“The application store has certainly been the highlight of the key mobile players’ strategies this year, but Google claims stores do not represent the future of the industry.” – http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=1691

Seems that everybody is doing the same but the same, in most cases, doesn’t reflect the best opportunity. As I wrote in another post, mobile business may not be only about Apple Store and how to copy their biz model.

Whilst all the massive players are riding into the same direction Google has two battle fronts going on. The first one is the Android platform and the other is the Chrome OS, basing all the services on the still unborn operational system browser thereby converging every service into the cloud.

In times where cloud computing has shown its major weakness on the Twitter hacking case, more important than the details is the fact that Google has more than one strategy. There is a common statement in the business area that says that if you bet all your objectives on a single target the chances to succeed are inversely proportional than betting on multiple targets.

Ongoing projects in the market:

1)    T-MOBILE hands together with HTC and Google developing the Android handset and deploying it in the market – HTCTouch3 (Magic). This new handset will focus on the user personalization and not just preloading innumerous applications.

2)    Microsoft, T-MOBILE and Vodafone working on separate application stores.
The basic strategies of TELECOM companies are: strong partnership with phone’s manufacturers and development of application stores or platforms where the companies can leverage on this opportunity. Software as a service, cloud computing.

I wonder if TELECOM companies alternatively could, for example, try these opportunities:

1)    How to use the next generation network as a seed? Is it feasible, for example, to develop specific encrypted data packets (transportation OSI level) that can flow inside the network with a priority mode, bypassing all the ordinary traffic? That would be ideal for financial operations including mobile payment.

2)    Build strong partnerships with companies that work with RFID on logistics, NFC on mobile payment and digital photography camera manufacturers, and use our sales force capillarity to spread new connectivity services thereby joining forces to offer the customer a more personalized solution in a revenue sharing biz model.

In the end it is just like genetics: mixing ideas (genes) in order to have a healthier ($) specie (company).

I was reading Natalie Klym review on the MIT CFP blog, linked at http://cfp.mit.edu/cfp-pi/ about Social Networks. The title is: “Social Networks: What are they good for?”

In fact, what are they good for? Just to please the human needs to socialize? How the companies in this business are going to monetize the solution? Actually, someone is paying the bill so far. Venture capitalists? Based on which business model? Advertising? I never met someone that bought anything from these advertising. I still think their future is to fade to black.

Particularly I don’t see any real possibility to monetize the solution for these companies, instead of Linkedin that is focused on a professional social network and is supported by companies and paid users that want to improve their profiles.

Lets picture these scenarios:

1)    Facebook starts to charge 1 dollar per month in order to maintain your profile online claiming hosting and customer services costs in order to do it. Question: are you willing to pay for it?
2)    Orkut and Facebook start to offer a full platform that can connect your enterprise intranet and create a social network within. Price: 0,50 dollar per user per month. Will your company pay for it?

Now lets picture these ones:

1)    You go out to a PUB or a club. Are you willing to pay to meet new friends?
2)    You start to workout in a gym and make new friends. Are you willing to pay to maintain these contacts?
3)    You become part of a selected group of professionals and your profile is your résumé. This group discusses many subjects related to your profession and companies are following closely. You can either get a job or a good self-marketing and a fellow colleagues network that can improve your monthly income after all. Are you willing to pay for it?

How to leverage and monetize a solution that was born free? Which value can be perceived by the customer in order to make possible the monetizing issue? Apple managed to create a new business over the MP3 that was also born free.

But, why TELECOM companies should concern about that? If TELCOs want to build a business model where Social Network enterprises play an important role on the revenues the answer is absolutely yes, TELCOs must concern.

Every human being in this planet that works with business, either researching or hands on, discuss about Apple successful business model all the time.

What Apple did is not new despite it is disruptive. Biz ecosystems are not new. There are many ways to differ this sort of model and MIT, for example, call it Value Chain Dynamics.

Just to bridge the knowledge gap, Microsoft works the same way with their “MS Windows Compatible” brand. Intel managed to build an “Intel based platform” gathering the game industry and forcing IBM to create a new concept “The multimedia PC”. CISCO with their worldwide network of partners certifying them on their solutions. So, what we are experiencing now is again, not new, people are just talking too much about it.

Every biz ecosystem grows around a seed. Undoubtedly.  But more than that seems that NO business ecosystem grows without a powerful brand behind. Apple began to create their success when they launched in the market the colorful iMacs and the iPods therefore creating the culture that what they do they are the best, in every detail. Microsoft before Google was THE IT COMPANY in the world. Everybody wanted to work for them. CISCO has the best connectivity hardware, perceived by the customer and their network of supporters. Intel is well known for their fast processors so, every player aforementioned has their strengths and they are in a strategic position now because they created a culture around them, years ago. Keywords: creating a culture.

Create a culture is not easy and many times you cannot achieve the results in a short period time. How to begin? Inside the company or outside? Trying to cut deals with partners, putting some effort on building a case outside or construct the goals within your own colleagues?

Example: How TELECOM companies can create a market culture around the QR codes?  A) Talking to business partners, try to find some case relating to a feasible client. B) Contact the marketing area and begin to introduce the codes on every advertisement. Use the company phone manufacturer’s relationship and embed the QR code reading application on every phone.

The question is already answered.

In the last century, mostly because of the two world wars, the homo sapiens evolved into a new specie, the homo “gadget” sapiens. This “evolution” is being carried out mostly by all the technology that emerged from the military facilities in e.g. the Internet.

Still philosophizing on this subject, in the 19th century Nietzsche polemic wrote that God was dead. He intended to mean that science and knowledge would emancipate the human being from any “slavery” but..

Indeed science, and lets focus on technology, is revolutioning the world as we know but are we, ordinary people, prepared for all of this?  How the big companies (e.g. Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Dell, Yahoo) and even the ones we work now can improve human kind? That is a different way of thinking about business instead of just thinking about “how to improve the revenue”. The question is: Can we improve people’s life through the use of our services, goods or ways of doing business? If the answer is yes then the revenue will come naturally.

TELECOM companies still play a very important role in people’s life: connectivity. The pleasure to be able to talk or even see a dear person that is living abroad is priceless for the customer.  This perception of value is the most important issue when talking about services. This service sells for itself. A company that can provide a service or good that can deal with the customer emotions can almost guarantee the success in business.

Nowadays, the company that is dealing properly with the customer emotions is Apple. Their computers, phones and even the business model are improving people’s life. That is their key success driver and the ecosystem that revolves around them exists, presumptuously speaking, because every iPhone software developer believes that their programs can be used by any person in the world. The iTunes store become then their bridge, their way to cross the borders, to be seen and why not, to be bought.

The fact is that technology evolved in a faster rate than sociology. Whilst the greedy capitalist world is concerned about the global financial crises that actually was provoked by themselves, society, and that means customers, are evolving their mindset, unfortunately not as fast as the technological trend, and becoming more intolerant about ordinary injustice thereby also with companies that can promote unfair ways of doing business. Companies now and in the future must be prepared not just technologically but also “morally”.

Picture your MS Hotmail or GMAIL account being erased because of any technical reason. You may say that is impossible, considering that Microsoft and Google are trusted companies. Well, that is not what always happen.

Some users over the web have claimed that their Google account have been erased meaning that years of e-mail messages, contacts, agenda and even document files were simple gone.

The question is: to whom you should complain about? To the service provider that is actually fostering a free of charge solution? If you don’t pay for the service that means you cannot complain, can you?

In fact if you read the terms of agreement of these free content providers, that actually nobody do it, they do not disclaim responsibility for any problem that may occur.

It is very important to consider that Google does not disclose where are their data centers. Some IT analysts report that they are over more than 38 places around the globe (http://royal.pingdom.com). That is the essential strength and at the same time weakness of the Cloud Computing business model. Everything in the web? How much is going to cost you if you loose data?

There is a business gap today that no company is taking: provide a service to backup up all the customer data over the different service providers. Figure out these business offers:

1) $10,00 per month, daily backup and storage.
2) $30,00 per year, monthly backup and storage.
3) $20,00 for a bundle backup and storage.
4) $100,00 per year including daily backup, storage and all the backup data delivered in your home for Christmas.
5) Video call us to consult the recovery pricing table. (GMail only $5,00 etc.)

How much are you willing to pay for such a service? Remember: it will backup your e-mails, contacts, agenda, documents, photos, social network profiles etc.

Google is aware of your lifestyle. Scaring isn’t it? But it is true. Actually, maybe it can tell more about you than your own parents or very close friends. How?

1)    Google has your e-mail – Gmail
2)    Google has your contact database – Gmail
3)    Google has your pictures – Picasa
4)    Google has your videos – Youtube
5)    Google may host your Internet domain  – Google applications. They know your job.
6)    Google knows your search tags and, if you are logged on in a GMAIL account, it can map your searching preferences.
7)    Google can manage your mobile phone – Android, their mobile Operational System.
8)    Google knows where you are. By two different ways: if you have ever browsed the maps application logged on in a GMAIL account or if you have installed the maps on your mobile phone.
9)    Google may know your mobile phone number. Remember: you can install many mobile applications on it, i.e. google maps, gmail etc.
10)     Google may know your bookmarks – Chrome browser.
11)     Google may know your computer files – Google Desktop Search Engine.
12)     Google is aiming more and more on cloud computing. They can host your files on the Google Documents Application.
13)     Google knows what you like to write, if you use the BLOGGER platform.
14)     Google knows your friends and related communities – ORKUT.
15)     Google knows what your chat history is – Google Talk.

So, what they want? Simply rule the world without charging you for that? Rule your life? No, their business is information and information is power in a business ecosystem. The revenue comes mostly from advertisement, which means that a network of third party companies pay the bill. Who owns user information has the privilege of becoming a seed, and ecosystems are created around these sort of seed: open sourced, accessible, and heavily based on user collaboration and interaction.

How can TELECOM companies leverage the CUSTOMER LIFE INFORMATION + INTERNET + MOBILITY business model? Becoming a totally integrated service provider, connecting the third parties companies providing fast radio network for data transmission and charging them for the “User Anywhere Accessibility” on their platforms. Mobility means that the customers don’t have to be in front of a computer to perform financial transactions, shopping or IP chatting. The mobile phone is going to be your credit card, your personal identity, bringing the WEB X.0 user interaction and communities all in one service to its most distant border with high flexibility, thereby linking banks, shop stores, your daily issues, school, intranet and everything you like for entertainment.

Best part is to know who you are, what you’re looking for and how to manage it. Remember, your life is now measured in bits and everything about you is stored somewhere.