A recent report in the FT states that smartphone sales are up 48%.

The sharp rise in smartphone sales surely reflects the fact that we are becoming increasingly dependent on servicing our ‘life on the move’.  The Economist earlier this year highlighted that “mobile-broadband services [will] overtake fixed-line ones in a few years’ time.” (Economist, January 30th-February 5th 2010).

We’re very pleased to be support channel partners within this fast-moving market segment for a number of clients. 

For example, this week saw the addition of MobileDemand warranty support across the UK and Ireland for the MobileDemand xTablet T7000 and xTablet T8700 Rugged Mini Tablet PCs, to our portfolio of mobile devices from Motorola, Bluebird, Janam, and Trimble/TDS, and various mobile printers such as Zebra and Datamax-O’Neil, among others.

Mobile Demand’s President, Matt Miller, explains: “We were looking for a partner that could provide reliable services and support to our growing number of multi-national customers deploying MobileDemand xTablets throughout Europe.

“We selected QCom because they have the same high standards for customer service and support as MobileDemand. They also have the resources to scale to meet our needs as we continue to expand sales in the European arena.”

Elsewhere, we are also seeing high levels of uptake for our recently re-launched commissioning service for partners. By using our engineers to configure and deploy units, resellers are not tying up expensive developers on repetitive and mundane roll-out tasks, nor do they have to invest substantially in their own pool of installers to cater for (what are clearly) the irregular peak of such projects.  We can be brought on board to provide flexible resource as required, often accelerating the speed of both configuration and roll-out. Commissioning services is another example of how the benefits of our utility-based pricing model can be realised by resellers.

We continue to seek fresh vendors to add to our portfolio and would welcome hearing from our clients concerning other devices they would like supported.

Neil Anderson
MD, Qcom

One measure of increased business confidence came recently when the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) released its quarterly Outsourcing Confidence Index.

The results showed that more than half of end-users are more confident with using outsourcing to support their businesses than they were in 2009.

Thanks to increasing confidence, 60% of respondents said they planned to outsource services that had not been previously outsourced during 2010, with 56% of planning to increase the scope of pre-existing contracts.

The Index also showed an increasing focus by end-users on costs, which is hardly a big surprise but the concern is clearly that this should not lead to higher-volume, low cost contracts over shorter timeframes.

Our view is that the decision to outsource is a strategic one for our clients.  We work with them from the outset to ensure that the partnership delivers the outcomes that they are looking for. Typically, this focuses on helping manufacturers, resellers and distributors improve their service delivery, enhance their profitability, and if required, it can support business development and expansion.

Our relationship as an outsourcer goes way beyond being placed in a ‘supplier box’ with clients, or indeed just white labelling our services.  We often collaborate with clients when they are pitching for new business, helping to formulate strategy around areas such as customer service.

Achieving this requires the relationship to go far beyond that of supplier-client, but instead brings best of both companies as an outsourcing partnership to bear in order to deliver a superior outcome.  And that, surely, will be a partnership that ultimately serves the customer better. 

Neil Anderson
MD, Qcom

We’ve been quiet on the blog recently, so you may have been wondering what has been going on at Qcom.

Well, rather than getting distracted both by the fog of the recent political processes, as well as in all the debates on the general economic malaise, we have been focusing on our business - the part of the economy we can control.

I was quoted in an FT article about the recession and how businesses could gear up for a successful recovery.  I said that businesses are better to respond to mapped out market opportunities to minimise risks, and “companies that talk to their customers and deliver the right solutions will always prosper”.

And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.

Qcom’s vision is driven by a passion for great customer service and a quality ethos.  It’s the little details that count and we’re not happy if we don’t achieve the high standards we set ourselves. Clearly, it’s been a challenging winter for all UK-based field service operations but that notwithstanding, our focus is always on seeking opportunities for improvement. 

We differentiate ourselves for our partners by not only understanding the service problems that we solve for customers though outsourcing, but also on understanding the importance of delivering our solutions with consistency and reliability.

These are standards of excellence that can only be achieved by slick, effective operational processes, and our focus over the last few months has been on reviewing these processes to ensure we meet our promises against service delivery to you.

This meant that in January, we signed off a £60k investment on a new software platform from Armstrong, the first phase of which has now gone live.

The software will provide mobile reporting and a customer portal going forward, making the benefits of the investment visible to both you, our customer, and to your clients.

We have also been recruiting yet more engineers and revamping our training programme to ensure our service solutions stay aligned with your own ever-changing service needs over the next decade.

But to achieve this we need your input, so please let me know what skills you need us to have and how we can improve our business to you.  Our latest customer survey is launched this week, and we are looking for your feedback.  I would very much appreciate it if you could find time to complete one either here QcomPartnerSurvey2010. 

Neil Anderson
MD, Qcom

I am saddened to report the recent death of principal engineer Perry Smith, following a long and difficult illness. As a lead engineer and trainer over a number of years, Perry was instrumental in our development of a barcode printer repair service over the last 10 years. 

His experience and the knowledge he imparted will help many engineers at both Qcom and beyond for many years to come. He will be sorely missed by all his colleagues past and present. His family are in our thoughts at this time.

Perry Smith in the workshop

For those wishing to pay their respects the funeral  will be at Rowley Regis Crematorium. Address: Powke Lane, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, B65 8DA; on Friday 9th April at 3.15pm.

Neil Anderson,
MD, Qcom

Dear Customers,

Just a quick note to update our clients on the service disruption caused by the ‘Big Freeze’ – which it seems is (possibly) now the coldest prolonged spell since 1981.

Thankfully, the Qcom Helpdesk staff have been able to get into today and will be manning the system and the phones. Our engineers are endeavouring to get out to calls, where it is sensible and safe to do us, although currently our southern England team are snowbound and Scotland/North East activity is limited.

We will prioritise calls (such as Health Service clients first) and would appreciate as much information from our clients as to the importance of the equipment in use (and confirmation that the site is open).

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

As both a keen metrologist and winter climber I recall a similar hard freeze in January/February 1996, caused by the Scandinavian blocking high pressure system drifting to lower latitude than normal. It may have been colder, but it might not have lasted as long. I certainly managed to ascent waterfalls such as Cautley Spout, The Force, and Newland Hause (in The Lakes), and I know Pistyll Rhaeadr was also ascended.

In Scotland, 1995-1996 was also very cold when the maximum low of -27.2 degrees Centigrade was reached in Altnaharra (matching the record set in Braemar in 10 January 1982 and 11 February 1895).

It’s certainly not yet on a par with the harsh winters of ’47 (the snowiest), ’63 (the coldest) and ’79 …..

Neil Anderson
MD, Qcom