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MSM Is Key to the Success of the ‘Mobile Experience Service Provider’By Roger OrdmanDirector of Product Management Red Bend Software On a recent business trip to Korea, I had a free afternoon and decided to experience some of the sights. I found myself walking down the side of a mountain from the Seokguram Grotto to the Bulguksa Temple. It was a sunny and peaceful afternoon, and I thought: “Wow, this is what life is all about!” In medieval times real was defined by what you can hold with two hands, what you can possess. Now we have learned that experiences are real, too. BMW, undoubtedly a manufacturer of desirable automobiles, does not try to convince us to buy their cars by extolling the virtues of the object itself but rather by convincing us that we will be enjoying “The Ultimate Driving Experience.” We are not defined by what we own but by what we see, smell, hear, taste, feel … by what we experience. The mobile device has come out of the medieval age and into the new millennium to not only enable us to communicate and reach out to our colleagues and friends but also to supply our needs to have fun, listen to music and watch movies. Our desires have evolved to capturing our experiences in photos and videos and then immediately sharing them via mobile social networks like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. These are the latest apps in the social networking trend, but would anyone care to predict what will be the next big thing in as little as six months’ time? This acknowledgment of our core desires is what’s driving phenomena such as the iPhone and Android to unprecedented success. Success that is based on a flexible software architecture that enables these devices to continue to evolve and adapt to the latest software enabled trend. While hardware is needed for some of these experiences, such as a camera and a large screen, the underlying need for all these experiences is the software on the device and the enabling services on the network. As such, the software on the device is fast becoming the main asset of the service provider. In order for these devices to be flexible, future proof and, therefore, profitable, they must have a modular architecture to enable the independent management of each of these valuable software assets. The market term for this is called Mobile Software Management (MSM). MSM covers the technologies, products and solutions that allow the service provider to define and manage these software assets on any device at any time during the device lifecycle. Each player in the mobile value chain understands that the one controlling the software also controls the “mobile experience.” The OEM does not want to solely be the platform (HW and SW) provider and the MNO does not want to solely be a bitpipe. Both are competing to become our “mobile experience service provider.” Analyst firm Ovum has coined the term MDP or Managed Device Platform for OEMs like Apple and RIM that supply an end-to-end ecosystem, which includes devices, servers and services. Ovum specifically states: “A fully-realized MDP will offer all the elements involved in the creation, discovery, acquisition, delivery and consumption of digital content and applications, as well as the means to update applications and device software” (“Of iPhones and Androids: Redefining the Smartphone and Other Devices,” Tony Cripps, 16 March 2009). It is clear that MDP is not only defined by the ability to deliver software to the device but also must possess the MSM capabilities to manage the software on the device. As attractive as these MDPs are, they are still in the niche market. For service providers to reach out to mobile consumers in the mass market and to offer services such as TV streaming, navigation and even application stores, the same software management features will have to be available on the other 95% or so of mobile phones. While MDPs have a closed end-to-end system for deploying and managing the software that powers their mobile experience, services only succeed in the mass market when driven through standardization. The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has ratified the Software Component Management Object (SCOMO) that deals with the management aspects of adding and removing applications as well as the inventory management guaranteeing interoperability between the service provider’s server and the clients on the devices. As fast as the latest trends have caught on, there are sure to be more on the way. Over time, our tastes evolve and so do our desired experiences. The key to prolonged success for the mobile experience service provider is to have a clear Mobile Software Management strategy in place to enable them to be flexible to meet the ever changing needs of the mobile consumer experience.
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