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Mobile Workplace is Happy Workplace

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Preeti Gaur
New Update
mobile workplace

Enhanced mobility at the workplace increases employee productivity and happiness quotient further translating into business gains. Tablet implementations under the BYOD programs offer better opportunities for both the employees as well as the enterprise. Read more to learn how tablets are key enablers for enhanced mobility across the organizations

– compiled by Preeti Gaur

Employees are happier to work in a mobile and flexible environment according to the New Global Research from Oracle. The concept of mobile working is gaining pace in India as well as across the globe. Enterprises need to ensure that mobile working is deployed in an efficient and secure way in order to increase overall productivity.

The proliferation of smartphones as well as tablets have fostered a flexible and mobile working environment. Workers all around the world feel happier to work in a mobile and flexible framework. Workers are confident that doing so makes them more efficient and productive. Censuswide carried out the research on behalf of Oracle, surveyed 1,500 senior level decisions makers working for global organisations: 500 in North America, 500 in EMEA and 500 in APAC.

The research also reveals that majority of enterprises are yet to embrace mobile working. In order for enterprises to deploy mobile workplace they have to face various integration challenges and security threats. In the face of this challenge, Oracle calls on business executives to stop ‘holding back the tide’ and to instead ensure mobile working is deployed efficiently, securely and on their business’ own terms.

Key Findings

Workers, all across the globe are embracing the concept of mobile working and believe that doing so makes them more productive:

•    68% of respondents stated they are happier working in a more mobile and flexible way. In India, the figure is almost the same at 67%.

•    Nearly half of the respondents (53%) think that mobile and flexible working makes them more productive. The percentage is slightly higher in India (55%).

According to the employees however, their employers are less enthusiastic about the mobile revolution, with some actively trying to hold back its use within their businesses:

•    Nearly, a quarter (24%) of respondents stated that their employer actively encourages mobile working. In India, this figure rises to 31%.

•    21% of respondents overall and the same percentage respondents in India say their employer actively tries to limit the applications and the data that employees can access on their mobile phones.

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Despite the lack of enthusiasm from employers, the research also reveals that restrictions on mobile working are often ineffective and employees are taking it on themselves to use mobile solutions at work:

•    Only 18% of respondents believe that their company effectively controls what can be done on a mobile device. In India, this figure is higher at 29%.

•    15% of those surveyed said they had found a way of using their mobile for work without any help or intervention from their employer. The figure rises to 17% in India.

•    Over half (56%) of the respondents overall and 53% in India said they are working in a more mobile way than they were two years ago.

•    40% of respondents overall and the same percentage respondents in India believe that mobility will become even more integral to their work in the next two years.

Source: New Global Research, Oracle.

Tablets - The Sweet Spot of BYOD Programs

Through 2017, 90 percent of organizations will support some aspects of BYOD. At present, these programs have different degrees of maturity, but Gartner predicts that by 2018, there will be twice as many employee-owned devices used for work than enterprise-owned devices.

Tablet - bring-your-own device (BYOD) programs offer better opportunities than that of enterprise owned-laptops and smartphones. IT departments can support nearly three times more users in BYO tablet programs than enterprise-owned tablet programs.

“IT leaders can spend half a million dollars to buy and support 1,000 enterprise-owned tablets, while they can support 2,745 user-owned tablets with that same budget,” said Federica Troni, research director at Gartner. “Without a stipend, direct costs of user-owned tablets are 64 percent lower. When organizations have several users who want a tablet as a device of convenience, offering a BYOD option is the best alternative to limit cost and broaden access.”

While designing BYOD programs, organizations need to ensure that they target users who have interest and propensity to use a wider choice of devices for work and feel relatively at ease with technology. The organizations must also select a primary goal – user satisfaction, cost reduction or mobile expansion. In most cases, multiple goals will be unachievable or will conflict with each other.

“While BYOD initiatives for mobile devices can lead to cost savings, it is not always the case,” said Ms. Troni. “Organizations that are looking to broaden device choices or expand access to mobile technology may spend the same or more under BYOD for organization-owned devices.”

Organizations doing BYOD are very likely to see their infrastructure investments increase, and the level of investment is directly proportional to the success and uptake rate of their programs. A recent Gartner survey conducted in the first quarter of 2014 amongst 135 IT/business leaders who actively encourage BYOD, found that mobile device management (87 percent), general infrastructure expansion (84 percent) and file share and sync (80 percent) were the three major technologies that drove investments in support of BYOD initiatives. BYOD programs also act as catalysts for technologies such as desktop virtualization, and isolation, as organizations attempt to establish an acceptable level of security and manageability in delivering corporate applications, and data to employee-owned devices.

Establishing the right support structure for BYOD programs is crucial in containing cost for BYOD and taking advantage of the potential cost savings. Organizations allowing users to bring their own devices to work will have to redefine the boundaries of IT’s responsibility for end-point device support. Users will also have to accept responsibility for handling a higher number of support issues related with their own device.

Another cause for the increased costs in BYOD programs compared to corporate devices is due to the difficulty in managing voice and data costs, and setting the appropriate level of reimbursement.

Source: Gartner Inc.

Increasing Tablet Adoption

Current implementations of tablets in the workplace are beneficial for businesses, increasing mobility and productivity. It was indicated by the 2014 International Tablet survey of IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) by Dell.

“The study reflects optimism of ITDMs in India in terms of tablet adoption in organizations, which is eventually resulting in increased productivity of employees,” said Indrajit Belgundi, Director & General Manager, End User Computing, Dell India.

India Insights:

Tablets are a standard part of the IT offering: A large proportion of ITDMs in India (59%) say that it is a standard part of their IT device offering. More than half (57%) allow employees to use tablets purchased with their own money, and at least half (50%) allow employees to use their own tablets purchased with the help of company funds.

Tablets are being met with favorable inputs from employees: In India, 56% ITDMs whose company offers tablets as a standard offering received inputs from other employees consistently in favor of tablet adoption. In all countries, majority of ITDMs in organizations in which tablets are not offered have received employee inputs in favor of using tablets for work.

Soliciting employee input: Prior to tablet deployment, a majority of companies in India (57%) solicited employee inputs regarding what company data should be accessed on the tablets and the operating system to be used.

Android is the most frequently-used operating system globally for tablets; Windows and iOS also are widespread: In India, Android is being named by 91% ITDMs; 60% naming Windows and only 34% naming iOS.

Tablet adoption has increased productivity: In India, 58% ITDMs estimate at least a 25% increase in productivity, while in the US (60%) and UK (53%), majority places this figure at a 20% increase or more. When asked about ways in which productivity is enhanced, 70% ITDMs in India believed it is easier to work on a tablet while travelling, thereby increasing productivity, while 66% ITDMs believe that tablets provide faster/more convenient access to information while out of the office/in the field.

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Tablets are meeting and exceeding expectations: In India, majority (60%) of ITDMs report that tablets have met the expectations their company had for them, and exceeded expectations for 36%.

ITDMs plan to deploy more tablets: In the US (65%), UK (49%), India (69%), Japan (52%), China (76%), Brazil (67%), France (49%), Russia (65%), and South Africa (25 of 32 surveyed), majority/near-majority of ITDMs whose company offers tablets as a standard offering say that their companies plan to deploy more tablets into their workforce in the future. In India, majority (69%) of ITDMs say that their companies plan to deploy more tablets into their workforce in the future.

Security is a top concern: Among ITDMs at organizations not currently offering or evaluating the use of tablets, majority in India (67%) cite data security or other security concerns (eg. loss, theft) as reasons for not deploying tablets. In addition to device loss, a majority of ITDMs in India also consider threats, breaches of company policies, and compliance and regulatory challenges to be a security challenge posed by tablet devices.

Among other apprehensions with respect to tablet deployment are - 48% Indian ITDMs cite limited productivity, 37% are worried that employees will use them for non-work activities, 37% fear risk of loss or damage, 33% believe tablets offer insufficient storage capacity and 27% are apprehensive about IT integration.

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Kinds of applications (apps) intended to be used on company-issued tablets: In India, 79% use email apps on company-issued tablets. 60% use calendar and scheduling apps, 72% for word processing, 62% use messaging apps while 45% use social networking apps.

Source: 2014 ITDMs survey, Dell

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“If businesses don’t have a mobile strategy, then they do not have a strategy for growth. Mobile is creating new business models challenging old ones. Mobile working is going to happen in businesses whether they want it to or not – the question now is whether organisations want to benefit fully from this revolution or continue to try and stop the inevitable.” - Suhas Uliyar, VP Mobile Strategy, Product Management, Oracle

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A balanced mix of enterprise-owned and user-owned devices with different levels of stipends will be the most effective way of capitalizing the benefits of BYOD programs, both in terms of cost reduction and in terms of level of access to mobile technology,” - Federica Troni

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