The definition of mobile business

Lecture 1

Way back in 1999 …

• Popular saying: “If you are NOT IN E-BUSINESS, you are OUT OF BUSINESS”

• Common belief: .COM or E- automatically means passport to getting millions

And then in 2000 …

• Burst of INTERNET BUBBLE

• Intense PESSIMISM instead of previous hype

• Headings of the type “E-BUSINESS IS DEAD” all over

Finally, where is E-Business now?

• The majority of companies are using Internet/Intranet in some way

• New services keep on emerging on the Net (Internet banking, vehicle tracking and monitoring systems, etc.)

• E-business silently but firmly pushes itself into our life in the form a natural supplement to traditional business processes

• You don’t have to shout about e-business anymore –IT IS JUST HERE

Mobile business concept

• In general, the main concept of m-business is moving enterprises’ critical business to the point of sale and service, or even closer to the point of consumers.

Motivations for M-Business

• competition for flexibility in conducting business; • extending functionality and service to the

business point;• convenience of employees; • comfort of consumers;• better satisfaction;• quality improvements;• personalization;• localization of business. • revenue increase• market gain

Definition

• M-Business is “the application infrastructure required to maintain business relationships and sell information, services, and commodities by means of the mobile devices”

Kalakota and Robinson (2001)

Variety of M-Business application areas

• M-commerce – fast transactions

• Introduction of mobile channels to company internal processes

• Mobile marketing

• Mobile CRM

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Technology environment for M-Business services

• Instant messaging – most popular media

• SMS – still live technology

• HTTP transactions over 5G

• Android and iOS applications for mobile devices

• Web service architecture

Infrastructure ofM-Business

• Mobile Devices– Currently, devices used in m-business are

wireless handheld computers, laptops, PDAs, tablet PCs, smart phones

• Wireless Networks– Fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks that

provide high-speed download and upload rate. The speed of transmission in these networks using mobile devices is at the level of DSL connections

Increasing number of public M-Services

• M-entertainment (logos, ringtones, mobile games)• M-info (yellow pages, stock exchange, accounting

information) • M-office (mobile e-mail, reminders, group

messaging)• M-payments (payments for parking, vending,

tickets) • M-banking (all major banks in Lithuania offer SMS or

WAP banking services)• M-self-services (info channel subscription, service

configuration, etc.)• M-security (mobile car tracking, house security, etc.)

IS transformation to M-Business so simple?

• It would be not less than an illusion, if one considered the transition from traditional or E-Business to M-Businessas just shifting from a wired environment to wireless communication and networking.

Issues about implementation of M-Business

• How well are M-Business opportunities studied?

• How much Business Process Reengineering, ERP system changes, and customer relationship management is required to go mobile?

• What is expected from m-business, direct profit, or quality of service?

• How much patience is needed before harvesting the first fruits of benefit?

• Are the employees ready to go mobile, or will they resist against?

From business’s perspective:

Issues about implementation of M-Business

• What will happen with the existing IT infrastructure?

• How carefully are the problems of interfacing, integration, and legacy systems studied?

• While going mobile, an important challenge is security of M-Business—is this issue studied?

• How well are the connectivity and management of mobile devices, security, and updates issues studied?

From technology perspective:

Issues about implementation of M-Business

• What is the impact of M-Business on consumers?

• Is the transition for consumers straightforward or painful?

From consumer’s perspective:

Issues about implementation of M-Business

• Should the business mobilize a few employees or the whole enterprise?

• How much it will cost for an enterprise with tens of thousands of employees?

• What is the price and benefit of a mobile employee (m-employee)?

Transition cost: