Poor Integration is Destroying the Benefits of Mobile Technology, finds SOTI Report

2021 is experiencing a mobility revolution, becoming a necessity to business continuity. In fact, it is projected mobile operators will invest $900 billion USD upgrading their services to meet ballooning demand for mobile connections and technology by 2025. However, poor integration is threatening businesses’ potential in a defining year for enterprise mobility, according to a new research report by mobile and IoT device management solutions provider, SOTI.

To better understand the impact of mobile technology over the last year as well as how organizations can position themselves at the forefront of the post-pandemic mobile revolution, the SOTI report, A Defining Year: State of Mobility 2021 Report, interviewed 1,400 IT decision-makers across eight countries (USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, and Australia).

Mobile Technology Investment in 2021: Seizing Opportunity or Just Surviving?

As organizations embrace digital transformation to better navigate repercussions of the global pandemic, it is becoming more crucial for leaders to fully integrate mobile technology into their core workflows to capitalize on its potential to provide flexibility and intelligence across the whole enterprise. SOTI found more than 61% of US enterprises have invested in mobile technology or mobile security in the last year, but up to 73% admit their technology needs to have improved data analytics, troubleshooting, and issue resolution.

Close to 87% of US enterprise leaders also agree that their organization can do more to improve agility and adaptability to new scenarios, and employees would be more productive (90%) and engaged (88%) if they had the right technology in place. Furthermore, more than 81% agree their organization’s C-Suite understand the importance of mobile technology much more now than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that concern for the most efficient use of mobile technology is becoming an organizational priority.

But, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. More than half (57%) of US respondents said that their organization’s portfolio of mobile devices has grown, but managing the increased number of devices is proving difficult. This illustrates businesses might not have the right device management technology in place or they have nothing at all. In fact, many existing tools don’t adequately help organizations troubleshoot device issues or help to manage the devices. This leads to increased downtime, a loss in productivity and revenue.

Meanwhile, 46% say that their organization is not using mobile technology to help adjust to the challenges of the post-pandemic marketplace. The challenges for these companies have been to fully integrate technology into their everyday operations and scaling its potential, which leads almost three out of four (72.3%) of US decision-makers to agree that their company needs better business intelligence to navigate future unforeseen issues, as well as better tools to diagnose issues before they become a problem (73%).

“While organizations have both realized the importance of, and increased the spending for mobile technology, there is still more work to be done to increase adoption and efficiency,” said Shash Anand, VP of Product Strategy at SOTI. “To fully realize the benefits of mobile technology, companies need more intelligent and precise systems for monitoring, troubleshooting and optimizing mobile devices that not only handle issues in real-time but also plan for any unprecedented challenges.”

Planning For a Post-Pandemic Marketplace

The pandemic, lockdown, and subsequent changes in consumer behavior have accelerated the digital transformation of business by up to six years.

Anand adds, “Businesses are faced with the prospect of a post-pandemic marketplace that is more fluid, more digital, more dynamic, and marked by a rise in consumer demands and employee expectations. For enterprises, this raises both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to meet these changing customer expectations, adapt to current climates, and remain flexible to change with the right technologies.”

The mobility revolution has scaled rapidly across all areas of businesses. To prevent growing pains and ensure maximum efficiency and productivity, as well as the best user experience, enterprises need to integrate and manage multiple form factors, operating systems, and legacy systems. This is echoed in the findings, with enterprise leaders saying their companies need the following post-pandemic:
 

Looking Towards the Future

In the immediate future, the rate of change will continue. Over the next 12 months, more than two-thirds (73.7%) of organizations are considering increasing their expenditure in mobile devices, systems, and/or security, while more than half (55%) of organizations will increase spend in cloud/employee monitoring software and 59% are considering investing in technology for better device and system integration and/or replacing legacy systems. Furthermore, 94% of US decision-makers believe their organization’s mobile technology is fit to enable employees to work remotely, illustrating preparation for a post-pandemic workforce and changes to attract a wider talent tool.

Anand concludes, “While we are seeing a clear interest in technology from US leaders, there are still significant efficiency and cost gains to be made by better integrating these technologies into workflows, employee practices, and the customer experience. Only with the right intelligence, can IT decision-makers prevent downtime and pre-emptively optimize to remain competitive under any crisis.”

A Defining Year: State of Mobility 2021 Report can be downloaded here.

Report Methodology

Commissioned by SOTI, Arlington Research, an independent market research agency, conducted 1,400 interviews using an online methodology among IT decision-makers, Managers, Directors, Senior Management, and C-Suite working in any vertical in companies with 50 or more global employees across eight countries. Fieldwork was conducted from July 22 to August 4, 2021. The 1,400 interviews were split across eight markets as follows: USA (300 interviews), Canada (130 interviews), Mexico (150 respondents), UK (300 interviews), Germany (170 interviews), France (150 respondents), Sweden (100 interviews) and Australia (100 interviews).

About SOTI

SOTI is the world’s most trusted provider of mobile and IoT management solutions, with more than 17,000 enterprise customers and millions of devices managed worldwide. SOTI’s innovative portfolio of solutions and services provide the tools organizations need to truly mobilize their operations and optimize their mobility investments. SOTI extends secure mobility management to provide an integrated solution to manage and secure all mobile devices and connected peripherals in an organization.