April 12, 2001, 3:01 PM — SPEAKING ON A CELL PHONE from his Dallas hotel room on a wet Friday morning, Håkan Liedman, global CIO of Swedish telecommunications giant L.M. Ericsson, is still buzzing after one of the most provocative meetings of his 20-month tenure.
"We had a serious discussion here yesterday," he says. "Perhaps we won't need to have any traditional personal computers one and a half years from now. We wouldn't need them if all the information we want is accessible from our WAP [wireless application protocol] phones or PDAs or whatever. Hotel business centers, cybercafes and other public terminals could take care of the rest."
Ericsson may be on the cutting edge of what will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge for IT executives since the birth of the PC more than 20 years ago. Managing worldwide systems these days means providing 24/7 access to more than PCs and laptops. Users want and need access to e-mail and other services from their cell phones or any other communications device that suddenly becomes the rage. The infinitely increasing choice of end user devices and the accompanying demands for instant information are among CIOs' biggest challenges. This new frontier requires rethinking the structure of applications and the network.
Just ask Ericsson, which, as a leading handheld manufacturer, is feeling the pressure to provide cell phone access to global systems now. Until recently the company's IT enterprise was a confused collection of disparate systems mostly performing back-office roles. But Liedman is trying to transform that infrastructure into a cohesive network that helps drive business and showcases the company's new mobile Internet technologies.
With Nokia outselling Ericsson in the handset market, investors are beginning to put the heat on Ericsson. The company thus is trying to carve a niche as the pioneer of the next generation of mobile Internet devices, including its recently launched WAP phones and planned full-multimedia terminals. Liedman needs to prove -- inside and outside the company -- that the mobile Internet really can work.
"Most customer-facing people in Ericsson have a combination of mobile phones, WAP devices and PDAs," says Juliette Ward, a senior consultant in the Mobile group at Ovum, a London-based industry analysis company. "There is a real need to get these people up to speed with mobile technologies so that they can talk the same language and see what customers really want. It's a big opportunity, and they're as out there as any in the business today." An Ericsson spokesman says at least 80 percent of employees have mobile phones.
Liedman has already targeted a range of trial mobile applications. "We are now just rolling out the first solutions, but there's a lot more testing going on," he says. "By early spring our WAP phones will have a powerful portfolio of services with direct access to many of our backbone applications."
You've Got Cell Mail
In Sweden, Liedman is testing the WAP platform for basic corporate services -- like e-mail with a WAP interface to Microsoft's Outlook, calendars and agendas -- on the internal network. More tailored mobile services have also been developed. In the United Kingdom, about 50 managers and field agents are testing mobile WAP and laptop access to specific customer billing information so that they can brief themselves before client visits.
"The next stage will be the Ericsson Mobiliser," reveals Liedman. "This allows users to create their own portals so that we can deliver information tailored for each person. Then we will be able to introduce many more applications." The Mobiliser software gives users access to Microsoft Outlook over WAP from their mobile phones or PDAs.
