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Mobile Business Application Usage to Surge by 2009, Driving Need for Device ManagementEDISON, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- A new survey shows top 500 enterprises report significant productivity gains by mobilizing their workforce, and they plan to increase their investment in both mobile devices and mobile application usage. Over the next two years, enterprises will provide a growing number of management and staff with mobile devices equipped to access corporate data and applications, and will dramatically increase use of applications such as VoIP, instant messaging, and picture/video messaging. At the same time, the vast majority of enterprises indicated that improved mobile device management is a key priority to support mobilizing the workforce and to maintain and improve the productivity levels of mobile workers. The survey was sponsored by mobile device management leader Mformation(R) Technologies, Inc.. Independent research firm Coleman Parkes conducted 200 detailed interviews with CIOs and telecommunications directors of top 500 enterprises divided across the US and Europe (UK, Germany, and Spain). Key research findings: -- More users in enterprises will be using smart mobile devices. US enterprises reported more than half of managers using company-supplied mobile devices and nearly one-third of staff, with 56 percent reporting increased usage among managers and 60 percent reporting increases in staff usage. -- Mobile email, Internet and calendar applications are already pervasive, with more than 90 percent of companies using them, and businesses are also set to significantly increase the use of new mobile applications such as sales force applications and company file share systems. -- By 2009, enterprises will significantly expand the rollout of mobile VoIP (from 27 to 70 percent), instant messaging (from 58 to 80 percent), push-to-talk (from 35 to 55 percent), and picture/video messaging (from 35 to 63 percent) applications. -- 81 percent of respondents report significant productivity increases from current mobile investments, with more than one-third of these reporting increases higher than 20 percent. -- Four-fifths of CIOs interviewed look for improved management of mobile devices, applications, and data to accelerate the productivity trend, and more than 8 out of 10 US CIOs believe the mobile operator should take the lead in providing these device management services. "Mobile devices are becoming even more 'smart' with the capability to do anything from using VoIP, to business applications such as calendars and push email," commented Matt Bancroft, Chief Marketing Officer, Mformation. "We've reached the point in the market where mobile business applications are tried and tested and now people are really starting to use them. However this raises an interesting challenge for CIOs in terms of management and security. While IT departments have the solutions in place to manage business applications that reside on laptops or PCs, doing this on mobile handsets presents a far greater challenge; for example, they'll need to start thinking about how to deploy applications, patches, and updates over the air." Smart Devices Becoming Pervasive Strategic Assets to US Businesses It is clear that smartphones and mobile applications are becoming strategic corporate assets. Fifty-seven percent of managers in US enterprises already use company-supplied smart mobile devices regularly. Comparatively, only about 31 percent of US employees below manager level currently use these devices, though this is expected to be a big growth area in most companies. Companies also anticipate growth rates of mobile applications to increase as much as 37 percent annually. However, this growth will rely on the roll out of device management, so that corporate IT departments can have the same visibility and control over the use of smart mobile devices as they do with laptops. "Smartphones are fast becoming as important to the business user as laptops. Business people want to be able to use the same applications that are available on their laptops on their smartphones, and this is quickly becoming a reality," Bancroft continued. "With CIOs reporting productivity increases of 20 percent and higher, it is clear that companies can greatly benefit by taking better control of their mobility infrastructure." Device Management Critical to Increasing Productivity When PCs and later laptops started becoming pervasive business tools, management and security issues became an enormous problem for the enterprise. Managing business applications on mobile handsets presents harder challenges for IT departments than are required for laptops or PCs. Mobile devices and applications need "over the air" management, run on many different operating systems, and may be connected through a wide range of access technologies. No wonder, then, that 84 percent of US companies believe that the ability to manage devices more effectively would lead to a higher increase in productivity. Furthermore, 84 percent of US companies questioned also believe that it is the responsibility of their preferred mobile operator to improve network and device management. It is this management that will enable them to get the most out of their investments in mobile devices and applications. "These statistics highlight how important it is for operators to offer effective mobile device management. With good support, new mobile applications will see a much higher uptake. Businesses need support with any technology they roll out and this is no different with mobile devices; it's a great opportunity for operators to provide a value add and access new revenue streams through new applications," concluded Bancroft. About Mformation Mformation Technologies Inc. is the leading global provider of mobile device management (MDM) technology, offering a complete solution that enables mobile operators to rapidly accelerate their data revenues and reduce support costs. Mformation's award-winning MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER(TM) suite is the most complete, flexible and integrated mobile device management software solution in the industry, providing solutions for OMA DM-based provisioning and configuration, FOTA management, smartphone application management, diagnostics, security management, enterprise management and customer experience management. MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER(TM) received the 2007 GSM Association's award for "Best Service Delivery Platform" at this year's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Mformation's platform has been licensed to leading operators in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America including Bell Mobility, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Telefonica, Telus and Vodafone. Mformation is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey with offices around the globe. Mformation is a privately held company funded by Battery Ventures, Carmel Ventures, Intel Capital (NASDAQ: INTC), North Bridge Venture Partners, QuestMark Partners, Visa International and Wasatch Advisors Inc. Contact Mformation on the Web at www.mformation.com Trademarks Mformation and the Mformation logo are registered trademarks and MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER is a trademark of Mformation Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks, registered trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners. |
