The enterprise market`s move towards mobile applications has been slower than anticipated, and operators are, predictably, making much of their money from voice calls. What are the early business adopters up to? Revenue from m-commerce is expected to total $88 billion by 2009 (according to Jupiter Research), and there is increasing appreciation of the value mobile technology adds to organisations as a business-enabling tool.

This is true across the board, from issuing tenders, to helping automate supply chains, to managing inventory and distribution, to procurement, sales and marketing, customer service and support, field service automation, and providing workers with a mobile office.

Proof of concept

But what have we seen of this? Research firm IDC says the enterprise market`s move towards mobility has been slower than expected.

The early adopters have been the banking sector, most recently in the news again with the MTN/Standard Bank mobile banking deal announced last month.

All SA`s banks are involved in wireless pilots of varying sophistication, observes Steven Sidley, executive director: group marketing at Prism Holdings, in a mediatoolbox interview.

These range from basic banking services and SMS alerts to full-blown payment, including bill payment, prepaid cellular top-up and other services.

But not even the banks have committed serious money to mobile applications, he is quoted as saying.

BMI-TechKnowledge provides a reality check in a market characterised by sluggish take-up - also locally, curiously accompanied by much buzz and lip-service.

Analyst Tertia Smit says local operators still receive the major portion of their revenue from voice calls, next from person-to-person SMS, then consumer applications like ringtone downloads, and then only other business applications.

Business applications that are growing, she points out, are CRM - with the success of FNB`s InContact initiative for CRM and fraud reduction a notable example.

Mobile marketing and competitions using bulk SMS messaging, premium-rated messaging and interactive multi-media will continue to grow.

Meanwhile, collaborative applications will grow due to the introduction of BlackBerry and 3G.

`Other business applications` includes telemetry (such as the transmission for bank ATMs, logistics/tracking, surveillance and other machine-to-machine applications).

Industry buzz

So much for the market`s and analysts` viewpoints. What does the industry have waiting in the wings?

Pieter Uys, COO of Vodacom, informs iWeek that, driven by the business needs of its customers, the top business applications of cellular business technology in SA still include mobilising the workforce, ensuring efficient business communication, and secure remote fast data access.

Location-based technology applied in tracking, locating, securing and managing business resources, telemetry applications (machine-to-machine, or M2M, communication) are also key.

"Vodacom provides various solutions to address growing needs from business to increase business efficiencies, streamline business processes, save money and increase competitiveness," he says.

These include 3G and GPRS technologies, the BlackBerry enterprise solution, telemetry and roaming.

Tim Walter, product head for Cell C, ranks wireless data applications, personal information management, push e-mail, M2M applications, high-speed data and mobile banking as the top applications for mobile business.

"Cellphones have revolutionised the way that the informal sector does business, by allowing traders and artisans in this space to advertise their services, be contactable, and be able to communicate with their customers."

He notes that this sector of the market is not driving its business through data and e-mail, but rather through older technologies of voice and text messages.

Ultimately, "the key for m-commerce growth is simplicity," stresses Juniper Research in its most recent Mobile Commerce study, a sentiment echoed by Vodacom`s Pieter Uys.

"Simplicity is key, otherwise users won`t use [your solution or service] again," Uys says.