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IDC Sees Explosive Growth for Mobile Enterprise Email in Asia/Pacific

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The number of mobile enterprise email subscribers will increase in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) region from 0.74 million in 2006 to 2.72 million in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.2%, reports IT research firm IDC. The number of enterprise email subscriber would significantly rise when mobile email proliferates within the ranks of the middle management and the frontline staff and offer cost efficiencies for the enterprise, IDC said in the report.

"Carriers are offering multiple mobile email solutions originating from competing mobile email providers, to the enterprise customers. As the competition heats up in the mobile enterprise email space, the solutions that cater to the specific requirements of the customers in the region and offer the best deal to the carrier will find their way into the enterprises," says Shalini Verma, Senior Market Analyst, for IDC’s Asia/Pacific Enterprise Mobility Research.

She added, "For solutions vendors, securing a deal with the carrier is only half the battle won. The real challenge will be to convert these partnerships into customer acquisitions."

According to the report "Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) Mobile Enterprise Email 2006-2010 Forecast And Analysis: Has It Come Of Age?", mobile enterprise email is at a warm-up stage in Asia/Pacific, and the vendors are pulling out all the stops to prepare for the big race ahead.

The ecosystem for mobile enterprise email is firming up as mobile email players are turning their attention to the region and making a beeline for carriers to engage them in distribution deals.

Carriers recognize varying needs among different enterprises and are therefore offering multiple solutions to the end-users. Many carriers offer a BlackBerry solution along with their own branded mobile email service from players such as Seven. Players such as Visto and Good Technologies are also increasing their presence in the region. The entry of large players such as Nokia and Microsoft has created new momentum in the marketplace.

The solutions for mobilizing corporate email include proprietary solutions, non-proprietary solutions, network-operating center (NOC) based solutions and behind-the-firewall solutions. The basic enabling feature for mobile email is push email, which synchronizes the mobile device with the corporate email systems, so that the mail server automatically transmits new emails to the mobile device. At the first stage, mobile email players worked towards hooking up their solution to as many corporate email solutions. Now, the focus is on making the email solution available on as many device platforms and devices.

Mobile enterprise email will be strategically positioned within the enterprise mobility portfolio. It will act as a driver for enterprise mobility applications and will be the stepping-stone for enterprises to deploy other complex applications.