Post on 24-Mar-2022
W H I T E P AP E R
M o b i l i t y — O n t h e M o v e a n d i n C o n t r o l
Sponsored by: IFS
Anders Ebbesen Anders Elbak
Jason Andersson
September 2012
I D C O P I N I O N
M o b i l i t y M a t t e r s
Mobile ERP solutions are critical for companies as they increase employee
productivity and enable lower costs. More companies find that the opportunities with
mobile ERP lie with mobilizing customer care and sales solutions (CRM) and using
mobility to stay competitive and improve data quality by embracing real-time data
registration.
One in every 10 dollars spent on IT budgets is dedicated to mobile ERP solutions
today, according to a survey IDC carried out with IFS to assess the attitudes
toward using mobility solutions in today's workplace and to identify to what extent
companies have a strategy or plan for mobile ERP solutions. The survey found
that companies dedicate 10.1% of their IT budgets to mobile ERP solutions, and
59% said this rate will increase more than the rest of the IT budget by an average
of 12%.
Over half of enterprises have a plan for mobile ERP solutions. The survey found
that 46% still do not have a plan for mobile solutions, but 14% of these are
earmarking funds specifically for mobile solutions.
The rollout of smartphones and tablets dominates the three-year plans for most
companies. The investigation shows that 55% will focus on rolling out mobile
smart devices, with Apple's iOS devices favored by the majority.
The main barrier to adopting mobile ERP solutions is security concerns. The
survey found that 31% of companies saw security as the main inhibitor, while
10% cited company policy. Only 7% are looking to invest in mobile device
management (MDM), to administer, secure, and control company mobile
devices, in the next three years, which would improve security and policy
management.
Integration costs and work processes are hurdles that need to be overcome. The
survey reveals that 13% of companies are concerned with the cost of integrating
with back-end systems and 12% have not adapted their work processes to
mobile solutions.
Customer care and sales solutions (CRM) are seen as the key functional areas
to mobilize. In the survey, 25% of respondents expect to invest in mobilizing the
customer care and sales force, and 31% identify CRM integration as the killer
mobile app.
IDC
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I N T H I S W H I T E P AP E R
This IDC White Paper, sponsored by IFS, explores how companies are embracing
strategies for mobile ERP solutions. It also looks at the types of solutions they have
and what direction their investments in mobility is taking compared with other IT
areas.
The survey was carried out in nine countries with a total of 455 phone interviews and
Web survey responses in a number of industry verticals across Europe, Australia, and
the United States. In the survey, respondents indicated what current mobile
capabilities they provide to their workforce, as well as specific drivers for investing in
mobility solutions.
T A B L E 1
T o t a l N u m b e r o f R e s po n de n t s
Sweden 51
Denmark 50
Norway 50
Poland 50
Germany 50
United Kingdom 50
Australia 50
United States 54
France 50
Total 455
Source: IDC, 2012
Over half of the responding companies (52%) belong to one of five industry verticals:
industrial manufacturing, process manufacturing, retail, construction and contracting,
and service provider. In the Appendix, we present specific country findings
summarizing results by country.
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 3
I D C S U R V E Y R E S U L T S
M o b i l i t y i s S t r a t e g i c a l l y I m p o r t a n t
Mobility as a solution has moved from being a voice-centric to a data-centric solution
focusing on smartphones and tablets with access to corporate data, and this is
creating a whole new set of challenges for CIOs and IT managers. As can be seen in
this paper, the use of mobile solutions has established itself as an interface to email
solutions, but is growing steadily as a tool for collaborative solutions, other types of
communications, and push information to mobile workers.
Over half of companies today have a strategy for their mobile ERP solutions. One in
five companies has a strategy that it reviews regularly and includes return on
investment (ROI) follow up in its work. This shows that organizations are preparing for
a mobile workforce and the changes it brings. However, nearly a third of companies
still have no plans at all.
F I G U R E 1
M o b i l e E R P S t r a t e g y
Q. To what extent do you have a strategy or plan for mobile ERP solutions?
Note: Q1
Number of respondents: 455
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
It is worth noting that 14% have earmarked funds for mobile solutions in their budgets
while not having plans on how to use that money.
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F I G U R E 2
M o b i l e S o l u t i o n D e c i d i n g P o w e r
Q. Which department has the responsibility for deciding/budgeting and purchasing mobile
solutions?
Note: Q2
Number of respondents: 455
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
IT departments are the main owner of deciding, budgeting, and purchasing mobile
solutions across the board. The integration of voice competences into traditional IT
competences is a critical success factor for these departments.
IDC recommends that companies should develop a mobility plan as an internal
roadmap and discuss this with their vendors. The roadmap should include key
processes and systems to integrate as well as security and device management
solutions.
T o d a y ' s U s e o f M o b i l e E R P
Media tablets are becoming the new desktop and mobile collaboration devices. They
are becoming increasingly popular as the enterprise end-user device of choice for
accessing data on the move and collaborating with colleagues, especially among
executives, professionals, and knowledge workers. Tablets can typically support
voice and videoconferencing, email, IM, and social networking applications — all in
one device. Along with cell phones and smartphones, IDC sees mobile devices
eventually supplanting a sizeable portion of desktop IP phone revenue within the
enterprise, which is remarkable considering the limited exposure the tablet has had in
the market and the lack of specific unified communication features that are available
today.
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 5
Apple is the leader in the tablet category, with the iPad having few competitors, but
many are waiting to be launched. The hype around the iPad scrambled companies
that work with mobile management to develop support for device management for the
iPad. With the release of iOS 4 and 5, the features specifically for enterprise IT
improved significantly, making the devices even more interesting for companies to
deploy.
Worldwide media tablet shipments will grow from 19.4 million units in 2010 to more
than 222 million units in 2016, according to IDC's Worldwide and U.S. Media Tablet
2012–2016 Forecast (IDC #235681, June 2012).
Media tablets remain a largely consumer-driven category. While there are a growing
number of people utilizing tablets for work, the vast majority of those tablets were self-
purchased. That is starting to change as more enterprises examine the productivity
gains possible with the rollout of tablets.
According to IDC's Worldwide Smartphone 2012–2016 Forecast Update: June 2012
(IDC #235193), the worldwide smartphone market will reach 686 million units in 2012.
Smartphones will continue to be emphasized by vendors and carriers, and broad
device availability, lower price points, and strong end-user demand will continue to
fuel smartphone growth in the short term. IDC believes that worldwide smartphone
shipments will reach 1,246.0 million units in 2016.
In the survey, IFS and IDC asked respondents about how mobility is impacting the
way they work. The survey shows that of the most common features used on mobile
devices, email was the most popular, followed by collaboration solutions, including
forums, team sites, online meetings and desktop sharing, and other communications
such as instant messaging and voice over IP.
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F I G U R E 3
C u r r en t M o b i l e C a p a b i l i t i e s
Q. Which of the following mobile capabilities are available to employees in your organization
today?
Note: Q3
Number of respondents: 455
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Email has been the core mobile application for a number of years. Collaborative
features look like they will become the next wave of important features to include in
tablets and smartphones.
Over the last few years, collaboration features have increased in popularity on mobile
devices and vendors have increased their investments to provide access to these
features for mobile users. With the growth of tablets, the benefits of collaboration
features increased even more, and IDC expects this to increase over the coming
years.
The focus for future integration into mobile environments lies in enabling better
customer care and customer relationship management by integrating the company
CRM solutions into the mobile solution, making the mobile devices a core component
in companies' business development processes.
Almost a third (29%) of companies use email on their mobile devices today, but
considering the benefits of mobile mail, this is fairly low. Using email on mobile
devices is a global trend, but, based on the survey, many companies are still not
enabling this feature for their employees.
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 7
Email is the most used mobile capability across the survey countries, peaking in
France, Denmark, and Germany, with the lowest level reported in the United States.
Australia and the U.K. report the highest number of companies that provide
collaboration solutions for their employees' mobile devices.
I n v e s t i n g i n M o b i l e E R P
On average companies dedicate a tenth of their IT budgets to mobile solutions. Other
focus areas are virtualization and cloud deployments, as well as collaboration, both of
which can benefit a mobile workforce.
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T A B L E 2
M o b i l e S o l u t i o n I T S p en d a s P o r t i o n o f T o t a l I T B u d g e t
Q.: In your view what portion of your company's total IT budget is dedicated to mobile solutions today?
Sweden Denmark Norway Poland Germany U.K. Australia U.S. France Total/Average
Average 7.9% 8.5% 11.7% 12.4% 8.1% 10.6% 12.4% 9.6% 8.3% 10.1%
Minimum 0.5% 0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.0% 0.3% 0.0%
Maximum 40.0% 50.0% 100.0% 80.0% 30.0% 70.0% 75.0% 30.0% 25.0% 100.0%
No. of respondents 38 45 44 37 37 44 44 54 5 348
Note: Q4. Number of respondents: 348
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 9
Poland and Australia report the highest share of IT budgets dedicated to mobile
solutions, peaking at 12.4%, followed by Norway and the U.K., all of which report
averages above the survey total average, while mobility-strong countries such as
Sweden and Denmark report investments below the survey average of IT budgets
dedicated to mobility.
Of the Nordic countries, Norway reports the highest number of companies that
support collaboration solutions on mobile devices, while Sweden and Denmark are
either on or below the survey average. This can be one explanation for the higher rate
of mobility investments in Norway compared with its neighboring countries.
The two top mobility-investing countries, Poland and Australia, differ in their current
mobile capabilities focus. As with other countries, both these countries prioritize
email, but Poland is using push information more than any other surveyed country
and is significantly higher than the survey average. Australia, however, focuses
mainly on collaboration solutions, and more so than any of the surveyed countries.
M a i n M o b i l i t y I n h i b i t o r s
Mobility solutions are not easy to implement, control, and administer, and the survey
highlights that there are many inhibitors that hinder the deployment of solutions that
benefit from the qualities of the mobile device and tablets.
The number 1 inhibitor by far, when asked to identify the top three obstacles for
investing in and using mobile solutions, was security aspects. Security concerns were
selected by most respondents as their first and second top concern. Of the survey
companies only France indicated that company policy was a bigger main inhibitor,
followed by security aspects at number 2.
In general the countries are fairly homogenous in their views on what hinders them to
invest in and deploy mobility solutions. Poland has the greatest variety in terms of the
top concern, selecting mobile network infrastructure and work process not adapted to
mobile solutions after security concerns.
Many companies report that they have not adapted their company policy to mobile
working. This is an area in which many corporate CIOs and IT managers must focus
their efforts. IT policies without clear support for mobile working are not future proof
as more IT investments move to virtual solutions, cloud, and mobility.
Compared with concerns around security of mobile solutions, cost is not a major
inhibitor for companies investing in mobile solutions, but it is in the top three concerns
mentioned.
Taking all of the responses into account (first, second, and third mentioned
obstacles), security was the largest inhibitor, as mentioned above. Cost followed
security as a major obstacle, and vendors need to simplify how to integrate mobility
solutions into existing back-end systems.
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F I G U R E 4
O b s t a c l e s t o G o i n g M o b i l e
Q. What are the top 3 obstacles to investing in and using mobile solutions in your company?
Note: Q7
Number of respondents: 455 (multiple answers)
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Overall, the third most picked concern (first, second, and third mentioned obstacles)
was the lack of mobile solution adaption of current work processes. This is reflected
as well in that companies have not adapted their policies to mobile working. This is a
major challenge for company CIOs in the near future and will have a direct impact on
the company's ability to compete, provide customer support, and recruit talent.
I n c r e a s i n g M o b i l i t y I n v e s t m e n t s D r i v e n b y
E m p l o y e e P r o d u c t i v i t y a n d L o w e r C o s t s
Globally the main driver across the board is the belief that mobile solutions will offer
increased employee productivity and lower costs. There are of course costs involved
in supporting a mobile workforce but some companies are able to work out a quick
ROI based on cost savings on telecom expenses. For example, incorporating a UC
client in mobile devices enables employees to contact their customers or business
associates overseas without incurring costly international charges. There are also
fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) solutions that allow users to roam seamlessly from
the mobile networks to their corporate WiFi, thereby reducing mobile charges.
The U.S., Sweden, and Norway are the most optimistic about the mobile solution's
ability to increase productivity and lower costs. These countries also report the
highest usage of collaboration solutions on mobile devices. Their experience is clearly
leading them to believe that there is much to gain from moving to mobile solutions.
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 11
F I G U R E 5
M o b i l i t y D r i v e r s
Q. What are the top 3 drivers for mobile investments in your company?
Note: Q6
Number of respondents: 455 (multiple answers)
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Secondly, mobility is seen as a way to stay competitive in the industry that the
company is active in. The combination of more efficient staff and lower costs can lead
to a better competitive situation, until the whole industry uses the same type of
solutions, then other drivers will be key.
Australia and the U.S. are most positive in their view of mobility as a competitive
advantage. France is a mature mobile market where companies do not feel that
mobility is a key competitive factor.
The third top area that drives investments in mobility solutions according to our
survey is the possibility of entering real-time data into office systems to improve data
quality. The industry is very innovative as to how companies can benefit from using
mobile devices. This includes all industries, from the services industry, such as
restaurants, to healthcare, where doctors and nurses use media tablets to access
medical journals, to the transportation industry dispatching information using push
technology to mobile devices across the globe. The automobile industry is
increasingly integrating mobile solutions into cars and trucks to enable voice control,
better hands-free solutions, and direct connection to the Internet for passengers.
Not many companies view mobile solutions as a means to expand geographically, nor
do they view them as a way to enter into new go-to-market models. Rather the view is
that mobility solutions will enable them to build better business practices, stay
competitive, and benefit from real-time data entry.
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Some mobility solutions are an HR challenge as well. It is interesting to note that even
if mobile devices have penetrated the lives of most end users today, one in 10
companies still believe that a mobile solution will enable them to attract and retain
talent. The possibility of allowing employees to use whatever device they want ("bring
your own device," or BYOD) is a growing concern for many IT departments and
solutions that support these are gaining traction.
On average, one in every 10 dollars spent on IT goes to mobility solutions today.
This, however, looks like it will increase in the near future. On average the increase
will be about 12%, but Poland and the U.S. are more bullish about future investments
in mobile technology.
In general, companies in Poland are split between keeping the same level of
investments and increasing them, and companies in the U.S. are more convinced that
they will increase in the next three years but they both report the same level of
increase.
France has the highest number of respondents indicating that they will lower their
investments in mobile solutions. France also had the highest number of respondents
selecting company policy as their main inhibitor. These results indicate that
companies here are fairly satisfied with their current solutions and that their focus is
now mainly internal.
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 13
F I G U R E 6
M o b i l e I T S p en d C h an g e s
Q. Will your investments in mobile solutions as a portion of your total IT budget in the next
three years …
Note: Q5
Number of respondents: 450
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Companies based in the U.K. are the most likely to keep current investment levels,
while other countries are more likely to invest more than before.
Mobility implementations are not one-time solutions. They must evolve over time to
take advantage of new developments. Integration opportunities will also develop over
time as support systems are upgraded and new features added. Cloud and
virtualization solutions will in addition enable a whole range of new possibilities for
users of mobile devices.
Increase 59%
Decrease 5%
Stay the same 28%
Don't know 8%
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F I G U R E 7
M o b i l e F u n c t i o n a l A r e a F o c u s i n t h e S h o r t T e r m
Q. For your future mobile investments, what are the top 3 functional areas where you expect
to invest?
Note: Q8
Number of respondents: 455 (multiple answers)
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Investments in the near future are going into improving employee productivity as well
as improving sales and customer care to secure competitive advantage. Our survey
found that customer care/sales with integration to the company's CRM system are the
key focus of investment in the future. Ensuring a competitive advantage and enabling
an even more productive workforce that gets access to correct data, even when they
are on the move, is a critical success factor in the future and a major focus for
mobility solutions.
Nearly one in five companies will focus their investments on enabling mobile solutions
for field service management. This is particularly clear in Poland, France, and the
U.S.
There are some regional differences to investments outside of the focus on investing
in enabling mobile access to CRM solutions. Germany shows interest in mobile
warehouse management, while Poland is also looking at field service management.
Sweden, the U.K., Australia, and Norway show a wide spread of interest besides
CRM, which indicates that they are prepared to invest in many mobile areas.
S t r a t e g i c D i r e c t i o n o f M o b i l e E R P
I n v e s t m e n t s i n t h e N e x t T h r e e Y e a r s
Mobility solutions are an area that will continue to be the focus for many companies.
The BYOD concept will shift some investments away from deploying devices to
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 15
implementing systems to administer and secure privately owned devices so they will
be safe to use for corporate data.
That said, the main focus of companies' mobile solution investments will still mainly
be to roll out smartphone devices and tablets, followed by supporting enterprise apps
for smartphones and tablets.
F I G U R E 8
S t r a t e g i c D i r e c t i o n o f M o b i l e I T I n v e s t m en t
Q. Related to mobile solutions, which area do you expect to be the focus of your investments
in the next three years?
Note: Q9
Number of respondents: 396
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Mobile device management (MDM) will be a key functionality for mobility solutions to
handle security, policy, and integration to back-office systems. Without a clear MDM
solution it will be near impossible to secure a mobile device and enable full or partial
wipe in case of theft or loss of device. These MDM solutions can be hosted or
premises based and they enable a company to maintain and develop a policy for
application, usage, and if necessary create a company specific app store. It is worth
noting that only 7% said MDM will be the focus of their strategic investment in the
next three years. It could be that this area is a target for outsourcing instead of direct
investments as many telecom providers today offer MDM as a service practice to limit
the direct investments necessary.
Rollout of smartphones
35%
Rollout of tablets30%
Enterprise apps for smartphones and
tablets15%
Mobile device management
7%
New distribution models (e.g. cloud)
5%
Others, please specify:
4%
Offline solutions (access to
information without access to network)
3%Private (corporate)
app store1%
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Looking specifically at the rollout of devices such as smartphones and tablets,
companies show a clear preference for iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad
ahead of Android and Windows 8 based devices.
Even with the launch of devices with larger screens using Android, most
organizations still focus on Apple's iPhone. It is also interesting to note that
BlackBerry maintains a large share in the survey. Globally, according to IDC's
Worldwide Smartphone 2012–2016 Forecast Update: June 2012 (IDC #235193),
Research In Motion (which developed the BlackBerry) has a market share of 6.4%.
F I G U R E 9
D e v i c e R o l l o O u t F o c u s
Q. Related to mobile solutions, which area do you expect to be the focus of your investment in
the next three years; if roll out of tablets or roll out of smartphones, which one …
Note: Q9
Number of respondents: 178 (smartphones), 118 (tablets)
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
IT department investments are also focusing on cloud solutions in general and offer
opportunities for a mobile workforce to gain access to desktop environments as if they
were on traditional computers or laptops. Our survey found that new distribution
models such as cloud are the focus of about 5 in every 100 companies' investments
in mobility solutions. With smartphones and tablet devices, access to corporate data
via virtual desktops and cloud-based applications employee productivity as well as
support for BYOD can become even more pervasive. The concept of a private
iPad66%
Androidtablets
19%
Win
do
ws 8 tab
lets
14%
iPhone52%
BlackBerry24%
Android20%
Window
s phone
4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Tablets
Smartphones
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 17
corporate app store is still in its very early stages for investments today. Distribution
models for private or corporate apps will rely on other methods in the near future.
F I G U R E 1 0
M o b i l e K i l l e r A p p l i c a t i o n
Q. If you could choose one "killer mobile application" that would significantly impact your
business, what type of application would that be?
Note: Q10
Number of respondents: 401
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Companies are very clear on where they want mobility apps to go, namely in the
same way as their near-term investments. The focus for future integration into mobile
environments lies in enabling better customer care and customer relationship
management by integrating the company CRM solutions into the mobile solution,
making the mobile devices a core component in companies' business development
processes. One in every four responses will focus on integrating CRM applications
into a mobile solution using current budgets and this is also the killer app that almost
three out of 10 are saying they would want as a killer mobile app.
Excluding the others category, companies in the U.S. are looking for CRM integration
or BI integration as the killer app. No other country in the survey leans so strongly
toward BI integration.
Germany and Norway would pick a product catalogue app if they got to choose a
killer app after CRM integration, but Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the U.K., and
Travel expense management app
(e.g. registration and management
approval)
3%
Time reporting app (e.g. registration and
management approval)
5%Product catalogue
app (e.g. find product details, customer,
supplier, and contract data
7%
Approvals & authorization (e.g.
for requisitions, purchase orders,
supplier invoices, and
purchase requisitions)
10%
Business intelligence (KPI and reporting)
13%Other: please specify
31%
CRM app (e.g. sales reps can manage
accounts, contracts, activities, and opportunities)
31%
18 #IDCWP30U ©2012 IDC
Australia would prefer an approvals and authorization app for requisitions, purchase
orders, supplier invoices, and purchase requisitions.
C O N C L U S I O N
M o b i l i t y M a t t e r s a n d I n v e s t m e n t s a r e
I n c r e a s i n g
Mobility solutions are evolving, and their focus is changing from voice centric to a
business enabler. Companies are looking to increase their investments in mobility
solutions and their focus is clearly on business enabling apps, such as access to
customer relationship management systems, but also for the growing area of
collaborative solutions and other communications such as instant messaging.
Email remains the most used capability on smartphones and tablets, used by one in
three organizations. Today almost one in six companies uses mobile devices to
enable collaboration solutions and other communication on mobile devices.
For the future, companies will be investing more than currently as a portion of their IT
budget and focus is on integrations that create value, such as business development,
customer care, and improving employee efficiency.
IDC recommends that companies take a strategic look at the opportunities that
mobility can offer in terms of increasing competitive advantage by reducing cost or
increasing employee efficiency or improving the business processes.
The main obstacle for using mobile solutions are security, but investments in
solutions that can secure a mobile workforce such as mobile device management are
still no higher than the top four, indicating that there is a need to grow understanding
about how to secure mobile devices and tablets.
IDC recommends, in collaboration with mobility solution vendors, also discussing the
use of mobile device management as a service or deploying on-premises to secure
their mobile solutions and users' devices.
Devices with iOS as their operating system dominate the rollout plans in our survey.
IDC recommends a strategy where companies focus on two or three mobile operating
systems and not on the type of devices they support. BYOD is a way to allow users to
use privately funded devices for work, and a good MDM solution will support BYOD
users.
A P P E N D I X : C O U N T R Y / R E G I O N S U M M A R I E S
A u s t r a l i a
The majority of Australian companies have a plan for their mobility solutions, but 36%
have no plan at all. 14% of Australian companies have allocated a budget for mobile
solutions but don't have a plan. However, they allocate 12.4%, which, together with
Poland, is the highest portion of the IT budget allocated to mobile solutions of the
surveyed countries, driven by the belief that mobility increases employee productivity
and lower costs, and inhibited by the concerns around security. The focus of
investments in future in Australia will be the rollout of tablets, which 38% of
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 19
companies will focus on, followed by mobile device management, which 17% will
devote time and effort to. This is the highest level of investment in MDM solutions of
the surveyed companies.
18% of companies have launched collaboration solutions on their mobile platforms,
which is the highest of the surveyed countries together with the U.K. 8% support two-
way "actionable" business transactions and capture business data, while 27% of
companies support email.
Australia is focusing on providing mobile access to CRM solutions as well as project
management tools and mobilizing business intelligence solutions.
F r a n c e
Six out of 10 (66%) French companies do not have a plan for mobile solutions, but
22% have allocated funds for a mobile solution. They allocate on average 8.3% of
their IT budgets to mobile solutions and 39% of them support email access on mobile
devices. In addition, 18% have implemented mobile solutions for other
communication types, such as email and voice over IP.
30% of French organizations said they will keep mobile solution investment levels the
same, which is the highest of the surveyed countries. 16% say they will lower their
investments, which is also the highest in the survey, but they claim that what drives
investments in this area is increased employee productivity and lower costs.
Unlike other survey countries, French organizations have the largest number of
respondents (34%) who claim that company policy is the biggest inhibitor to using
mobile ERP solutions, followed by security (20%) and that solutions are expensive to
integrate with back-end systems (18%).
In the next three years, French companies will focus their investments on enterprise
apps on smartphones, new distribution models such as cloud, and offline access to
information. Unlike most other countries in the survey, there are very few plans to roll
out smartphones, and no plans to roll out tablets. France has the highest number of
companies (36%) claiming they will roll out BlackBerry devices.
French companies want to improve mobile access to their CRM applications and this
is the killer app (excluding others) for French organizations as well.
G e r m a n y
58% of German organizations have a plan for mobile ERP solutions which they
review regularly, but only 8% include ROI calculations, which is the lowest of the
surveyed countries.
German companies dedicate 8.1% of their IT budget to mobility solutions. 8% of
German companies support business data capturing, while 34% support email access
on mobile devices.
For future investments, German companies look to integrate their customer care and
sales solutions with mobile platforms, followed by mobilizing warehouse management
and project management. The main concern against moving into mobile solutions is
security, but only 2% are looking to invest in mobile device management in the next
three years.
20 #IDCWP30U ©2012 IDC
On average they plan to increase their investments in mobile ERP solutions by 14%,
and driving their investments is increased employee productivity and lower costs.
Looking to the future, in the next three years, German organizations are very
smartphone and tablet oriented with 34% planning to invest in the rollout of tablets,
followed by 20% who will roll out smartphones and 18% who will release enterprise
apps for smartphones and tablets. For tablets, Germany seems to exclusively trust
Apple, and this is the only country in the survey with that clear bias for the iPad.
P o l a n d
About half (46%) of Polish companies have a strategy for mobile ERP solutions, but
only 14% include a return on investment (ROI) follow up. 20% currently support push
information to mobile workers, and 17% support other types of communication such
as instant messaging on mobiles devices as well as collaboration solutions. 9% have
released support for two-way actionable business transactions and 27% give
employees access to email on a mobile device.
Polish organizations dedicate 12.4% of their IT budget to mobility solutions, which is
the highest of the surveyed countries together with Australia. This is driven mainly by
the belief that it will enable increased employee efficiency and lower costs, followed
by improved data quality thanks to real-time data registration. The functional areas
Polish companies plan to invest in are customer care and sales (CRM solutions)
followed by mobile solutions for warehouse management and field service
management.
In Poland, 41% of companies say they will increase the mobile portions of their IT
budget, on average by 20%, which is the highest increase (which they share with
companies in the U.S.). The main inhibitors to mobile solutions in Poland are security
(30%) and mobile network infrastructure (15%), which is the highest of all surveyed
countries.
In the next three years, half (50%) of Polish companies will focus on rolling out
smartphones and 17% on rolling out tablets followed by enterprise apps for
smartphones and tablets. Polish companies show no interest in Windows-based
smartphones, but rely almost equally on iPhone (32%), Android (27%), and
BlackBerry (41%).
S c a n d i n a v i a
Four in 10 companies in Sweden and Norway have a plan that is reviewed regularly
and 6 in 10 have a plan with or without a return on investment. After Germany,
Norway is the country in the survey with the most companies that have a plan which
they review regularly. After France, Denmark has the lowest number of companies
with a plan for mobility at all.
Norway leads the Scandinavian companies in terms of how much of their IT budgets
are dedicated to mobile solutions, with 11.7%, while Denmark and Sweden report
below 9%. Sweden has the lowest allocation of the surveyed countries with 7.9% of
their IT budgets allocated to mobile solutions.
Companies in Sweden and Norway view mobility as key to increasing employee
productivity and lowering costs, while in Denmark they also believe it can be used to
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 21
improve data quality through real-time data registration (the highest of all surveyed
countries).
With current plans, Scandinavian countries are focused on the rollout of smartphones
and tablets and very few look at delivering mobile device management. But all see
security as the main inhibitor, which is interesting, as they are complementary to each
other.
CRM is the focus of investment and it is also where Scandinavian countries would like
to see a killer app.
U n i t e d K i n g d o m
Just over half (52%) of organizations in the U.K. have a plan for mobility solutions
which they review regularly, with 16% of these including ROI calculations. The
capabilities they have released to their mobile workforce include process transforming
which enables new business scenarios (7%) and capturing business data (15%). 18%
of U.K. companies support collaboration solutions on mobile devices and 27% allow
corporate email on them.
U.K. companies are fairly satisfied with their current investment levels. 47% say they
will keep current levels, which is the highest in the survey. They dedicate 10.6% of
their IT budgets to mobile ERP solutions. Increased employee productivity and
lowered costs drive their investments in mobile ERP solutions.
U.K. companies that say they will increase their mobility budgets (39%) will do so on
average by 9% and they are most likely to invest in customer care and sales (CRM)
solutions.
In the next three years, 41% will focus their investments on rolling out tablets, of
which 53% will be iPads, 29% Android based, and 18% Windows 8 tablets. 30% will
focus their future investments on rolling out smartphones, of which 43% will be
BlackBerrys, 29% iPhone, 21% Android, and 7% Windows based.
U.K. companies are very clear on investing in CRM solutions, and their view of the
killer app is the same, with CRM applications considered by most a killer app for
mobile devices.
U n i t e d S t a t e s
In the survey the U.S. had the highest number of respondents with a mobile ERP plan
that is regularly followed up (72%) and the highest number of companies that include
ROI calculations (35%). They dedicate 9.6% of their IT budget to mobility solutions
and deliver more advanced mobile applications than any other surveyed country with
8% using process transforming capabilities, 8% using two-way "actionable" business
transactions, and 14% business data capturing. 20% of respondents provide access
to email, the lowest of the responding countries.
The U.S. has the highest number of companies planning to increase their IT budget
share for mobile solutions, and the highest average increase (20%) together with
Poland. The investments are mainly driven by increased employee productivity and
lower costs, followed by the thought that it will keep them competitive in their industry.
Their focus is clearly on customer care/sales solutions (CRM) followed by mobilizing
project management and field service management.
22 #IDCWP30U ©2012 IDC
In the next three years 39% will focus on investing in enterprise apps for smartphones
and tablets, 24% will roll out tablets, of which 85% will be iPads, and 15% Android
based. The main inhibitor for U.S. companies to invest in mobility is security, which
was cited by 59% of respondents. 11% said they would be investing in mobile device
management, which is the second highest response rate for this area in the survey
(Australia was higher).
Similar to other countries in the survey, U.S. companies consider customer
relationship management as the killer mobile app, but also mobilizing business
intelligence systems, with both receiving the highest response rates of all surveyed
countries.
M e t h o d o l o g y
IDC carried out a survey with IFS to assess the attitudes toward using mobility
solutions in today's workplace and to identify to what extent companies have a
strategy or plan for mobile ERP solutions. The survey targeted CIOs and IT managers
who were decision makers for mobile solutions, budgets, and strategies in nine
countries. The survey was carried out by telephone interviews and over the Web.
F I G U R E 1 1
S u r v e y R e s po n d e n t s
Number of respondents: 455
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
Sweden51
Denmark50
Norway50
Poland50
Germany50
United Kingdom
50
Australia50
United States54
France50
Respondents per country
©2012 IDC #IDCWP30U 23
F I G U R E 1 2
S u r v e y R e s po n d e n t s b y V e r t i c a l I n du s t r y
Number of respondents: 455
Source: IDC, IFS Mobility Survey, 2012
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used in advertising, press releases, or promotional materials requires prior written
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Copyright 2012 IDC. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden.
Industrial manufacturing
16%
Process manufacturing
14%
Retail 12%
Construction & contracting 10%
Service provider 9%
Automotive 6%
High-tech 5%
Energy & utilities 3%
Oil & gas 3%
Aerospace & defense 2%
Asset intensive 1% Other 19%
Survey respondents per vertical