By Telecom Lead Team: Accenture and NTT DOCOMO of Japan announced that the two
companies will begin offering to DOCOMO-affiliated content providers a remote,
self-verification operational testing service for applications developed for
smartphones. The service will then be expanded to the broader smartphone market
in Japan.
Accenture will set up and operate a
remote test center at the University of Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture. Through
the center, NTT DOCOMO will provide information on the devices, including the
latest models, and a working network environment for the operational testing of
software on the devices.
Currently, content providers must
purchase the devices themselves to test their content under development for
debugging purposes. But with the rapid introduction of a wide variety of
smartphones and tablets, the cost of development, including the cost of
purchasing the actual devices, has become a heavy burden for the developers.
“By combining NTT DOCOMO’s
information on the latest devices and its working network environment with
Accenture’s remote test capabilities, we are confident the service will
significantly reduce some of the issues that content providers face in dealing
with the rapid growth of smartphone platforms,” said Arata Shimizu, a
senior executive in Accenture’s
Management Consulting growth platform.
The services provided by Accenture
and DOCOMO are expected to deliver cost savings and contribute to the
development of higher-quality content for smartphones by providing a more rapid
and efficient development environment. DOCOMO’s dmenu, a portal site for
smartphone entertainment and services, will contain many examples of content
developed in this new environment.
“Through the remote test
center, we will help our content providers develop quality deliverables for
their end-users which will have a positive impact on the industry. We’re proud
to undertake this important endeavor side-by-side with Accenture,” said
Yoshikazu Kumagai, managing director of Content Promotion Office, Smart
Communication Services Department, NTT DOCOMO.
The establishment of the test center
represents the first phase of an initiative based in Aizu Wakamatasu City,
which was launched by the city, the University of Aizu and Accenture in August
2011, to promote industry development and employment creation in Fukushima
Prefecture.
