Businesses are reevaluating how they manage devices, applications and data across a mobile landscape, according to a Vanson Bourne report that Tangoe, a technology expense and asset management company, commissioned. The study reveals that companies are reliant on mobile devices and that dependence creates a drag on IT resources.
As businesses confront demands for greater security, productivity, and employee satisfaction most are rethinking their approach to mobile management.
The research surveyed 300 IT decision-makers from organizations with global annual revenue from $500 million to more than $50 billion to explore mobile device usage trends and how companies satisfy the requirements of administration with managed mobility solutions (MMS) keeping inventories, services and security under control. View the full report and infographic.
Findings show 100 percent of companies struggle in mobile device management due to recruitment and retention issues, and 89 percent agree their mobile device helpdesk requires improvement. The top challenges include sourcing new mobile assets (73 percent), managing mobile inventory (70 percent), help desk support (61 percent), and reverse logistics – collecting, recycling, and wiping assets (53 percent). IT teams also have trouble keeping track of users’ devices, but this is less of a challenge when their helpdesks are managed by an external vendor.
Growing dependence on mobile devices takes a sizeable toll on IT resources – to the tune of one-third of IT team productivity and cost. And with overall staff churn rates at 17 percent, managing a mobile fleet is challenging for companies, particularly when 65 percent of companies are completely reliant on mobile devices and the average company has 68,000 devices (laptops, phones, tablets, wearables, others) in use.
Business continuity and mobile services are intertwined, meaning the fleet is a key player in avoiding revenue losses. Also, most employees are using personal devices to do their work, which means companies cannot afford not to address mobile security risks. Findings state:
- 30 percent+ of annual revenue would be lost without working mobile assets.
- $4M: projected loss per hour of downtime across mobile assets
- 65 percent of devices accessing company information are personally owned.
Companies are trying to balance the requirements of security with the freedoms of employee choice and satisfaction, and most are not convinced their existing ownership approach will stick. More than half of respondents cited security concerns (53 percent) and data breaches (50 percent) among their concerns with bring your own device (BYOD) approaches. With mobile experiences redefining how employees perform from the front to the back office, more than 81 percent of companies plan to change their approach to batten the hatches and improve return on investment (ROI).
The study shows investments in MMS are paying off with 90 percent reporting positive ROI. Respondents also report a 15 percent reduction in IT costs from leveraging a full lifecycle MMS solution. More than 90 percent credit MMS for improved business uptime and enhanced productivity, and 88 percent state it provides better security while reducing costs and wasted spending.
In fact, results reveal an estimated 52 percent of IT operations time could be saved from outsourcing mobile device management, further indicating the efficiencies to be gained from a partnership covering the end-to-end lifecycle – spanning the work of sourcing and procurement all the way through recycling and wiping mobile assets clean for their next owners.
For more information, visit www.vansonbourne.com or go to www.tangoe.com
