David Fryer

The noise in the business mobile market is making it difficult for customers to choose between different offerings with confidence. As competition grows in the telecoms and software industries, both parties will struggle to survive unless they work together to meet the specific needs of the business customer they serve.

The mobile industry suffers from downward price pressure but when the options available are so indistinct there can be little to base a decision on. Service quality is one area that can demonstrate variation, but it is hard to prove until the purchase is made – every company can make similar claims on high levels of service provision or billing transparency prior to an order from the customer. As such, locality or word of mouth referrals for new business play an important role for most suppliers in the voice sector. However, such influences can be restricted by the size of the local population and time, as a reputation by word of mouth alone can take time to spread.

The software market is experiencing its own pressure, including the push to make these applications mobile, presenting a clear opportunity for service providers looking to build a name in the channel. Niche software providers will find that joining up with other similar providers will help them to differentiate themselves from the competition and deliver real value to business customers. Much can be learnt from the big telecoms carriers such as Orange and O2 that seek to understand and tailor its solutions to the specific needs of its customers.

Bundling applications for specific industries is a growing approach in the telecoms sector that has seen clear benefits for service providers and business customers. Selling software bundles catered for a specific industry is one way that emerging providers can stand out from the crowd. Providers that meet the individual needs of industries such as lawyers and doctors using niche bundles successfully will become appealing very quickly.

VARs that invest the time in understanding and catering for the verticals it wants to target will be most successful. Organisations that build a relationship with that sector will equip themselves with the right knowledge necessary to select the right applications for the ‘bundle’ by understanding the pain points that effect that particular vertical.

Most importantly, service providers that leave minimum impact on the customer’s bill will come out on top. If the relationships are right, an industry-specific suite can, in fact, be brought together with no impact on the end-customer financially.

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