The majority of IT managers aren't
properly preparing for the growth of Apple's iPhone, handsets based on Google's
Android and all manner of smartphone platforms in the enterprise, according to
a new Forrester Research report.
Forrester Research analyst Michele Pelino polled 5,519
technology users in Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the United States from
SMB (small and midsize businesses) and enterprise companies with 20 or more employees.
Pelino said most IT managers and even vendors are
underestimating demand because they are failing to recognize two emerging segments of employees: mobile
"wannabes" and mobile "mavericks," which together comprise
22 percent of all employees.
Mobile wannabes, Pelino explained, are often at their
desks so IT does not count them as mobile workers even though they want to use
their smartphones for work. Mobile wannabe workers can include executive
assistants, human resource workers and customer service
representatives.
Hewing to the classic example of the consumerization of
IT, mobile maverick employees buy their own smartphones and download their own
productivity and communications apps to do their jobs on the go.
What are corporate road warriors doing on these
phones/computers?
They're using mobile apps for e-mail, calendar and voice, of
course. However, half of the employees use navigation applications
and instant messaging services, and one quarter of those surveyed admitted to
using Twitter, LinkedIn and other social mobile apps for work.
Pelino said knowledge workers expect to receive support for from
the corporate IT team as they use their smartphones to remain productive while
they are on the road.
Fortunately for these worker groups, 55 percent of firms
Forrester surveyed provide some level of support to mobile devices employees
purchase.
"The expanded smartphone support by many enterprises
is evident by the fact that 18 percent of employees use smartphones for work, up sharply from 13 percent just one year
ago," Pelino wrote in her report Feb. 16. "We expect this momentum to continue as new
flavors of smartphones like Android-based phones make their way into the hands
of employees."
Classic examples of Android smartphone developed for the
enterprise include the Motorola Droid Pro, which is heavily integrated with Microsoft Exchange, and
the Motorola Atrix 4G, whose Webtop app and docking stations enable users to port
their smartphone content to a larger computer display.
Pelino said businesses' IT departments need
to accommodate the wannabes and mavericks, whose numbers she expects to hit 42
percent by 2015. Vendors must modify their solution building and marketing
plans for these segments.
As popular as the army of Android handsets has become, vendors should perhaps start first with iPhone, the most popular singular smartphone in the world at
this point.
Apple shipped 16.24 million iPhones alone in the December quarter and has been hiring enterprise experts from rival Research In Motion to boost its attractiveness to business buyers.
Enterprise Mobility News & Reviews 
