The corporate embrace of mobile technologies continues, but new research released by CompTIA, the ICT Industry Association, suggests many companies have yet to implement new policies and processes to tap into mobility’s full potential.
The new mobility study is the latest example of quality content available at no cost to CompTIA registered users through the association’s new Open Access Model. Each year CompTIA conducts more than 25 independent, vendor-neutral research studies. This research covers a range of topics, from technology adoption and business attitudes to IT channel trends and workforce issues. More than 100 reports, whitepapers and briefs are available at no cost to CompTIA registered users.
CompTIA: Enterprise Mobility Study for UK Companies
1. CompTIA Study Reveals Mobility Push Continues, but
New Challenges Lie Ahead for Many U.K. Companies
June 2014
Copyright (c) 2014 CompTIA Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved. | CompTIA.org
2. Typical Workforce Composition
63%
25% 11%
Full Time
at Home
Full Time at
Office Location
Split Time between
Office/Home
40%
36% 21%
Zero Travel
Travel up
to 50%
Travel more
than 50%
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
3. Benefits of Mobility
22%
30%
40%
43%
43%
50%
53%
61%
Opportunity to reach new market segments
New capabilities for certain job roles
Higher job satisfaction
Improved ability to collaborate
Improved ability to engage with customers
Ability to reach employees at any time
Higher productivity
Keeping employees connected
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
4. Challenges in Adopting Mobility
15%
20%
23%
26%
27%
31%
40%
44%
Finding mobile application developers
Maintaining mobile & Internet offerings
Users not familiar with company policy
Determining cost/ROI of mobile solutions
Optimizing business applications
Mobility skill level of IT staff
Making systems accessible securely
Mobility skill level of general staff
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
5. Device Deployment
Small Firms
< 100 employees
Medium-Sized Firms
100-499 employees
Large Firms
500+ employees
59%
37%
4%
55%
39%
5%
46%
49%
5%
No BYOD Partial BYOD Full BYOD
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 110 small UK end users/76 medium UK end users/65 large UK end users
6. Financial Impact of Mobility
4%
4%
17%
64%
12%
2%
2%
28%
58%
11%
Significant cost savings
Moderate cost savings
Cost neutral
Moderate investment
Significant investment
Companies with at
least some BYOD
Companies with
No BYOD
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 113 UK end users with BYOD/137 UK end users without BYOD
7. Amount of Workflow Change as a Result of Mobility
5%
38% 38%
13%
6%
Significant
Change
No
Change
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
8. Steps Towards Integration
47%
43%
34%
32%
31%
30%
33%
16%
32%
25%
31%
27%
IT team assists with configuring devices
Move applications to cloud systems
Implement/explore virtual desktops
Build custom mobile applications
Device usage information provided to users
Move to applications with mobile apps
Heavy/Moderate integration Minor/No integration
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
9. Slow Progress in Policy Creation
28%
31%
24%
16%
2%
Currently have a formal policy
Currently building a policy
Only share best practices
No set policy or practices
Don't know status of policy
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
11. Many Mobile Security Issues to Solve
44%
31%
28%
21%
19%
43%
48%
51%
48%
44%
Technologies need to be improved
Poor security implementation by users
Control security from a central location
Tight security impacts usability
Security is lower priority than mobility
Major issue Minor issue
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
12. Different Challenges for Different Companies
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
Medium-Sized Firms Enterprise
1. Remote support
2. Multiple OS
support
3. Integrating devices
1. Multiple OS support
2. Enforcing policy
3. Integrating devices
Small Business
1. Integrating devices
2. Balancing needs
3. Pace of innovation
19%
30%
35%
36%
39%
40%
46%
Managing suggestions from end users
Rapid pace of innovation in mobility
Balancing the needs of end users and IT
Enforcing mobility policy among end users
Supporting multiple mobile OS
Supporting devices remotely
Integrating mobile devices
13. Types of Training Provided to General Staff
25%
37%
23%
15%
28%29%
59%
25%
21%
9%
30%
48%
41%
30%
13%
One-time sessions Ongoing training
sessions
Online training
modules
Pointer to
written policy
No official training
Small
Medium
Large
Source: CompTIA’s 3rd Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study
Base: 250 UK end users
14. About This Research
Source: CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index, Q2 2014 | Base: n=305 IT industry executives
CompTIA is a member of the Marketing Research Association and abides by
its guidelines for survey best practices and research ethics. CompTIA is
responsible for all content contained in this report.
This study and all CompTIA research is one way in which the association re-
invests resources in the IT channel. As the voice of the IT industry, CompTIA
has hundreds of tools, market intelligence reports and business training
programs to help IT channel organizations grow through education,
certification, advocacy and philanthropy. The full report is available at no cost
to CompTIA members to help them develop and hone their business plans.
Visit www.comptia.org or contact research@comptia.org for more
information.
Editor's Notes
In building a mobile strategy, most companies have the workforce as a primary focal point. Mobile solutions may have started with the most mobile employees, but the approach will change as mobility is extended to the entire population.
While most mobility discussions are focused on internal operations, companies are also finding that there are external benefits. Improved customer relations are a major benefit, and the opportunity to reach new market segments will grow in importance as companies become even more mobile-savvy.
Surprisingly, the skill level of general staff is the top challenge in adopting mobility. Although employees are using devices that they are familiar with from their personal life, enterprise use requires more knowledge of different aspects.
55% of business use some form of BYOD. Most of these still provide some devices and may follow a Corporately Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE) model. Among all companies that provide devices, 76% provide smartphones and 61% provide tablets, showing that three devices per employee is becoming the norm.
Adoption of mobility typically requires a decent amount of investment. Obviously, those companies providing mobile devices need to procure those. However, there are also investments required in areas such as networking and security, regardless of the approach to device provisioning.
As companies stabilize their device strategies, they should turn their attention to workflow changes. New mobile technology allows for more streamlining and automation of processes.
There are many options available as companies work to build more integration of mobile technology and existing business systems. Many of these require deeper architectural changes beyond the simple addition of mobile devices as an option.
Building policy is an important step that allows a business to survey all internal areas to understand business needs and discuss potential issues.
The viewpoints on various activities that can occur on mobile devices highlights the need for policy. Especially in an area such as data management, there are activities that a company deems unacceptable, but there is no policy in place to inform employees.
When implementing and supporting mobility, security is a major hurdle. Companies must investigate new technology for security as well as new technology for management, and they must also consider the educational needs of their workforce.
Beyond security, companies face a range of challenges in implementing mobility. These challenges are different depending on company size, as resource constraints and problem scope both change.
In addressing the #1 concern of general workforce skill level, business should explore new models for education. As with other technology topics, ongoing education that is applicable to job role and can be measured is becoming a best practice.