European Enterprises Put Mobility At The Core Of Their Strategic Agendas

5:38 pm - November 7th, 2006

More Than A Third Of Telecom And Networking Budgets Are Spent On Mobility, According To Forrester Research

Tuesday, 07 November 2006

European firms now spend 32% of their telecom and networking budgets on mobility, according to Forrester Research. In its report â€œThe State Of European Enterprise Mobility In 2006â€, Forrester sets out how the opportunity for greater productivity, cost savings, and boosted employee morale has put mobility at the core of strategic agendas.

Today, more than 70% of enterprises are using some type of mobile application. A third of businesses say that setting mobile and wireless strategy and policy is a priority in 2006; for another 16%, itâ€™s a critical priority. Why are these companies investing in mobility? Mobility provides the enabling technology for business practices like flexible working, with quantifiable benefits.

However, Forrester also reports that mobility projects raise cost and reliability concerns, especially as businesses start to enhance their enterprise applications â€“ like sales force and field force applications – with mobility. According to Forrester, enterprises need to stay focused on identifying their needs while taking a step-by-step approach to realize the full benefits.

Forrester analyst, Jenny Lau , says: â€œItâ€™s good news that enterprises are strategically planning for mobility and benefiting from it. However, there is a risk that mobility will remain a strategic agenda point that doesnâ€™t get realized. To turn strategy into reality, firms must devise a strategy and plan pilots with users, set handset policies early, and have contingency plans in place. In addition, itâ€™s best to start small. Firms should see how mobility can give existing infrastructure a boost rather than planning for an ERP overhaul at the outset.â€

The report mentioned in this release, â€œThe State Of European Enterprise Mobility In 2006â€, is available to Forrester WholeView2TM clients.

Methodology
Forrester interviewed 335 European enterprises as part of Forrester’s Business Technographics March 2006 North American And European Enterprise Network And Telecommunications Survey; we also spoke with three vendor companies: Good Technology, Oracle, and TynTec.

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