At Ostro Brasserie & Bar in Auckland, Reseller News debated the future of mobility in New Zealand, outlining the key channel plays for 2016 in association with Dell, HP Inc, Microsoft and VMware and key channel partners.
As mobility continues its march into the enterprise boardroom, disrupting key industries along the way, New Zealand businesses are re-evaluating and re-architecting strategies to keep pace with the changing demands of the workplace.
Mirroring global trends, mobility is permeating the country’s core sectors up and down the land, pervasive in its reach and unpredictable in its impact.
Whether it be devices or applications, organisations are turning to trusted channel partners to mobilise internal operations and customer interactions, as resellers seek new ways to maximise the growing trend of mobility.
But as data becomes the lifeblood of today’s business, and new devices flood the market, enterprise mobility continues to gain greater interpretation.
Such ambiguity leaves the market open to definition, representing channel opportunities and challenges along the way.
“If you look at mobility from an end-user perspective, it’s driven by need,” says Grant Hopkins, Managing Director, HP New Zealand. “My belief is that inherently speaking, organisations are gaining benefits from mobility within the organisation, but also outside of the premise.
“Look at the office work environment of today in New Zealand, it’s more fluid because of the different working styles of Kiwis, and you need technology to support this change.”
The office of the future, to a degree, is a redundant term. Stemmed by the rising tide of technological advances, Hopkins believes the modern workplace can now accommodate the needs of users. In essence; “technology has caught up”.
“Take a step back five or ten years ago,” Hopkins observes. “The same needs existed but the technology and the networks didn’t. The demand has always been there and now the technology is no longer constrained.”
Consequently, mobility continues to climb the CIO priority ladder as businesses examine new ways to boost productivity of employees, irrespective of size or sector.
“Every business has mobility as part of their strategy,” says Brent Kendrick, Director Small Midmarket Solutions & Partner Group, Microsoft. “If you think about digital transformation, then mobility plays a key part in that equation for New Zealand businesses, are we’re this conversation already take shape.
“But it’s not about a single device, it’s about having access to information on that device.”
Citing the rise of the Internet of Things, coupled with improved internet access through the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative, Kendrick believes that as Kiwis become better connected, organisations are reassessing mobility approaches.
“Customers are asking, do I sit and wait to be disrupted or do I lead and disrupt the market?” Kendrick adds.
Mobility conversation
Echoed by Jeff Morris, General Manager of End-User Computing, Dell Australia and New Zealand, the conversation continues to change with market demands, with the onus on partners to dig deeper when uncovering core mobility strategies.
“Technology has absolutely caught up with demand,” Morris agrees. “But now it’s worth asking how customers define mobility because it’s around mobilising the information rather than focusing on the endpoint.
“Mobility is the ability to provide access to applications on a multitude of devices, which moves away from a device conversation.”
Rather than “assuming a device conversation, Morris argues that partners must reflect the changing market and enter into negotiations with an open mind and a flexible approach.
“I don’t assume but I’ll automatically ask what do you mean by mobility and what are you trying to achieve?” Morris adds.
“Where are you today and where would you like to be? From that partners can better tailor solutions to the needs of the business.”
For Andrew Fox, Director of Business Mobility, VMware, the conversation depends on who is in the room, and crucially, “that’s part of the challenge” for partners.
“Partners must take a step back and understand that mobile is the other side of the coin from what is the real revolution in the industry, which is based around cloud,” he adds.
