A guide to deploying mobile solutions

Deployment is the third stage in the Social Exchange process. At this point Support Partners may step in to assist with deploying the solution either through a local operator or independently.

Here are three questions to help kick-start the deployment of your solution.

1. Is the solution viable over the long term?
2. Which deployment channel will suit the solution best?
3. What are the goals and expectations of your colleagues, associates and partners?

These questions can be answered by following these four steps:

1. Defining a solution

Solutions often result from discussions between challenge owners and developers. Ideally, deployment options are considered early on in the Challenge Discussion.

The most commercially viable solutions address the needs of many users and serve a community need and are scalable to the available mobile infrastructure. Niche applications can also find a place, but by making the solution more generic, it immediately has a wider potential market and is more viable.

2. Testing the solution

During development it is useful to test the application or service, to validate that the solution meets the challenge and test your deployment assumptions. Betavine can help with this.

You should consider user numbers, the cost of delivery, what users will pay, and what other funding is required. Support Partners may help you, or you may have your own business plan. This skeleton template may help you to think about how to deploy your product or service.

3. Agreeing contractual and IP matters

The various parties involved in Challenge discussion and Solution development need to discuss contractual issues. Intellectual property rights (IPR) for any solution reside with its developer, who may want to license their work under an open-source software agreement or pursue a commercial contract.

Deployment is supported on Betavine Social Exchange but commercial discussions should happen offline using direct messaging.

4. Deployment

The essence of successful deployment is finding a revenue model and a route to market. Solutions might be deployed and funded in 3 ways:

1. Deployed by you: Paid for by the customers.
2. Deployed in partnership: Part-funded by the partners e.g. application service providers, advertisers, mobile network operator
3. Deployed by someone else: You sell the solution to another organisation to deploy and fund e.g. mobile network operator, government, NGO, media company.

There are different ways of covering both revenues and costs in each model. You might use a combination of these to make your mobile solution commercially sustainable. Find out more.