7 trends affecting business mobility in 2011

Yankee Group proposes 7 trends affecting business mobility in 2011, based on a US survey.


1. Mobility becomes critical for customer responsiveness

Mainly for

1. Improving customer responsiveness (52%), 
2. Providing mobile access to existing applications to improve worker productivity (44%)
3. Transforming business processes to improve operational efficiencies (28%)
4. Providing mobile technologies to improve employees' work-life balance (19%) 
5. Fostering collaboration with customers and partners (18%)
6. Fostering worker-to-worker collaboration (14%)
7. Supporting employee-purchased mobile devices for business purposes (9%)

2. Mobile professionals drive mobility forward

Can be categorized in three segments:

1. Mobile professionals (46%), Senior executives, managers, consultants, other knowledge staff, admin. 
2. Field Force (36%), Field salesforce, field service
3. Specialty/other (17%), delivery personnel, drivers, factory staff, physicians.

 Individually Liable Purchases Will Continue to Influence Mobile Device Decisions (58%)

 3. Enterprises embrace consumerization of mobility

For 44% of firms mobility is perceived as a good way to improve employees productivity

4. Smartphone diversity explodes

Among the leaders:

1. Blackberry OS
2. iPhone
3. Windows Mobile
4. Android
5. Palm OS
6. Symbian

iPhone and Android have momentum.

5. Mobile applications fragment beyond e-mail

6. Cloud and mobility collide

7. 4G emerges, but slowly

More managers understand what 4G is and how important it is to enhance productivity of employees.

Conclusion

• It is important for organisations to make a mobility map
• In smartphones, consumer vs business is blurring.
• 4G solutions will be more important than the 4G technology.
• Cloud for mobile applications will surge a lot in 2011.

Louis Rhéaume
Infocom Intelligence
louis@infocomintelligence.com