Sprint takes a crack at consulting

Sprint today announced it is launching a new professional services subsidiary focused on bringing wireless solutions to the enterprise. Called Sprint Enterprise Mobility, the business unit will seek to provide the expertise and support to companies trying to extend voice and data services beyond the confines of the office.

“Most businesses recognize the potential that mobility solutions offer, but tell us they don’t have the expertise or resources to tackle major deployments across multiple companies and operating systems,” Sprint chief operating officer Len Lauer said in a statement.

Sprint said it would specifically offer consultation services to help enterprises identify wireless opportunities and help plan and design and integrate specific business solutions tailored to their needs. Furthermore, the subsidiary plans to provide continuing operations support and deliver hosted services, with the option for enterprises to have Sprint take over the management of specific wireless projects within the company itself.

Sprint has been ramping up its enterprise portfolio for the last year, and its recent acquisition of Nextel added a hefty business clientele to its customer base. The move toward a consulting business, however, represents a shift from offering specific business services like Nextel’s push-to-talk application, BlackBerry e-mail or hosted VPNs to wholly integrated solutions. The service is intended to drive more usage of its wide portfolio of network assets, which now include not only Sprint’s CDMA and 3G data networks and Nextel’s iDEN footprint, but a growing number of Wi-Fi hotspots and plans for a future WiMAX network.