APAC enterprise mobility landscape becoming fragmented: IDC
Companies across the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region have been steadily increasing their mobility investments, IDC said. The firm noted that 70% of respondents to a recent survey indicated that some kind of mobility initiative is underway at their organizations.
"Enterprises across the region are realizing it's no longer a question of why, but a question of how when it comes to mobility adoption in their organizations," IDC research manager for enterprise mobility Ian Song said.
The survey shows that there has been a rapid increase of relaxed company policies toward both BYOD and company-owned mobile devices, he said. But very few organizations have a clear direction on how to leverage mobile devices effectively at workplace.
"Clearly, enterprises have clued in the fact that they have to adopt enterprise mobility," Song said. "But very few organizations understand the value proposition of mobility for their businesses, which is about enhancing and driving business growth, not just to make employees happy."
Because of this lack of understanding, the ways mobility is perceived and used in APAC can vary drastically by country, IDC said.
Developed countries like Singapore or Australia put more focus on ensuring security and management of the enterprise mobility platform; while emerging countries like Indonesia and Thailand tend to focus on developing applications to drive business on the mobile platform.
"Companies in developed countries tend to have more infrastructure and data they need to protect, especially on the mobile platform. Whereas companies in developing countries have less legacy to deal with, and more customers leveraging mobility, so they must utilize mobility to stay competitive," Song said.
That said, enterprises across the region are putting more emphasis on mobile security and management, the survey shows.