How to meet Web site development objectives cost-effectively: Forrester
July 9, 2010
Julie Ask, vice president and principle analyst at Forrester Research
The mobile Web is becoming increasingly important as more consumers are using smartphones since miniature, on-the-go computers and brands need to be ready with mobile-optimized sites.
Daily mobile Internet usage among United States adult mobile phone users grew from 7 percent at the end of 2008 to 10 percent in mid-2009 and to 15 percent in mid-2010, according to a report by Forrester Research titled, “How to Build a Mobile Web Site.” The report stresses that mobile data is not just about applications.
“The browser-based mobile Web experience is more important than ever, with dramatic growth in the usage of the mobile Internet — especially from smartphones — in the past 24 months,” said Julie Ask , vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, in the report. “In 2009, consumer brands built iPhone applications: they are now asking what’s next.
“The answer for many is to improve the quality of their mobile Web site,” she said.
According to the report, brands that are looking to build a mobile Web site have five types of services available to them. The choice is based mostly on budgets and the type of experience they are looking to deliver.The first option is fully managed services. This is basically outsourcing mobile Web development, hosting and maintenance. Usablenet, Digby and 2ergo are examples of companies that provide fully manages services.
Licensed technology platforms – or mobile enablement services – involves licensing a technology platform for device detection, content hosting and optimization. Cellit Mobile Marketing, iLoop Mobile and Netbiscuits provide a licensed technology platform.
Existing solutions providers, such as ecommerce platforms, are another option for brands.
Agencies are great for end-to-end mobile Web site development. They work on the creation, design, development and maintenance of a site. 5th Finger, AKQA, The Hyperfactory and Razorfish are examples of agencies.
Lastly, in-house builds can use all or just some of the approaches listed in the report. The company builds its own site in this case.
According to Ms. Ask, companies need a mobile strategy before they can begin to choose an approach to mobile Web design.
Forrester’s POST - which stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology – process is outlined in the report. The process aims to help companies develop a mobile strategy methodically.
As part of the POST method, companies must come to a set of aligned strategic decisions on reach, offering, investment and value chain.
Forrester recommends that decisions flow from the company business strategy as opposed to vendors’’ offerings.
“Working through the mobile POST process forces brands to answer strategic questions before making technology decisions and thinking about vendors,” Ms. Ask said in the report. “his will be an iterative process, as requirements are right-sized to budgets.
“Once in place, consumer brands can select one of five approaches to building or improving their mobile Web presence,” she said.
Final take:
Mobile Marketer senior editor Giselle Tsirulnik talks about what is key for a mobile Web site’s success.
Senior Editor Giselle Tsirulnik covers advertising, messaging, legal/privacy and database/CRM. Reach her at giselle@mobilemarketer.com.
AT&T extends exclusivity with Apple, no Verizon iPhone until 2011?
by Kelly Hodgkins on May 6th, 2010 at 12:13pm
Filed under: AT&T, Apple, Rumors, Verizon 207 Comments
Take this one with the largest grain of salt that you can find…the latest rumor on the status of the Verizon Wireless iPhone suggests that the phone may not come to fruition until 2011. As we all know, AT&T is offering data plans for the iPad on a non-contract basis at the lowly price of $15 for 250MB of data and $30 for unlimited data. According to analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech, AT&T would not have agreed to such a drastic price reduction, and no-contract plans, without receiving something big from Apple in return. That “big something”, he hypothesizes, is an extension of the iPhone exclusivity agreement that AT&T currently has enjoyed with Apple in the U.S. Under this quid pro quo agreement, AT&T’s exclusivity would be extended until the end of 2010, effectively shuttering any plans to launch the iPhone on Big Red in 2010.
Lost a Smartphone? Track It and Erase Data
These days, a lost smart phone is not just a shame. It’s a potential nightmare for a business. That phone may have confidential data about customers, partners, or your company stored on it in e-mail, text messages, the address book, or the notebook function. Protect your business's data, remotely, with wireless technology.
The unfortunate reality for those who lose a smartphone is the cost to replace the hardware should be the least of your worries. Rather, the data that resides on the smartphone -- including potentially sensitive information about your company's plans, sales, and customers -- isn't something you want falling into the wrong hands.
"Organizations have been hearing a lot about the threat of mobile security breaches. However different from PCs, the threat on mobile isn't the compromise of the device itself to be taken over and used for malicious ends, it's the data that resides on these devices that should be the critical area of focus for organizations," says Chris Silva, executive vice president for research and service delivery at IANS, a Boston Mass.-based IT research company.
"Therefore, the threat of viruses and malware, while still nascent and therefore not an area of intense focus, is not where most organizations should be focused. Rather, their sights should be set on how to protect the data on devices such as customer information, e-mails, contact details, and other sensitive information," adds Silva.
Locking a smartphone with a password isn't enough. Instead, many vendors, and third-party software developers, are offering ways to remotely wipe the data from lost or stolen smartphone.
"The way it's done is a small packet of data is sent down to the device's firmware, remotely, that will start to scrub the device of its information," explains Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at the Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner research and consulting group. "Most consumers could probably care less about this, but it's incredibly important for businesses to have a remote wipe feature in place for its employee's phones."
Using GPS and/or cellular triangulation, you might also be able to track a missing phone -- say, if you left it at a nearby restaurant after a business lunch -- or if stolen, the information could be given to the authorities to pursue.
Whether you use a BlackBerry, iPhone, or Windows device, here's a look at the offerings (and cost) of what's available today:
iPhone
Apple's MobileMe service ($99/year), which synchronizes all of your information between Apple devices -- such as e-mail, contacts, and calendars -- can also be used to remotely lock, wipe, or locate a lost or stolen iPhone.
When you realize your phone is missing, the first step is to log into your MobileMe account on a computer and remotely set a four-digit passcode lock to prevent anyone from using it.
Then, you can have it ring (in case you left it under a pile of clothes), type a text message that appears on the iPhone's screen (e.g. "Please call me if found") or you might want to locate the phone on a map.
If this, too, proves unsuccessful, you might want to remotely wipe the iPhone's data, which is also an option once logged into your MobileMe account. Or you can do this through a Microsoft Exchange Server wipe command, too.
Windows Phones
Designed for Windows Mobile 6.0 phones (and newer), Microsoft's My Phone (free) offers a number of handy features including automatic back-ups of your phone's info (such as contacts, e-mails, and text messages) and the ability to access it all online.
Once you sign up for the service, you can erase your phone if it is missing by sending a command to restore the device to its original factory settings. My Phone can also find your lost phone by pinpointing the last location it was synchronized.
Many phones -- including the upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices -- will have My Phone already bundled on the phone but it's also available as a free download.
BlackBerry
There are a few free third-party tools available for users of Research in Motion's BlackBerry smartphones.
For one, SmrtGuard lets you remotely track or wipe your phone. A "Pro" version of the software also gives a "data protection package," enabling you to backup and restore your data.
BuddyGuard also lets you remotely access, lock, wipe, or retrieve a missing BlackBerry (via GPS). Similar to MobileMe, you can also have the BlackBerry emit a loud tone -- even if the phone was left in silent mode -- if you suspect the device is somewhere in the home, car, or office.
You may have heard about this www.fastcompany.com/tag/ipad">little thing called the iPad, yes? And how it can supposedly master some 140, 000 apps? It's true. But it's not the only app-licable (sorry, we'll stop soon) machine out there with a serious app-preciation (really soon) for apps. In fact, a pre-iPad study found that the app explosion is well underway, so much so that, as you can see in the above graphic, worldwide we will purchase, download and otherwise acquire an average of 20.1 apps for every smartphone sold this year. And it's not so much that our app-arent (done!) lust for apps will cool any time soon--it's just that smartphone sales will soon catch up. The "gold rush for developers" that is the iPad has only just begun.
Infographic: Rob Vargas
