Mobile World opens up new possibilities

I recently attended arguably the largest and loudest gathering of stakeholders in the global mobile communication eco-system. Held annually in Barcelona, the Mobile World Congress is the flagship event of GSMA, the organisation of GSM operators worldwide.

It would not be amiss to say that everybody who is anybody in this space is bound to be there. It is common to see celebrity faces among the throngs.

My agenda at the MWC was to check out new technologies and disruptive business models in this space. It doesn't require a rocket scientist to fathom the power of mobility, mobile communication and the new smart phone paradigm.

The new structure of mobile technology has forever changed the world of telecommunications as we knew it. While the large telcos stand as gatekeepers, it is not impossible for outsiders to find a place at the table.

The sudden and enormous strides made by Apple and Google into this space are examples of this shift. Even greater are those made by niche innovators that make life easier and economical for the people that use their products.

There were a lot of innovations and innovative services on display. There were many services available that could be used by small enterprises to gain an edge. This lowers the barrier for smaller players because it allows them to get technology and automation which may otherwise be impossible due to the costs involved.

Game changer

In my opinion, the mobile app space, which is getting a lot of news and noise these days, will be the game changer for SMEs.

The recent Mobile World Congress was full of such ideas and apps. For SMEs, there were a lot of options to see their points being addressed by this not-so-structured set of niche dream weavers. They are a mostly small, innovative bunch of programmers who deftly analyse and solve issues that plague small businesses.

There are a lot of scattered options, but the one that really caught my eye was The Enterprise App Store. It is only a matter of time when the SME space will demand its own app store and the support infrastructure that is required.

It is new approaches like these that will demystify, simplify and economise the SME software space.

Professional apps

Cloud computing, paired with easy, simple and cheap availability of enterprise software applications will be a paradigm shift from today's model of custom-made and self-hosted software. It will be possible to build a working system out of easily available smart hardware and by downloading a few "professional" apps, riding on a back-end enterprise application, which is hosted on the cloud.

The most interesting part of this shifting business model is that the cost of such a solution is usually very small or free. This is made possible by the fact that most of the development is done by individuals or small teams with great domain knowledge, eliminating the need for layers of specialists.

The code is efficient and does just what it promises and efficiently. Club this with almost no distribution or hosting cost and we have an extremely compelling offering. With hardware costs falling and multiple platform options, the total solution is bound to be cost effective.

- The writer is an entrepreneur and mentor based in Dubai. He is also secretary-general of the Indian Business and Professional Council, Dubai.