-- The top business impacts include increased worker productivity, faster overall sales process, and reduced paperwork
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Prepackaged applications, or apps, reached a technological plateau during the past year, but with more exciting advancements expected in 2014, North American companies are once again deploying a wide array of mobile worker software. Frost & Sullivan's latest research finds that overall, the largest proportion of decision makers (48 percent) report their companies already deploy one to 10 apps for employees on mobile devices.
Frost & Sullivan's new analysis, the 2013 North American Mobile Enterprise Applications research, finds the app viewed as most necessary by businesses is wireless email, followed by mobile sales force automation. The analysis measures the current use of and future decision-making behaviors toward mobile enterprise apps, specifically mobile asset tracking, mobile sales force automation, mobile workforce management, and wireless email solutions. The findings are based on a survey of 308 North American enterprise decision makers who were responsible for purchasing mobile software apps.
For complimentary access to more information on this research, please visit: http://bit.ly/PkFuca
Convincing companies of the fundamental business necessity of mobile worker app solutions is critical to a provider's success. Specifically, among the four mobile apps featured in this research, a "very necessary" attitude positively impacts adoption (current and planned) rates by as much as 41 percent.
"Today's businesses cite increased efficiency and productivity as their top reasons for providing mobile apps to their employees," said Frost & Sullivan Customer Research Analyst Karolina Olszewska. "However, softer benefits such as enhanced customer engagement and improved collaboration also rate highly among their reasons for implementation."
Among the deterrents to implementation, the most prominent reasons were concerns regarding the security of company and customer data as well as the potential high cost of implementation. Although pricing remains stable, with minor tweaks, app providers are showing a greater willingness to offer discounts for contractual commitments. In this scenario, service level agreements (SLAs) are receiving considerable attention.
"This is a fragmented market with many stakeholders," noted Olszewska. "Mobile app developers tend to be small and scattered, so direct sales are an insufficient strategy on their own. The correct channel partners are a key requirement for success. Additionally, stakeholders must continue to clarify the business benefits of their mobile solutions, especially the hard- and soft-dollar return on investment experienced by current users."
Overall, as the mobile enterprise apps market continues to mature, customer preferences are evolving in a number of areas. Therefore, participants not only must cater to sophisticated end-user demands with custom work and smart devices, but simultaneously must find an approach to mobile worker apps that is flexible and cost-effective (hosted, or non-native).
2013 North American Mobile Enterprise Applications is part of the Mobile and Wireless (http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/svcg.pag/ITMW) Growth Partnership Service program. Frost & Sullivan's related research includes: Mobile Workforce Management Markets, US Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications Markets, and Mobile Sales Force Automation (SFA) Markets. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
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