So I have finally recovered from CTIA. I'll hopefully throw some comments up on the site regarding my impressions of this year's Spring CTIA, but suffice it to say that it was a lot lighter this year than previous years. Not surprising, of course, given the general state of the economy. So it's Tuesday, and I have finally gotten over the jet lag and caught up on all the things I could not get to in the 5th Dimension better known as Las Vegas. I find Vegas so surreal...so much fun and yet so over the top to the point that after three days, I am done. That said, it is heavenly. You know what they have in heaven? Clouds. Ugh, shoot me now for THE worst segue EVER.
So again, apologies for a horrible pun. I should have deleted it, but still....
So in any case, the CLOUD. If you read this blog, you know how much of a fan I am of the Cloud and how it can apply to enterprise mobility. Now you have Salesforce.com announcing a new mobile application "Mobile Lite" for the iPhone, Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry. The cost? Zilch. I think it's genious.
Here's why. Salesforce.com is looking to use the Mobile Lite version of its SOLUTION as a means to get people to 1) sign up for more services on its SaaS platform, 2) get people to pay for more mobile solutions. Brilliant. Give people enough to get them hooked so that they want more and are happy to pay for it.
So let's start with #2. They don't actually have to pay for more mobile offerings. They have to pay for more services, that include all the mobile stuff. Brilliant. Here's why. So much of what is going on in the market right now is about the value added services that companies can provide by mobilizing a solution. Salesforce.com is saying it doesn't matter. Whether on the road or in the office. Desktop, Laptop, or Mobile...whatever. Use our solution when you need it. By "minimizing" the importance of the mobile context of the solution, they are in fact making it the loss leader that will drive more companies to leverage the Salesforce.com service.
It's brilliant...and we should all see how we can learn from it.
UPDATE: See this article at Information Week that also has some good points
