If you are a business with core services and products related to the mobile and wireless industry, finding out what Mobile World Congress 2011 was like can help you decide whether to invest in attending next year. To help our Barcelona apartments guests decide, we interviewed Alfons de Jong. Alfons is from Rotterdam-based business, Veliq, and attended MWC this year. We asked him what it was like, and what tips he could share on how to prepare for MWC 2012.
When we spoke with Alfons he was helping Veliq prepare for a major service announcement they will be making in November. Veliq are focused on supporting businesses with “managed mobility”. According to international telecommunications research company, IDC, managed mobility – where businesses allow their staff to use their own mobile devices to carry out work functions (see our diagram description below) – is becoming a crucial enterprise need. IDC most recently wrote about it in an August 2011 research paper. For Veliq, attending Mobile World Congress 2011 in February no doubt played a crucial function in helping gather business intelligence that helped them head to the front of the pack in offering ‘managed mobility’ business solutions. We are guessing that their new service (branded “MobiDM”) will be at the core of their participation in Mobile World Congress 2012.
Visual description of the Veliq Managed Mobility service (MobiDM) framework
What was the key benefit of attending Mobile World Congress 2011?
“As both a visitor, and an exhibitor, we met a lot of companies and linked to a pool of new customers in a short one-week timeframe. We were also able to connect with many colleagues all in a short space of time.”
What did you learn from Mobile World Congress 2011 that other mobile businesses could learn from for next year?
“Bring working demo’s of your products! Do some work to map out your business model and monetization strategy for any new product and service as this is a common discussion topic and also helps you to focus your message when speaking with potential new customers. Emerging enterprise apps stores are also becoming a much hotter trend for releasing your product than through iTunes or the android marketplace, so considering how to make use of these services for your product ahead of your participation is useful.”
What app would you love to have had at Mobile World Congress 2011 and that you’ll be looking for in 2012?
“There are three that would be useful:
- A MWC exhibitors guide app that makes it easy to show you around the fairground
- A MWC news app, and
- An app that helps you get around in the city: meals, accommodation, shopping.”
(By the way, if you are a mobile-related business staying at our Rotterdam apartments, make sure to network with Veliq while in town!)
Veliq will be launching their MobiDM service on 17 November – see their website for more information. Thanks to Alfons for making the time available to discuss participation in Mobile World Congress 2011.