The use of mobile devices in mid-sized companies is more than just Mobile Enterprise Management. They are now being used above all to provide data and to develop and manage apps for smartphones and tablets.
Mobile strategies in Germany are evolving out of passive device- and cost control towards active process optimisation: according to the analysts at IDC, IT managers will be massively increasing the number of their mobile apps. In place of a selective extension of desktop applications to mobiles, a mobile-first approach that will allow company employees to carry out uniform operations on all end-devices is catching on. To do this, the mobile apps must be integrated into the backend, their security must be ensured, and they must be updated regularly. More than one third of companies surveyed by IDC stated that they want to integrate customers and business partners through mobile apps over the next two years.
Tablet PCs currently constitute more than 20 percent of all purchases of stationary and mobile devices; by 2017, IDC estimates, that figure could rise to over 38 percent. New types of device, such as 2-in-1 models of tablet PCs plus laptops, or ‘phablets’ – tablets joined with smartphones – are also being seen more frequently in companies.
Various MDE (mobile data entry) devices and radio terminals for mobile data recording are also entering the mobile hardware market. The data are either promptly transferred for further processing or initially stored in the unit and only sent on to the company network via a docking station once the work is over. MDE devices are equipped with interfaces for cellular, WLAN and Bluetooth and support the common standards for data communication. Depending on the use and the range of application, the products can also have printers, card readers or barcode scanners. Employees are thus often constantly online, taking incoming orders and requesting information from the backend as needed. (Source: IDC/bs)