UK and US businesses are planning to spend an average of £285,000 on mobile software tools for their employees in the next 12-18 months – a figure that increases to £390,000 for business with more than 500 employees – but much of that spend will be wasted, according to research from Antenna Software.

The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne as part of Antennas Mobile Business Forecast 2012, polled 1,000 IT and business decision makers on their mobile activities and plans. Only 25 per cent of those interviewed said that their mobile initiatives had been embraced by the majority of their employees and colleagues.

Similarly, 41 per cent of those who commissioned mobile projects said that take-up had been limited to 25 per cent or less of the employees they were originally intended to serve.

“Businesses are now giving mobile the attention it deserves, and that’s reflected in the fact that 42 per cent of them are currently working on a mobile app for their employees,” says Ken Parmelee, senior director of product management at Antenna. “However, it’s not clear that they’re thinking about the development and implementation of their apps, websites and other mobile assets as strategically as they could be. The businesses that will get the most out of mobile won’t be the ones who spend the most, but those who invest effectively”.

The study also investigated the factors influencing IT and business decision-makers when it comes to choosing an external vendor for a mobile solution. 29 per cent of respondents said that their first consideration when choosing a vendor is the ability to integrate with back-end and legacy systems. Price point, meanwhile, was the foremost consideration for 20 per cent. Only 11 per cent of decision-makers say that they pick vendors based on whether or not their technology is ‘future proof’.