Sprint Business Solutions Partners will be able to sell the new ES400 Enterprise Digital Assistant launched last week by Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Solutions division as part of a partnership between the gearmaker and Sprint Nextel.
A cross between a rugged mobile field device and a consumer smartphone, the ES400 is designed for field workers who need to securely access business-critical voice, data or business apps on the move. Sprint will provide the 3G and 4G connectivity for the device and will also stock and sell the unit – both co-branded and Motorola branded versions -- directly to enterprises through its Sprint Direct and Business Solutions Partners channels.
The ES400 EDA, which will be available later this year for $750, also will be sold by the Motorola EMS sales team and members of Motorola’s PartnerEmpower channel program.
While Sprint could not offer details on specific partner support for the ES400, it did confirm “significant training and marketing tools are planned for the BSP channel.” All Sprint program partners are eligible to sell the ES400.
Under Motorola’s Carrier Advantage Program, Sprint partners can pick up additional revenue for activating Sprint service on the ES400, as well as for selling minutes. Partners also can take advantage of open APIs that allow them to add and/or customize apps for their customers, such as CRM or GPS tracking.
For Sprint's part, no consumer or worker apps will be pre-loaded onto its co-branded units, but these will incorporate a navigation application and the Sprint landing page and remote diagnostics customary to Sprints’ mobile devices.
And while Sprint is the first carrier to team with Motorola on the ES400, it does not own exclusive co-branding rights, so it’s likely that other providers will carry the device. It’s not clear if they will be allowed to similarly co-brand, though Sheldon Safir, director of product marketing for Motorola EMS, did not rule out the possibility of opening up the device to other providers under the Motorola logo.
