3 Key Trends In Mobile Enterprise Technology

By Ravi Panjwani, Brother Mobile Solutions

To remain competitive in the fast-moving mobile enterprise market, VARs, ISVs, distributors and other channel partners who resell and support IT solutions for business need to stay ahead of the curve on how mobile business and applications are evolving.  Following are three emerging trends that will likely affect how mobility-based businesses and government agencies evaluate, purchase, and deploy mobile systems and components.

Rugged Mobile Computer Market Shrinking

The rugged mobile computing market has been lagging over the past few years, largely due to the popularity, ease of use and lower acquisition cost of consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets, and mini tablets. A recent report entitled “Views on Enterprise Mobility” from industry analyst VDC states: “The rugged mobile market is forecast to reach $2.8 billion in 2014, down from a high of $3.3 billion in 2011.” The report adds that rugged handhelds and notebooks have been especially hard hit by the decline in market share. Channel partners are directly affected by this trend since consumer devices offer them little or no profit margin opportunities. Rather than staying the course and attempting to buck market forces, resellers and distributors can instead refocus their efforts and recover some of the lost revenue by offering value-added mobility assessment and advisory services, for example, or by expanding their portfolio of hardware and accessories, such as mobile thermal printers, print media, batteries, vehicle mounts, and cases.  Or, they may want to consider forging alliances with providers of vertical market software and applications pertinent to the mobile markets they serve.

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