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#Written by David Tam, 1999. #
#davidkftam@netscape.net Copyright 1999#
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Business Plan Proposal
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As the world shifts from a desktop-based computing mentality to a more
personal, mobile, and ubiquitous paradigm, we see rapid growth in PCS phones,
2-way pagers, and PDAs (personal digital assistants). PDAs can offer an
unlimited variety of consumer, industrial, and commercial applications. There
is business opportunity in finding and implementing enterprise applications of
PDAs. Acting as personal business agents, PDAs can improve productivity. IDC
(International Data Corporation) estimates that 11 million PDAs will be sold
world wide in 1999, and will reach 13 million units by 2001. At an average
unit price of $400, this would mean a market worth $4.4 billion and $5.2
billion respectively. Semico, another rearch firm, estimates that sales of PDAs
will reach $7.5 billion by 2003. No doubt, PDAs are becoming very popular.
PDAs become effective business tools when the following three criteria are met:
1. There are applications which are useful to the user.
2. There is effortless connectivity and synchronization with a home
base such as a PC (personal computer) or a corporate network.
3. There is a critical mass of PDA-equiped users present.
I propose to start a PDA integration business targeted towards the
corporate and institutional market. Acting as a VAR (value added reseller)
and integrator, we will provide total solutions to integrating PDAs into the
enterprise. A VAR agreement will be negotiated with 3Com, Inc., creator of the
popular Palm III PDA. To add value, the business will address the three
criteria mentioned above. From a high level perspective, we will integrate
PDAs into existing businesses to improve data flow, data dissemination, and
business processes. Below is a partial list of businesses that will benefit
greatly from the use of PDAs and thus will be the target market.
1. Hospitals
2. Real estate firms
3. Stock brokerage firms
4. Field support departments
5. Manufacturing firms
6. Standard Bay Street offices
These businesses will demonstrate a high ROI (return on investment) on PDAs
due to the following reasons. The attached Globe and Mail article on PDAs and
their potential in hospitals demonstrate why this is a targeted market. If an
infrastructure was in place for PDAs and all doctors carried such a device,
they would have fast and convenience access to critical medical information.
For real estate firms, agents can obtain property listings live on their PDAs
while on the road. Stock brokerage firms could give their mobile brokers live
stock listings and other important market information. It may prompt them to
make immediate business decisions either over the phone, or directly from the
PDA. For field support departments, PDAs will allow for quick access to case
backgrounds, previous analysis, record keeping notes, instructions, reference
manuals, and possible solutions while the employee is at a customer's site.
All of these applications of PDAs will complement the existing business
processes and increase productivity.
A total solution means we can provide analysis of business processes,
design of solutions, implementation of solutions, purchasing of equipment and
accessories, development of software, and provision of technical support.
Value will be added by becoming the experts in understanding a customer's
business process model and packaging the right mixture of equipment,
accessories, off-the-shelf software, custom software, and support services.
Here is a possible list of products and services that will be provided.
1. Various PDAs
2. 2-way pagers for PDAs
3. Wireless modems for PDAs
4. Additional memory
5. Battery recharger packs
6. PDA security accessories
7. Environment proofing
8. Corporate logo etching on PDAs
9. GPS (global positioning system) accessories
10. Infrared portals
11. Docking stations
12. PDA servers
13. PDA backup devices
14. Off-the-shelf PDA applications
15. Custom PDA and server applications
16. Email & voice capabilities
17. Integration with existing IT infrastructure
18. Connectivity to corporate network
19. Connectivity to legacy systems
20. Testing, certifying, guaranteeing PDA & accessories
(
geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus/9640/4thYear) (
geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus/9640) (
geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus) (
geocities.com/siliconvalley)