More companies will allow end users to carry IT supported smartphones and more enterprise applications will reside on the devices, according to recent research, but will the trend challenge IT management practices?
It seems inevitable that enterprise IT managers will have to devise a plan to handle a slew of smartphones in the coming years, according to recent research reports that say companies will extend business applications to the devices and most handhelds will feature Web browsers by 2015.
ABI Research this week shared data that showed more than 60% of the installed base of mobile handsets worldwide, or about 3.7 billion, will contain mobile Web browsers by 2015. And McAfee’s Digital Trust unit reported that some 75% of 150 senior IT executives intend to make internal applications available to employees on a variety of smartphones, according to a Network World article. Specifically, nearly 60% of respondents said they will mobilize more than e-mail, extending CRM, ERP and proprietary in-house applications to mobile devices.
“Heterogeneity is real and enterprises are saying, ‘I have to learn to deal with it,’” said David Goldschlag, McAfee vice president of mobile technologies and former president and CTO at Trust Digital, which McAfee recently acquired, in the article.
Industry watchers agree that smartphones will dominate enterprise companies this year and beyond. In a December 2009 report by Forrester Research’s Michele Pelino, Ellen Daly and Edward Radcliffe, the research firm said despite IT investments waning in some technology areas that enterprise buyers would be accelerating their adoption of enterprise mobility solutions.
“In 2009, most companies reduced new technology investments in response to the uncertain global economic recession. However, the enterprise mobility picture was more positive as many firms continued to pursue mobility solutions to help them cut costs, improve worker productivity, and enhance business process efficiencies,” the report reads. “We predict a more stable economic environment in 2010 and expect mobile network operators to implement programs to drive application development for fourth-generation (4G) and long-term evolution (LTE) network not only for consumers but also for business.”
Are smartphones invading your enterprise company? How are you dealing with the influx of devices? Has your approach to IT management been changed or updated? Please leave a comment here or let me know directly via e-mail at Denise.Dubie@ca.com.
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