market opportunity for mobile operators, and a saving of 35 percent a year for enterprises adopting such operator-delivered managed and hosted services. "Indoor coverage and capacity is an enormous opportunity to attract frustrated mobile business users who demand that their devices are fully functional anywhere/anytime. With the freedom of choice granted by BYOD and with cloud services that enable relatively pain free switching, mobile operators who don't address their customers' demands may lose them," said to Art King, Director of Enterprise Services, SpiderCloud Wireless. "Further, the need of enterprises to focus their scarce IT resources on creating competitive advantage has forged an opening for forward-looking mobile operators to deepen their customer relationships beyond devices and SIMs. As we head further into this decade, well-operationalized services are increasingly necessary due to personnel shortages caused by explosive growth in needs, escalating compensation expenses, and the pace of retirement of today's tech workers." Methodology The survey questioned enterprise IT managers at U.S. companies with more than 500 employees and was conducted via the Web in September and October 2013. iGR is a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile communications industry, founded in 2000. Further company information can be found at www.igr-inc.com. Scalable Small Cell Systems for Enterprise Deployments by Mobile Operators SpiderCloud is the first company to offer a true multi-access, multi-mode system with 3G, LTE/4G and dual-band Wi-Fi for reliable mobile services indoors for enterprise customers of any size, called an Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN). The E-RAN system consists of a Services Node (SCSN) that can control over 100 self-organizing and multi-access 3G, Wi-Fi and LTE/4G small cells that can be installed in just days using an enterprise-Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) as a managed service by a mobile operator's network. In addition to providing reliable coverage and capacity, the E-RAN with the Services Node includes an Applications Programming Interface (API). The API inside the Services Node provides trusted connections to the Radio Nodes and a logical view into all devices on the E-RAN, to enable secure services to any mobile device on the network. About SpiderCloud Wireless SpiderCloud Wireless develops breakthrough, small cell network platforms that allow mobile operators to deliver unprecedented cellular coverage, capacity and smart applications to enterprises. SpiderCloud Wireless is based in San Jose, California and is backed by investors Charles River Ventures, Matrix Partners, Opus Capital and Shasta Ventures. SpiderCloud Wireless is a registered trademark and SmartCloud a trademark of SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc. 2014 SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc. For more information visit www.spidercloud.com and follow the company on Twitter http://twitter.com/spidercloud_inc . (c) 2014 M2 COMMUNICATIONS |