Launch Strategies for Digital Business Units

Among the many announcements and presentations from Mobile World Congress 2013, one that caught my attention came from Matthew Key, the CEO of Telefónica Digital.

In a post-event blog post Key highlighted how the mobile industry is moving beyond the realm of “phone calls and pure connectivity” with particular reference to M2M and mCommerce opportunities. He observed that “Despite the realization by all telcos of the need to become digital to leverage these opportunities, there is a lack of consensus on how to get there. What then is the way forward?” His own position involves “driving open partnerships and using mobile and digital technology to address pressing social needs”. Partnerships, in a variety of forms, is something I have previously described as a key aspect of business model innovation.

Stepping back, however, what are the key characteristics of other mobile operator ‘digital’ initiatives? And, what does this imply as the way forward as other operators strive to become Digital?

M2M valuation

Connected device applications are not all equal. Consumer-oriented devices may have a revenue generating life of 2-3 years while cars and industrial machinery a life of 5-8 years. In extreme cases, utility-like devices related to smart grid or smart city transport may be operational for even longer periods of time.

As a result of these variations, business developers and CFOs need suitable tools to manage both the risks and the rewards associated with different application opportunities. This is where valuation techniques become useful. They not only help to quantify new opportunities but they can also drive business model innovation.

Two Aspects to Business Model Innovation

New business models and business model innovation have become very topical in the M2M industry over the past year. Now, companies are talking less about eye-catching use-cases and more about the business of commercializing the most promising ones. The IoT market, currently preoccupied with cool and quirky devices, has yet to make this transition.

For any company in the M2M market, there are two aspects to business model innovation. The first deals with business-unit organization at a corporate level. The second applies to any special approach that is needed to capitalize on a specific market opportunity.

M2M Platform Permutations

Ericsson’s 5 February announcement to supply its M2M Device Connection Platform (DCP) in support of XL Axiata in Indonesia has prompted this update to an earlier article on the competitive dynamics of international alliances and M2M platforms.

The DCP deal is something of a coup, providing Ericsson with a meaningful customer reference in the highest population country in South East Asia. The news announcement actually formalizes a business relationship that dates back to early 2012. In October 2012, both companies highlighted an achievement of 89,000 M2M connections. The pace of growth seems to have accelerated with XL Axiata’s M2M base reaching a total of 125,000 in the intervening months. The latest announcement provides some timely marketing collateral for Ericsson to use with mobile operators that cannot justify an investment in their own M2M platforms and the delegations of mobile-operator executives who will shortly be congregating at Mobile World Congress.

The move by XL Axiata is not unique in the market. Other mobile operators have partnered for M2M platform capabilities to handle large scale application opportunities using processes that are geared specifically to M2M operational needs and economics. AT&T was an early partner of Jasper Wireless, for example, while Everything Everywhere in the UK has been working with another platform provider, Transatel.

These developments and the changing competitive dynamics for M2M platforms will have far-reaching implications for all device vendors, service providers and users in the M2M eco-system.

Sierra Wireless reinforces its M2M strategy

I have been tracking corporate developments in the M2M market over the past few years. They are useful for performance benchmarking while also providing insights as to how companies are implementing strategy and committing to this market.

To date, every initiative has been expansionary involving a mix of acquisitions, distribution agreements, innovation and partnering. The divestiture by Sierra Wireless of its AirCard business, announced on 28 Jan 2013, therefore triggered something of a database classification challenge. In essence, the company sees a tremendous growth opportunity in the M2M market while also acknowledging that the data-card business is on the decline, especially as increasing numbers of Internet enabled devices already include ‘embedded mobile’. Sierra Wireless has therefore chosen to exit this business and to direct its investment capacity towards more promising M2M opportunities.

Building a "billion dollar" M2M business

Over the past 1-2 years, the concept of a “billion dollar” business has often arisen in my project related discussions concerning multi-national operators. Indeed, Matthew Key (Head of Telefónica Digital) recently set a target of Eur.0.5-08bn (almost US$1 billion) for its M2M revenues by 2015. A billion matters in the frame of reference for most large operators because anything smaller often does not warrant management attention. This is understandably the case when resources are being requested of Group-level decision makers who have to weigh competing market opportunities.

So, what does a billion dollar business look like? How might an MNO reach this level of revenues within a 3-5 year interval of time? And, what are some of the business model implications for operators pursuing a “billion dollar” goal? 

M2M Corporate Initiatives 2012

Please check the Corporate Initiatives navigation tab for the most recent market developments  
 
2012 proved to be another strong year for the M2M/Connected Devices market with a significant rise in corporate business ventures. The nearly 100% increase in activity during 2012 – a total of 114 corporate events – easily surpasses the rate of market development in 2011 according to our database tracking M2M corporate ventures.

The two strategies showing the greatest amount of activity during 2012 were:

• The creation of commercial partnerships across the M2M value chain to supply integrated M2M offerings to the market

• Market entry and expansion initiatives by companies targeting new and different M2M segments.