According to a global survey commissioned by Citrix, 71 percent of
enterprises believe mobility is a top priority for their business and 63
percent believe it to be the greatest factor in helping their
organization gain a competitive advantage.
Of the organizations surveyed, approximately half have implemented
technologies to support mobile devices, with 48 percent using mobile
device management (MDM) and 47 percent using mobile application
management (MAM). Organizations are also recognizing the need to provide
Windows apps and desktop to mobile workers, with 41 percent of
businesses using or planning to use application virtualization and 40
percent leveraging desktop virtualization. In addition, file sharing,
sync and storage have been or will be implemented by 40 percent of
companies to support mobile users.
Commissioned by Citrix to produce insight into mobility strategies of
businesses around the globe, The Citrix
Mobility in Business Report polled a total of 1,700 senior IT
decision-makers across 17 countries. Respondents were asked about the
advantages and challenges of implementing mobile initiatives, their
current policies toward mobile devices and the impact that the
consumerization of IT is having on their businesses. The report outlines
results from the research and sheds light on the perceptions of
mobility, its importance for companies and its perceived impact for
improving flexibility, productivity and agility.
Other notable findings regarding mobile strategies include:
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The top two mobile initiatives for businesses are increasing
development on mobile apps and increasing adoption of secure file
sharing and collaboration tools. Improving network performance and
access is the third most important mobile initiative.
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51 percent of organizations say they are changing management processes
to better manage those working on any device from anywhere.
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Organizations are most focused on measuring the impact that mobility
has on productivity and employee motivation.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD):
BYOD is quickly becoming the norm, with 71 percent of companies
allowing, accommodating and encouraging the use of personally owned
devices. Of these companies, 76 percent estimate that more than 100
unidentified devices access their networks each day. Worldwide,
organizations report a daily average of 425 such connections, with the
highest figures from businesses in Brazil (994), Canada (649) and Japan
(618).
Mobile Platforms
The research reveals that enterprises are embracing a variety of mobile
platforms. Android is by far the most popular platform according to
respondents, with 72 percent saying they support or are planning to
support Android this year, and another 65 percent seeing an increased
use of Android in their organization. Apple iOS remains popular, with 54
percent supporting or planning to support the platform, and 48 percent
seeing an increase in its use from last year. Microsoft Windows 8 has
become more popular than Windows Mobile, with 46 percent of companies
supporting or planning to support the full-featured operating system,
compared with 32 percent for the mobile version. BlackBerry still
retains a significant presence, supported by 35 percent of companies,
though only 18 percent have seen an increase in its use since last year.
Impact of Consumerization of IT
The survey findings also reveal the impact that consumer-orientated
technologies continue to have on the workplace. According to the report,
29 percent of the global workforce is now believed to be using their own
mobile apps for work purposes. Globally, the most popular mobile apps
being demanded by employees are sales, CRM or database related, with 48
percent reporting such a trend. Other popular apps include employee
intranet portals (46 percent), messaging applications (43 percent),
social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (43
percent), and file sync and sharing platforms (41 percent).
Findings around mobile applications also included:
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Exactly half (50 percent) of organizations surveyed said that the
acquisition of mobile apps would be a mixture of in-house development
and off-the-shelf purchases, while a quarter said they would rely
purely on off-the-shelf purchases for mobile apps.
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Nearly one in five (17 percent) organizations said they would acquire
applications strictly through in-house development, while 8 percent
were not sure how they would acquire applications.
Barriers to Mobility
The survey also shows the barriers organizations are facing when
implementing their mobility initiatives. Organizations reported an
average of three main barriers preventing formal support for mobility
initiatives, the most common being a lack of security controls for new
devices and clients (38 percent), legacy systems unfit for mobile
purposes (37 percent) and challenges supporting multiple mobile
operating systems (36 percent).
Overall Findings
The results of this survey show that in just a few years, mobility has
become a top priority for businesses around the world. Companies have
moved quickly to identify the business values of mobility, develop
strategies and policies to harness it, and implement the technologies
needed to support it. Employees have responded enthusiastically,
embracing the freedom to work the way they want – anywhere, on any
device – to achieve higher productivity and satisfaction.
Methodology
The “Mobility in Business” report was compiled by Vanson
Bourne on behalf of Citrix, with the aim of creating a global
snapshot of mobility in business across the globe. The report draws on
data from 1,700 senior IT decision makers in 17 countries to create an
uncompromising and informative investigation of preparedness for and
attitudes towards mobility. Responses came from IT leaders in the UK,
USA, Canada, China, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Germany, Denmark,
Sweden, Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.
About Vanson Bourne
Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the
technology sector. Our reputation for robust and credible research-based
analysis, is founded upon rigorous research principles and our ability
to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and
business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For
more information, please visit www.vansonbourne.com.
About Citrix
Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a cloud company that enables mobile
workstyles—empowering people to work and collaborate from anywhere,
securely accessing apps and data on any of the latest devices, as easily
as they would in their own office. Citrix solutions help IT and service
providers build clouds, leveraging virtualization and networking
technologies to deliver high-performance, elastic and cost-effective
cloud services. With market-leading cloud solutions for mobility,
desktop virtualization, networking, cloud platforms, collaboration and
data sharing, Citrix helps organizations of all sizes achieve the speed
and agility necessary to succeed in a mobile and dynamic world. Citrix
products are in use at more than 330,000 organizations and by over 100
million users globally. Annual revenue in 2012 was $2.59 billion. Learn
more at www.citrix.com.
Citrix® is a trademark of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its
subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered
trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Copyright Business Wire 2013