Mobile Services Vendors are Leaving Money on the Table

As much as today's modern smartphone devices have revolutionized the world of mobile handheld technology, mobile devices have been around for decades. 

For tradtional rugged hardware vendors (such as Motorola Solutions, Honeywell, or  Datalogic), the notion of complementing mobile hardware sales with bundled professional service offerings is by no means new.  These vendors generate significant revenues each year from their help desk, field service and technical support service offerings.  

With smartphones and other mobile devices increasingly finding their way into the world of business, we see growing demand for new and enhanced mobile professional service offerings.

VDC explored this hypothesis in a recent survey and found that on average, organizations' current support service costs range from 8.5% - 15% of the upfront cost of a mobile device.  Yet, this data shows that over 75% of IT decision-makers would be willing to pay extra for enhanced mobile support services, including:  

• Customized cloud-based dashboard for KPI monitoring
• Proactive device monitoring
• Preventive maintenance
• Battery management
• Enhanced support of device accessories (e.g. stylus, battery door cover)
• Device imaging services

As the mobile landscape continues to evolve, who will rise to tackle this growing market opportunity? The mobile services market is seeing interest and activity from all corners of the technology ecosystem:

• Traditional rugged hardware OEMs looking to defend their turf 
• Large systems integrators investing to carve out a piece of this growing, increasingly relevant market opportunity
• Wireless carriers sharpening their professional services offerings to compensate for dwindling voice/data margins

Over the next 1-3 years, you can expect a battle in the mobile services arena as these vendors launch new and innovative services strategies.  We see pricing models shifting, the cloud cannibalizing traditional on-site services, and modern technological advances driving new opportunities in areas such as preventive maintenance.