VDC Research: Enterprise & Government Mobility Market Blog

Let the Tablet Wars Begin...

RIM's much anticipated entry into the increasingly crowded tablet market was made official yesterday during the keynote at DevCon 2010, RIM's developer conference. The PlayBook aka "BlackPad" presents an interesting value proposition to core BlackBerry users - i.e. enterprise and government organizations - and delivers it in a package with some very compelling specifications. However, many questions and potential issues remain before the device is actually launched in Q1 2011. Let's explore a couple. 

The Device: The announced specs on this device speak for themselves. While I won't recast all of them I will touch on a couple of the more compelling. The 1Ghz dual-core processor (NVIDIA Tegra?) certainly packs a punch and should do well supporting some of the more processor intensive applications supported in the enterprise. While the decision NOT to offer a 3G/4G version at this juncture (more on that later) is interesting, the embedded WiFi radio will be very attractive for a variety of voice over WiFi and unified communications applications. At 7" RIM is making a statement - and perhaps taking on a bit of risk. Clearly other 7" devices have recently been introduced - most notably from Samsung - however, the tablet category (as it is currently defined) is centered around the 9.7" iPad. However, in the enterprise sector, VDC's research has indicated an opportunity/sweet spot at 7" - large and differentiated enough from smartphones and capable of supporting graphics-rich applications such as GIS while small enough to support a high degree of portability/mobility. A big question mark - given these robust features (Adobe Flash) - will clearly be battery life. 'Full shift' should be considered cost of entry. The lack of 3G/4G radio should help, however, it remains to be seen if that is attainable. 

The OS/platform: As widely speculated, the PlayBook OS will not be the recently released BlackBerry OS 6.0 but rather an OS (called BlackBerry Tablet OS) based on the recently acquired QNX (see comments about QNX from VDC's Embedded Practice here). The flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL,
Java. For enterprise applications these will all be critical requirements. Lost amid the PlayBook fanfare was RIM's WebWorks announcements. With WebWorks, developers can build Web applications for BlackBerry leveraging HTML5, CSS, and JavaScipt. This could be a hugely critical differentiator for RIM, however, also potentially encroaches on some of the available cross-platform develop/compiler solutions. 

Connectivity: The lack of embedded 3G/4G options with the initial release (to be included in future versions) will not garner any favors with the carriers, however, will likely make the device more attractive from a management and security support perspective. The device OS can connect the the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software and will enable users to link - via Bluetooth - to users' BlackBerry smartphones. In this state the smartphone's content is viewable on the tablet, however, the content remains stored on the smartphone. According to RIM, this should address many enterprise IT department security concerns. However, this is not a smartphone companion device - nor should it be positioned primarily as one - and can also support standalone operation. 

The Timing: Initially expected in Q4 2010, the device will actually be first introduced in Q1 2011. There is two ways to look at this. In today's world of smartphones and tablets applications and the application eco-system are ultimately what distinguishes the 'haves' from the 'have nots'. To date, BlackBerry's application eco-system has left something to be desired. While BlackBerry's target market is not the broad consumer market and its litany of fart apps, VDC's recent mobile developer research has evidenced the broadening gap between Android and Apple's iOS and other mobile platforms. The PlayBook is a significant enough device - and the development platform and tools compelling enough - to shift much of the enterprise - and also broader mass market - development efforts back in BlackBerry's direction. In other words this provides sufficient enough time to seed the application market - RIM is working closely with partners IBM, SAP and Oracle on these efforts - so the device can hit the ground running once launched. On the flip side, the timing of the official ship date will likely coincide with the second generation iPad which could be a challenge to navigate. Moreover, does RIM really want to give its competitors over three months advance notice about its features and capabilities (and/or are they compelling enough for target users to wait several months before purchasing their tablet)?

The Target Market: With the iPad and other 'consumer' devices continuing to encroach RIM's core enterprise and government customer base, the PlayBook is designed to defend its turf. In other words road warriors, field workers, campus workers, etc. The browsing interface (along with Flash support) will also satisfy the mobile worker's appetite for a consumer-friendly experience (long absent from BlackBerry devices). Right now the target market is RIM's approximately 60M users. This is a good place to start. However, one issue that RIM has yet to effectively address - and is becoming an increasing issue - is that RIM does best in homogeneous environments. Outside of highly controlled/regulated industries this is increasingly NOT the norm. RIM needs to find a counter. 

With the PlayBook RIM has definitely hit the mark in terms of key features and capabilities. Clearly until the device is released and applications and user experiences can be evaluated much is left open to interpretation. However - and this perhaps cannot be said of other recent BlackBerry product announcements - with the PlayBook, and the accompanying services and development tools, RIM is committed to driving innovation and setting new standards when it comes to the enterprise and government mobility user experience. 

 

Smartphones in the Military...Challenging Traditional Development Models

VDC Research spends much of its time evaluating mobile and wireless trends in the military. One of the glaring - yet unfulfilled - needs is the demand for smaller form factor solutions to support ground soldier applications. While there are several programs underway to address this void - think for example Ground Soldier Ensemble (or now referred to as Nett Warrior) - many of these programs illustrate and expose the antiquated development and sourcing approach still so rife in the US Military. While - especially in the case of mobile and wireless solutions - much of the issue relates to the strict security mandates for wireless communications (any mobile device that connects to the military information network requires Type I encryption) many proponents are looking for a more expeditious approach to getting technology into the hands of soldiers and are increasingly debating the level of security required for specific use cases. 

Although the military is increasingly embracing COTS solutions it is still mired in its 'big green box' mentality. However, recent trends suggest a shift towards mobile solutions that are much more capable of adapting to end users' needs in the battlefield. This has as much to do with the devices deployed as it has with how the networks supporting them are designed. This is perhaps best evidenced by the increased evaluation of and attention directed towards smartphones and their relevance for military functions - whether they be training, administrative or operational. Consider, for example: 

• US Army’s Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) recently launched Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications (CSDA) initiative. The goal is to leverage the potential of smartphone technologies to enhance soldier's effectiveness and efficiencies in administrative functions, training, leader development,  and military/operational objectives.
• Apple’s iPod Touch already being used broadly for field applications. Applications have been developed for ballistics calculations for snipers (BulletFlightby Knight’s Armament) and Next Wave Systems have developed a location-based application that would tie available local intelligence with pictures snapped of a local landmark such as a street sign.
• The US military is investing heavily in mobile application development training and education programs to drive innovation and development of a variety of next generation application. The US Army recently launched a "new apps" contest to support these initiatives. 
• Several new small form factor devices designed specifically for military applications are leveraging new operating platforms such as Google's Android. These include, for example, GD-Itronix's Android-based GD3000 Military Smartphone (capable of running TiGR-Tactical Ground Reporting System)  and Raytheon's Raytheon Android Tactical System (RATS) which is a modified commercial Smartphone designed to deliver multimedia content faster to ground troops.

While remaining mindful of the critical security and encryption requirements necessary to protect ground soldier operations, the need for access to information to enable real time decision making by lower-echelon soldiers, captains and lieutenants is immense. This represents an about face to yesterday's warfare which relied more on generals and colonels making tactical decisions. Therefore the opportunity for the military to better leverage many of today's commercial mobile and wireless solutions to foster improved decision making capabilities and situational awareness among ground soldiers is immense. Moreover, the timing is ripe for a reassessment of the military's approach for developing and sourcing solutions for today's modern soldiers. 

Managed Services in Mobility, An Intel-McAfee Context

Market leadership in the enterprise and government mobility solutions markets requires support for managed services. 

Maybe not in 2010, but, soon.  Every year for the past three years, our research into virtually every mobility solutions stakeholder community reveals growing investment in exploring migration to managed services models.  Now, they are beginning to show sustained growth in migration to managed services deployment models. 

We use the word sustained because for much of 2008 and 2009, the interest in managed services models for enterprise mobility was as much about capital cost reduction (or elimination) as it was about some of the other advantages of managed services over traditional hardware acquisition, software licensing and support contracting. 

During 2009, for example, our channel research noted off-guideline pricing or exceptional discounting requests from channels to suppliers was up 1000% or more from 2007.  That is not a typo:  10X.  Inquiry regarding managed services support were up nearly 500% or 5X during the same period. 

The primary driver:  money.  No one had any.  When the market probed, and found, the basement in pricing, it went to a new deployment model that changed the conversation from capital budgets to operating budgets.  Instead of talking about capex, folks were talking about opex. 

This was true -- is true -- in a number of markets, including enteprise and government mobility. 

The operative word here is 'is'. 

We continue to see growing, sustained demand for managed services development, deployment and management models in enterprise and government mobility solutions.  The demand curve is not neat.  Near-term penetration is not uniform across any market segmentation dimension.  No standard processes have been developed and percolated to foam the runway for migrators. 

However, the three-pronged value proposition of managed services in mobility markets is resonating loudly.  So loudly that it is nearly equal to the strength of the number one barrier to managed services migration in enterprise and government mobility markets:  SECURITY. 

Which brings us to Intel and McAfee.  We are not going to write another analysis of that deal -- there are many out there.  Most regarding the deal from a fairly high altitude.  Some with a topical focus on Managed Services. 

Our focus here is on the enterprise and government mobility markets where real time transaction processing drives requirements.  And in these markets, security is the number one barrier to migration to managed services. 

We, too have many questions.  About the value of the deal.  The roadmap for embedded McAfee solutions, or solution elements in Intel platforms.  The path to incorporating McAfee technology into alternative platforms, including FPGA. 

With the McAfee acquisition, Intel secures access to a number of technologies that its product and market managers have embraced -- and that the managed services adopters will demand.