Enterprise mobility will continue to be one of the hottest topics in IT, and high on the list of priorities for all CIOs, according to Ovum’s “2015 Trends to Watch: Enterprise Mobility” report. As such, enterprises need to become more proactive and discover new ways mobile devices, whether corporate or employee-owned, and apps can work with other enterprise endpoints to transform the way that people work, the technology research and advisory firm said.
Consumerization, which Ovum describes as the impact of technology designed first and foremost for consumers, has driven the enterprise mobility market during the last few years. According to Ovum, the key trends to watch in 2015 in the enterprise mobility market include a mismatch between employers and employees, efforts beyond BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) strategies, integrating enterprise mobility management into a larger “workspace” strategy, increased support and pressure for mobility programs from senior executives, and increased demand for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their service providers and vendors to be more mobile-centric.
The “mobility mismatch” between employers and employees will persist, even as enterprise IT departments become more accustomed to consumerization, Ovum said. For example, the rate of BYOD behavior continues to grow, but it is not being embraced by IT at nearly the same rate.
More businesses will think beyond BYOD the distinction is formal versus informal and managed versus unmanaged. As device management solutions for smartphones mature and more formal support models for employee-liable connections and devices in larger companies are introduced, informal (unmanaged and largely unrecognized) BYOD usage will slowly be displaced by a more managed approach, said Ovum In some companies, particularly those with high security or data-protection needs, a corporate-liable approach will be sustained, possibly alongside formal managed BYOD.
More enterprises will frame enterprise mobility management (EMM) in a workspace strategy, incorporating management of all endpoints and applications, in order to give employees access to the tools and data they need wherever they happen to be and with whichever device they happen to have in front of them.
Senior line-of-business executives—particularly in human resources, procurement, and operations—will apply pressure for mobility, not just employees, according to Ovum.
And finally, SMEs and the vendors that sell to them should expect 2015 to be more mobile-centric. The SME market provides a potential “long tail” of demand but this will be a challenge for service providers, which are not generally viewed as trusted partners by SMEs when it comes to delivering IT services.
“While pressure from end users continues to have an impact on the shape of the EMM market, it is time for enterprises to become more proactive with their mobility strategies and look for ways that mobile devices—whether corporate or employee-owned—and apps can work in tandem with other endpoints to transform the way that people work,” Richard Absalom, senior analyst, enterprise mobility at Ovum, said in a prepared statement. “Vendors and service providers in the space need to keep expanding the range of features and services that they offer to meet the growing range of demands, and they will also need to continue to build effective partnerships, especially in support of large, global organizations which expect and demand consistent global service delivery.”
