As a result, both hosted and on-premise mobility solutions powered by a strong mobile enterprise application platform are valuable options for businesses to seriously consider in 2011.
A majority (82%) of IT managers share the belief that it would be beneficial, not detrimental, to host more of their mobile applications in the cloud. Nine in ten (90%) IT managers reported they will implement new mobile applications this year, with almost a quarter (21%) looking to introduce 20 or more applications into their organisation. In addition, they anticipate supporting about eight different mobile platforms or operating systems by the end of 2011.
Despite the enthusiasm and flexibility shared by IT departments, many are currently not being strategic about mobility. Almost half of respondents (46%) who do not have a mobile strategy in place did not expect to hire staff to specifically deal with their enterprise mobility strategy while nearly the same number of respondents (45%) admitted they did not have a plan or timeline in place.
Altogether, 45% of respondents predict that implementing or managing the onslaught of mobile enterprise applications tops the priority list in the coming year, even over more common issues such as adhering to IT budgets.
Also, 56% of IT managers consider customising company information for mobile purposes a crucial part of conducting business and not just a “nice to have.” In addition, more than eight in ten (84%) of those who feel this way work for companies that are flexible about the use of new mobile applications or devices. Similarly, IT managers report that possible data security issues with mobile applications cause more problems (65%) than implementation (25%) or employee adoption hurdles (10%).
Other interesting findings from the 250 IT managers polled include: One in two respondents (50%) say that employee demand is driving the adoption of new mobile applications; Almost three in four (73%) say that decision makers are flexible and not rigid about incorporating new mobile applications and mobile devices into their organisation, showing that many mid-to-large sized companies are committed to mobilising the enterprise.
“The proliferation of new devices, coupled with the vast expansion of mobile applications used by consumers has paved the road for mobility solutions to enter the enterprise at the worker, workgroup, and workflow levels. Given all this, we expect 2011 to be the year of the transformation of the enterprise,” said Dan Ortega, senior director product marketing, Sybase. “As evidenced by this survey, IT managers will be faced with greater complexities and requirements across the entire enterprise mobility framework, which is where a leading mobile solutions provider like Sybase can take an entire industry to the next level.”