This month, two painful but impossible to ignore facts have emerged about mobile use by business. First, research from Forrester suggests IT support for business use of personal mobile devices has a big impact on enterprise collaboration, with fewer of the challenges that new technology like cloud computing present.
Second, a new report from Gartner asserts that despite mobile IT support just beginning to really blossom, a full 80% of businesses will spend more than they need to on voice and data costs in the next five years. That dichotomy, the one between big expectations and overeager spending, is a paradigm that could cripple the sustainable growth of mobile in the enterprise.
Mobile Collaboration
The new report by Forrester Research,
Technology Populism Fuels Mobile Collaboration
, tracks both how enterprises are using mobile now, and how increased assistance for it by employees can have tangible results for the level of collaboration that goes on.
82% of working adults have a personal mobile device. To not support their business use of it would be an enormous missed opportunity. According to Forrester, the key benefits are faster team work and decision making.
The fact that mobile access to corporate data would be a booster is hardly a surprise, but backing it up with this kind of data should be a first step in goading management to commit to mobile in the enterprise.
Widespread Overspending
As something of a counterpoint to Forrester’s research, Gartner
a stern warning to enterprises: 80% of you will overspend on mobile services.
Gartner predicts that in the next five years, at least 15% of the money for mobile devices and plans for voice and data will be unnecessarily spent. Particularly troublesome is the inefficient strategies companies have for reducing costs and negotiating contracts tailored to businesses, rather than piecemeal personal plans purchased on an enterprise scale.
The combination of rising expectations for ROI plus the potential to overspend could very well cripple the support for mobile in the future, if enterprises aren’t careful.
Image credit: James Cridland
