So – What is a Small Mobile Business?

Craig Mathias — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:45:35 +0000

First of all, it’s great to be here, and I want to thank TechTarget and IT Knowledge Exchange for the opportunity. As some of you may already know, I run a small mobile business called Farpoint Group. We provide advisory services in the area of wireless and mobile to a broad range of clients – mostly manufacturers of wireless and mobile products, but also carriers and operators, end users, and the investment community. We always work on a project basis, own no equity in any wireless company, pay for the products we use in production, and are otherwise as independent as possible. But, as a technology analyst, I’m hardly unbiased. As an engineer, I’m hardly easy to please. And, as a small business owner and entrepreneur, I’ve spent a ton of time learning about the products and services that make Farpoint Group productive no matter where the company conducts business – which is globally. Note that the products I use aren’t typically the ones we work on for clients – most of those are aimed at larger enterprises, although, occasionally, we do make use of high-end implementations in our operations. But, mostly, this blog is about the products, services, systems, technologies, software, and operational procedures and strategies that any small business should be able to take advantage of to get the most out of mobility, and always with an eye towards ease-of-use and cost-effectiveness. I always think it’s always important to keep an eye on cost – controlling what we spend and getting the most bang for the buck is essential to running a successful business of any form, so the productivity improvements and outright cost savings of wireless and mobile are always top-of-mind for me.

But why be mobile? Why use wireless? For me, it’s simple. My business deals in information. Anything of value here lives between someone’s ears or on a disk drive. We’ve found the best strategy for success is to in fact be mobile, to go where our clients are, to operate internationally, and, indeed, in as location-independent a manner as possible. When I started Farpoint Group in 1991, all of this was more about the promise than the reality. But, as an engineer, I knew that we’d be able to do for wireless communications and mobile computing the same as we’d seen with computers and high technology in general – faster, better, cheaper. And, really, in terms of wireless and mobile, we’ve seen tremendous progress, but we’re really just getting started.

So, anyway, it’s my intention to bring you the latest in products, services, strategies, tools, techniques, and ideas to help your small business make the most of mobility, all based on my more than 20 year’s experience in wireless and mobile and the fact that my business depends upon making the best use of all of these. I’ll toss in the occasional product review and, sure, we’ll have some debate and likely a bit of politics as well (I’m a former elected public official, and it’s hard to get that out of your blood no matter what the context). But I’m, again, pleased to have the opportunity, and I look forward to helping your small mobile business achieve all the success it deserves.

SMB: Small Mobile Business » mobility

So – What is a Small Mobile Business?