Devices And Integration Costs Up to 50% of the Wireless FFA Ecosystem in 5 years




Growing Adaptability of Mainstream Devices Will Open Profitable Near-Term FFA Opportunities for Operators in Insurance and Real Estate Industries

Boston, MA -/18 May, 2005 - Wi-Fi Technology Forum/- The latest Wireless Enterprise Strategies report from Strategy Analytics, "The Promises and Pitfalls of Wireless FFA," concludes that industrial expertise and IT skills will remain key selling points and network transport will continue to be commoditized in the $2.5 billion wireless Field Force Automation (FFA) solution market in North America and Western Europe.

Analysts expect the historical FFA prerequisites of specialized, ruggedized field equipment and the integration of finely tuned sector-specific solutions to endure--conspiring to keep deployments intricate. Devices and integration are indeed expected to account for nearly 50 percent of the wireless FFA ecosystem in five years.


However, the growing adaptability of mainstream devices and a growing universe of peripherals, coupled with modest advances in simplified solution development will create pockets of upside potential for mobile operators. "Mobile operators and equipment vendors have historically been overshadowed in the wireless FFA value chain and outpaced on revenue generation by field application specialists and prime integrators performing 'higher value/higher margin' functions," says Antoine Mathiaud, Senior Analyst. "While sector-specific customization remains the keyword in wireless FFA, we do see some opportunities for operators and device vendors to better position themselves in the value chain - provided they choose the right verticals and execute faultlessly."

While the dominant verticals of construction, utilities, transportation and equipment service will continue to be niche--albeit profitable--solution spaces dominated by a select group of players, this report concludes that wireless FFA for insurance and real estate require less integration and are initially best positioned to leverage off-the-shelf devices. As such, they show the most promise for near term opportunities characterized by shorter sales cycles and broader deployments that are easier to implement and manage.

Cliff Raskind, Director of the Strategy Analytics Wireless Enterprise Strategies service, adds, "Carriers must make an honest assessment of their industry-specific expertise in FFA, remaining aware that network attributes such as coverage, price--and increasingly location and presence--are baseline requirements. The reality is that service level agreements will be essential and that the network design criteria for mass-market services may not map perfectly to FFA's unique in-building penetration and remote area access requirements."

Additional details on the wireless FFA ecosystem may be seen at http://www.strategyanalytics.com/press/pr00171.htm

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