Enterprises will be required to adjust operations in order to account for growing use and demand by an increasingly mobile workforce.
Editor’s Note: With 2017 now upon us, RCR Wireless News has gathered predictions from across the mobile telecommunications space on what they expect to see in the new year.
In the mobile market, 2016 was the year of many factors converging; increased pervasiveness of the “internet of things,” exponential growth in mobile apps, transformation to “as-a-service” models, continued focus on mobile security and the advent of the “cognitive era.” We saw a shift in the workplace from a “one-size-fits-all” model to a more personalized experience in IT support and service. Users want to choose their own devices and they expect the kind of experience they have with consumer devices.
So as we close the chapter on 2016, there is no better time to step away from the day-to-day and reflect on what has and hasn’t worked over the last 12 months and begin to strategize not just for the year ahead, but to 2017 and beyond for a few trends that organizations will be paying close attention to.
Organizations will need to support a greater range of devices as the type of devices employees use will shift as a reflection of a more mobile workforce
The global mobile workforce is set to increase to 1.87 billion people or 42.5% of the global workforce in 2022, up from 38.8% in 2016. As workers become increasingly mobile, so does their primary work device. Employees are moving toward smaller, more portable devices and tablets, wearables and ultrabooks are expected to be the primary work devices by 2020. In particular, wearables will see considerable adoption as it moves beyond a fad into delivering purposeful experiences and driving economic efficiencies. The majority of wearable shipments in 2020 will be in the form of smart glasses and smart watches.
Workforce demographics are shifting with mobile first millennials soon making up the majority of employees
By 2020, the workforce will be compromised of five different generations for the first time ever. And by 2025, more than 70% of the workforce will be millennials. Millennials’ affinity with the digital world is the defining characteristic – they have grown up with broadband, smartphones, laptops and social media being the norm and expect instant access to information whenever and wherever they wish. This is reflected in both their personal life and work life. They value similar things in an employer brand as they do in a consumer brand and will continue to drive consumerization in enterprise.
Third-party workplace productivity apps are gaining traction, but are creating security concerns
Similar to “bring-your-own-device,” employees are driving “bring-your-own-application.” The use of employee-founded applications is becoming prevalent and is creating more security vulnerabilities. Security is an increasing issue as enterprise-grade security solutions remain a top priority of future mobile spending. Security is viewed as an integral part of mobile device investments.
Businesses are expected to begin testing AR/VR applications to improve productivity
IDC predicts that “in 2017, one-quarter of enterprise IT organizations will be testing augmented reality business apps for use on smartphones.” The firm cites the success of “Pokemon Go” as showing how AR can be successfully used on smartphones, which will reduce the initial hardware cost for AR.
AR and virtual reality use cases of high interest include interactive shopping, which provides consumers the ability to engage and experience products and services virtually instead of only physically; experiential learning, which is new training and education methods through immersive instruction provided through both VR and AR environments; enhanced worker productivity, whereas instead of having physical manuals or data, users have information delivered on demand for completing complex tasks using AR; fan experience and athlete performance leading to enhanced fan experience through in home engagement while providing athlete training and improvement through AR information feedback; collaborative and interactive design of products, building and civil engineering aided through 3D interaction and planning using AR devices; and logistics and planning, with information for supply chain management and inventory picking delivered via an AR device.
Companies are increasingly tracking assets including their workers to improve logistics, workflow and to meet regulations
Employee tracking benefits include fall detection, location tracking, hazard zones, insurance and regulatory compliance. Asset tracking benefits include workflow optimization, regulatory compliance (e.g. onboard diagnostic-II plugs monitoring truck drivers to ensure that they are taking breaks), inventory management and asset use optimization.
Richard Esposito is the GM of Mobility Services for IBM. In his current position, he leads IBM Global Technology Services’ Mobility business line to help clients drive performance improvements and capture value through mobile enterprise solutions. He has worldwide responsibility for client satisfaction, financial growth, strategy, sales, delivery, mobile innovation labs, offering development and operations. Esposito has more than 29 years of experience in the technology industry. He has worked with business executives and CIOs across various industries including utilities, government, insurance, retail and telecommunications. Esposito has a B.S. from Rider University in Decision Science and Computers and an M.B.A. in Corporate Finance from Drexel University.
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