I briefly interrupt my slumber to highlight an announcement from yesterday.

Over the years our attention has shifted away from the carriers/operators.  We only remember them to complain about them or to comment on AT & T’s iPhone exclusivity.   Shiny devices from iPhone to Nexus One to RIM’s devices have made our eyes sparkle.   In some respects you may have even discounted or written off the carriers.  But they are doing things behind the scenes… things that will impact the way you and I interact with our devices and with people across networks.  Exciting stuff so they can finally shed the dumb pipe moniker.

If you’re a developer opportunities are already out there to be leveraged in this space.  Be ahead of the curve and not behind it.

This is yesterday’s announcement as retold by TechCrunch Europe:

Aepona, the Belfast-based developer of a software engine that powers the “Network as a Service” (NaaS) business model for mobile operators, has just raised a $10M round, led by new investor BlackBerry Partners Fund, a Toronto-based global fund focused on applications, services and supporting infrastructure for mobile platforms.

Existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Polaris Ventures, Innovacom, Nordic Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures also participated in the round.

The company provides the software engine that powers the “Network as a Service” (NaaS) business model for mobile operators allowing them to monetise assets and functionality within their networks – such as billing, location, messaging and voice communications – to open up new revenue opportunities.

Aepona, whose revenues grew 50% year-on-year from 2008 to 2009 with positive EBITDA, will use the new round to accelerate growth, and invest in additional sales and business development.

Below are portion of the Press Release from Aepona’s website:

Aepona is a market leader in the NaaS marketplace through its deployments with more than 20 Tier One mobile operators around the world, together with its pioneering work on the GSM Association’s OneAPI initiative and the launch of the Canadian OneAPI commercial service, which is at the forefront of the Mobile Cloud Computing market.

Commenting on its decision to invest in Aepona, Marc Faucher, Partner at BlackBerry Partners Fund said, “Aepona’s proposition is constructively aligned with the strategic goals of mobile operators, and the company is ideally positioned to capitalize on the major trends that are shaping the future of the mobile industry.”

Among these key trends are:
· Mobile operators looking for ways to re-assert themselves in the applications value chain to address increasing competition from web-based service providers.

· The proliferation of high-end smartphones enabling a new generation of applications and services that combine advanced device functionality with core mobile network functionality, creating significant additional value for the end-user compared with the device-only applications that are prevalent today.

· The arrival of Cloud Computing into the mobile domain meaning that application providers can now quickly and easily access mobile network capabilities across multiple operators. This reduces market fragmentation and is vital for driving mass adoption of applications on a global scale.

“Aepona’s solution directly addresses these trends, and it’s for this reason that BlackBerry Partners Funds believes the company is poised for significant growth. We look forward to working with Aepona, and providing insight and support that will help the company realise its full potential in the mobile eco-system,” continues Faucher.

“We are delighted to welcome BlackBerry Partners Fund on board as a new investor in Aepona,” said Al Snyder, CEO of Aepona. “The Fund shares our vision for the future of the mobile industry – one in which mobile operators can adopt a two-sided business model, delivering differentiated, network-enabled applications through their retail channels as well as directly monetizing their network and billing assets to open up new wholesale revenue opportunities from the Mobile Cloud. We especially look forward to leveraging the relationships that BlackBerry Partners Fund shares with the handset and application developer communities, to develop new propositions that combine the unique capabilities of the mobile device with the power of the mobile network.”

All this to say what?

Keep an eye on it… others are.   If I get a chance I will try and write more about this (and if you are interested).Similar Posts:

• Is Google Eyeing the Mobile Enterprise with New Management Tools?
• Mobile Becomes A Social Media Lifeline
• Commentary on Google’s Acquisition of AdMob
• Mobile Strategy for Small Business: It’s About Local Convenience
• 67% Of The World’s Population Are Mobile Subscribers – What are you doing about it?
• Mobile Trends 2020
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• Investment in the Silicon Valley Mobile Industry
• App Store Market Data (from AppsFire)
• Vodafone Invests in Mobile Health Firm

I have commented about this same topic before… to some of you personally. Just wrote a little something over at the other site but thought I would paste it here directly:

… the entire mobile banking landscape will succeed only through partnerships. Banks partnering with other service providers… (but to what extreme? And at what cost to the customer?).

A very important partnership is the one between those that provide services to the banks… Enterprise software providers, mobile app developers, system integrators – the best way to break in and go deep in mobile with a bank will be based on your partnerships with others. This is especially true for startups in the mobile space – go out and seek partnerships with providers who already have entrenched relationships with the big banks.

Success for a lot of startups in this space will be dependent on their ability to forge partnerships and alliances as they tackle the big enterprise clients. The mobile ecosystem is no longer straightforward… it is a complex web of relationships, connections, networks and partnerships.

Leverage who you know to get in where you want to get in.   Leverage the relationships that others already possess to get your foot in the door.

You can develop a little app and throw it up on any of the application stores… but to break into the enterprise market (especially in finance, healthcare and government) you need to have more than a fun or cute little mobile app.  You need to have much, much more than a Twitter account and recent grad pushing out tweets… you need a mobile strategy.Similar Posts:

• Mobile Financial Services In Canada
• Building the Bank of the Future
• Professional Services in Mobility: Who Would You Trust?
• Mobile Banking “Report Card” From ABI Research
• Mobile Banking In Canada (Reason 3): Technology Is NOT An Obstacle
• Making Sense of Mobile Application Development
• Mobile Banking in Canada (Reason 1): Wider, Deeper and Broader Wireless Phone Usage
• Financial Services and Mobility
• Mobile Banking In Canada: CIBC Gets There First!
• 12 Reasons Why Canadian Banks Should Really Offer Mobile Services

Similar Posts:

• Google Analytics Mobile Reporting
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• Is the iPhone Suddenly Incompatible With Exchange?
• Optimizing the iPhone for Business
• Making the Most of Mobile Through Partnerships
• MyBlackBerry.com Launch

Over at Tomi Ahonen’s Communities Dominate Brands Blog is a great summary post of the size of the Mobile Industry in 2009.  Below is an excerpt:

The mobile telecoms industry became one of only a handful industries on the planet to generate one Trillion dollars last year and out of that, roughly speaking 800 B is in service revenues (voice and data) and the remaining 200 B in hardware (phone handsets and network infrastructure). Voice accounts for approx 75% of all service revenues or 600 B dollars. Mobile messaging is worth about 130 B and non-messaging data services about 70 B dollars. Of the hardware, a little over 150 B is handsets and a little under 50 B is network infrastructure income to the industry. For contrast, mobile is twice the size of the global TV industry or the total worldwide advertising industry or the total PCIT/nternet industry; as well as twice the size of its former big brother but now little brother, the fixed landline telecoms industry.

You can read the rest of the post here and buy the 2009 Almanac here.

Several people over the last week have informed me that one of the Canadian carriers is close to launching a new professional services group in Canada. The details around that are sketchy but this raises the question as to who should really provide professional services in the mobile space.

A couple of rhetorical questions to get our collective brains going on this topic…

What influences your decision when shopping for these services?

• Trust – as in existing relationships
• Experience – as in a delivery track record
• Cost – as in cheaper
• Or is it something else?

Who would you trust more?

• Carriers
• Device Manufacturers
• System Integrators
• Value Added Resellers
• Application Developers

Who would you really trust? … and what is that trust based on?

And what about experience? In what? On their own platform, their own devices or their own applications?

So let’s think about…

• Who is best positioned to succeed in the delivery of professional services in the mobile space?
• Who should not even consider delivering professional services in the mobile space?
• Who would you definitely not trust?
• What should be offered … and by whom?

I really want to hear from you on this one. Typically I don’t ask for much opinion or feedback (silence scares me) … but I definitely want to hear from you this time.Similar Posts:

• Making the Most of Mobile Through Partnerships
• Like Minded Blogs #1
• An Analysis of the Google App Market
• Is Google Eyeing the Mobile Enterprise with New Management Tools?
• Navigating the Mobile Ecosystem
• Moving Beyond Wireless Enablement (Canada)
• Finish Strong Or Stay Home (Some Thoughts On Strategy Implementation)

Small businesses are an under served market in mobility. We constantly hear about the importance of small businesses to our economies, yet today few would argue that this sector is properly served and serviced from a mobility standpoint. Of course, carriers have plans but many times they simply rebrand a family plan as a small business plan and push it out. The effort to sell to the smallest of small businesses is often not worth the return to some of the larger players. This is all improving and will continue to do so as the cloud and open source makes business models that cater to the smallest firms much more attractive and manageable. As a small business owner you may already be seeing some improvement and your mobile strategy is starting to take shape.

Or maybe as a small business owner you still feel ignored and you don’t know what to do with this mobility thing. My humble guess would be that the vast majority of small business owners are not thinking or even remotely contemplating a mobile strategy. There are many different angles to take on the topic of small business and mobility, but for today and for now let’s just focus on one part of it: as a small business would you benefit from a mobile application?

Small Business and Mobile Applications

The simple answer, and I am sure many would agree with this, is no. The time and effort required to design, build, distribute, market and maintain a mobile application is not what you are in business for. A few may try to sell the idea of a mobile application to you but you will be hard pressed to make a case for it.

Without a mobile app you are seemingly left without mobile options. The thought of not being present when the need arises in your customers (when mobile) may worry you. In fact it may even terrify you. This is where search in general and local search in particular become your best option.

A Case for Local Search

Human geographers will tell you that everything happens in space; a particular point in space. All human interactions happen somewhere. For you as a small business owner your work, your clients and customers are mostly local. This is why local search is your friend, why competition in this space will heat up and why existing players with key advantages stand to benefit the most.

It is about convenience … local convenience!
It is the middle of January and you and your family are returning from Costa Rica where you just had a wonderful eco-tourism vacation. You are happy to hear that you just missed some of the coldest weather in years… unfortunately you walk into a freezing cold house due to a broken down furnace.

What do you do?

1. Blame the kids?
2. Boot up your computer in the basement?
3. Go back to Costa Rica?
4. Take out your smartphone?

If you answered ‘take out your smartphone‘ you answered the way I did.  The other option of digging through night tables and recycling boxes to find a telephone directory doesn’t even enter my mind for this scenario.  Your phone is right there with you.

Now what would you do?

• Browse to your favourite search engine?
• Then search for ‘emergency furnace services Toronto‘
• Click on the first few options?
• Click on an ad?

Or would you instead…

• Open up a local search application
• Search for ‘emergency furnace services Toronto?‘
• Click on ‘closest to your home‘ option
• Look at the first few (perhaps check a video)
• Pick one and call them immediately!

We spend our money and buy a majority of our services locally. Our context is local!  We may research products on the web from around the world… but when it comes to actually purchasing them we do a lot of that locally.

As a small business owner seeking presence in the minds and wallets of mobile consumers you want to be there when the moment of need arises.  Lots to think about. We will try and come back to this topic over the next few weeks.

Here are some other things to consider…
How social can a local search app be?
What about product availability and inventory?
Menu and prices?
So what other things could be leveraged on top of a local search application?
In your opinion is local search the best option for small business?Similar Posts:

• Network As A Service: A Carrier’s Differentiator
• Mobile Search Now With Video – YellowPages.ca iPhone App Updated
• Moving Beyond Wireless Enablement (Canada)
• What do I need right now?
• Content On Its Way
• Friday Ramblings: Electronic Health Records, Microsoft Courier and Hospital Operations
• Collection of tiny mobile apps for your iPhone (or my Personalized Enterprise Gateway)
• Made in Quebec Mobile Applications
• Don’t Ignore the Palm Pre
• Making Sense of Mobile Application Development

My intent was always to provide a recap of last week’s inaugural Mobile Money Canada conference. I was going to review the event itself, the speakers and even the audience.  However much has gotten in the way of doing that for you – even though I feel a certain sense of obligation to provide you with an opinion.

But I am not going to review the event, the speakers or the audience. What I will tell you is that I did not leave the conference with a ‘good’ feeling for mobile financial services in Canada. What’s even worse is that I am not even sure why I have that feeling.

The most important question I wanted insight on was – what’s the holdup in Canada?  The real holdup? I was hungry to hear the experts.  I was there both as a consumer and as a mobile strategy practitioner.  My question was not answered but if I look at the thirteen lessons I walked away with it gives you a pretty good idea as to what the holdup is in Canada.  If you want the less cynical recap the link is provided at the end of this post.

Thirteen things I brought back from the conference:

1. Be leary of experts… they are usually trying to sell you something.
2. Everyone is an expert!
3. Don’t trust most of the numbers thrown at you.  Be very careful when figures are used and read between the lines.  If adoption numbers are not freely offered there is a good chance that adoption is poor.
4. Too much time is spent trying to build partnerships and alliances…
5. Too little time is spent on understanding the customer!
6. Too much time is spent patting ourselves on the back for a mature mobile infrastructure.
7. Too little time is spent on understanding why the industry is where it is…
8. The carriers claim (and actually appear offended) when it is insinuated they want to own the mobile financial consumer.  Why do you get so defensive anyways?  The dumb pipe complex perhaps?
9. There is much disagreement on the maturity of mobile financial services in Canada.
10. Some folks will tell you that mobile financial services in Canada are highly advanced (and they say this with a straight face).
11. However, some financial services insiders tell me their clients are not even close to investing in mobility until they feel more comfortable with the market.
12. It is hard to know who to believe (since everyone is an expert).
13. And for lucky thirteen – don’t believe anyone.  If you are buying, do the research yourself.

I walked into the conference thinking that Canadian banks were simply slow or even negligent for not moving faster on mobile financial services.  But I walked out understanding that the Canadian ecosystem is complex, filled with misinformation and really much more immature than I thought. So although the banks are moving quite slowly – I can now see that the carriers and the vendors are not helping the situation. What Canadian Banks (BMO, TD, RBC, Scotiabank, CIBC…) need is a mobile strategy.  A road map to help them navigate through the fluff, the noise and the hoopla.

I realize that no one is going to make a decision on a vendor after seeing a couple of presentations and hearing a few panels at a conference … and that is a good thing.

A very good thing.

Now don’t get me wrong… Overall I am still very hopeful.  The vendors in the room were all very smart and knowledgeable.  They are capable of great things and if they ever actually do meaningful work in Canada I am sure it will be great…

But if you read between the lines of what is going on, you turn some rocks and you ask lots of questions – you will probably agree with me.

What am I missing?
Do you disagree with me? Please do…
Please share your thoughts below…

I do want to thank the organizers for allowing me to attend and for pushing the conversation forward.  Their summary of the event can be found here.  Hopefully they will still invite me next year and may even allow me to be a partner… it’s nice to have different opinions isn’t it?
Similar Posts:

• Mobile Money Canada Conference – November 10, 2009
• Mobile Financial Services Week – Submit Your Story
• Mobile Banking in Canada (Reason 1): Wider, Deeper and Broader Wireless Phone Usage
• Mobile Banking In Canada: CIBC Gets There First!
• Mobile Banking In Canada (Reason 2): Mobility is Personal, Intimate and Present
• Mobile Banking In Canada (Reason 3): Technology Is NOT An Obstacle
• Building the Bank of the Future
• 12 Reasons Why Canadian Banks Should Really Offer Mobile Services
• Financial Services and Mobility
• Mobile Banking. Set to take off… again!

In an effort to understand why some of you visit the Mobile Strategy Blog I have done a quick analysis of the search engine referrals. Of course this is a circuitous analysis because your searches bring you here due to the content and keywords on this site which are indexed by the search engines (mostly Google). This analysis merely helps me to focus further on the main topics or themes that are already bringing you here. The most important outcome of this analysis will hopefully be that it forces me to drop some of the filler that I write when I am either too busy or lazy to give you some good stuff.

The dates of the downloaded stats do not coincide with each other 100%… but they provide sufficient information for our purposes.

The Searches

October 14 to 26
Extracted from Clicky – Link Below

Traffic to the Mobile Strategy Blog comes from three main sources:

• Direct Traffic 30.3%
• Referring Sites 39.1%
• Search Engines 29.8%
• Other 0.8%

Direct traffic is just that… those of you who either have this site bookmarked or know the URL by memory.

Referring sites are mostly LinkedIn, Twitter, link backs, blogs I have left comments at or those blogs that have this site in their blogroll (like Enterprise Mobility Matters and Mobile Manifesto).

You know what search engines are.  The interesting point here is that 92% of the searches during this time period came from Google, 6% from Bing and 1% from Yahoo.

The Keywords

October 14 to 26
Extracted from Clicky – Link Below

We could slice these in different ways and there are too many (including onesies) that do not add that much value to your searches but that in the right combination still brought some of you here. The top 5 keywords used during searches on this site for this period were the following:

1. mobile 22%
2. strategy 9%
3. banking 5%
4. application 4%
5. canada 3%

The top 5 or all of the individual keywords that brought readers over here during this period do not really tell the story so let’s get to the exciting stuff below.

Mobile Strategy Themes

October 14 to 26
Extracted from Clicky – Link Below

This is what I did:

1. Took the entire list of searches
2. Filtered out nonsense and mistakes
3. Classified the remaining ones into main themes

And these are the mobility themes that brought searchers to this blog with their corresponding weights:

1. Mobile Strategy 33%
2. Mobile Banking 20%
3. Mobile Application Development 18%
4. Mobile Analytics 7%
5. Enterprise Mobility 6%
6. Mobile Ecosystem 5%
7. Mobile Venture Capital 4%
8. Other 6%

From this I can only assume that visitors to this blog that do not come through searches are also drawn here by the same content and themes. As much as possible we will try and focus on the first three themes (mobile strategy, mobile banking or financial services and mobile application development). However we will also give it our best shot to provide you relevant links and interesting stories on the next four topics which are still very interesting to us (mobile analytics, enterprise mobility, mobile ecosystem and mobile venture capital).

Hope this helps you as much as it did me.
If you want to see something specific here please drop a comment below.

Get Clicky
Of the four different analytics programs (non-mobile) that I use here my favourite is Clicky Web Analytics. If you are interested in checking it out you can use my little code – here Get Clicky.

A lot of truth in this half-funny video regarding the App Store and poor applications.  But of course funny videos could also be aimed at Windows Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, etc…

But for the sake of simply having fun take a look at the video below.

I found it over here.Similar Posts:

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