Embracing Efficiency

By Susan Nunziata
As we look down the long spiral of one of the toughest economic downturns in generations, it would be irresponsible to suggest that the mobile and wireless sector won't be deeply impacted. Indeed, as we closed this first issue of 2009, AT&T was the latest to announce the layoff of 12,000 employees, just one of many organizations to downsize in 4Q 2008.

Preliminary forecasts from market research firms such as Gartner and IDC, while showing substantial declines in growth in many mobile and wireless sectors, do give us some glimmer of hope that the slide may not be as precipitous for the mobile and wireless sector as it is for many other industries.

Mobility is deeply entrenched in our business and personal lives, and with good reason. It makes us more efficient -- as workers, and as people. It's one of the three things we can't leave home without: wallet, keys, phone. In fact, it would take most folks I know longer to realize they'd lost their wallet or keys than their mobile phone.

By the same token, there's no doubt that enterprises and public sector organizations across all verticals are cutting back on spending. We're hearing about projects being delayed or scaled back in scope.

Yet, my email inbox is full to overflowing with customer-win news and case study proposals that represent a vast array of mobile and wireless activity across a wide cross-section of verticals. If there's one common theme, it's that enterprises are embracing mobility because it enables them to improve efficiency.

In tough economic times, where organizations are asking fewer workers to do more with less, any solution that can be used to make a sound business case for improving efficiency is worth considering.

As industry guru Andrew Seybold tells us, "In this economic situation, if you make an investment in wireless, it's going to pay in the fact that you can manage your business and get more done faster. In fact, planning and expansion makes a lot of sense right now."