The new report, from Juniper Research, found that revenues from mobile enterprise users will grow to $284 billion by 2014. However, the research found that despite compelling arguments for mobilising business processes, numerous hurdles still remain in persuading significant numbers of businesses to go mobile.
Specific barriers to adoption include: limited functionality resulting from the small size and form of devices; problems in adapting applications for mobiles while not compromising on usability; and the thorny issue of ensuring device security.
Report author, Andrew Kitson, said device management and security are critical issues that businesses need to address when going mobile: “Enterprises need to be assured of total control over the devices their employees use. To do this, they need to limit the types and numbers of devices connecting to their networks, deactivate or restrict devices that are lost or stolen, minimising functionality and access, and employing user authentication, content encryption, and other security solutions as appropriate. There are upfront cost issues involved, but the greater cost lies in compromising on security features.”
The research also showed that enterprise-grade applications and services require advanced devices and rely on high capacity networks; the proportion of devices connected to 3.5G/3.9G networks will rise from 13% in 2008 to almost 80% in 2014, Juniper claimed. Also, wireless dongles are losing ground to plug-in datacards and devices with embedded wireless modems, which will peak in between 2010 to 2011.