Sybase Predicts Big Year for Enterprise Apps

Enterprise and mobile software firm, Sybase, has released the results of a survey carried out by Kelton Research which reveals that 90 percent of IT managers are planning to implement new mobile applications this year, and nearly one in two believe that successfully managing mobile apps will top their priority list. As a result, says Sybase, both hosted and on-premise mobility solutions powered by a strong mobile enterprise application platform are valuable options for businesses to seriously consider in 2011.

Kelton polled 250 IT managers in UK and US companies with revenues of $100m or more. 82 percent of IT managers said they shared the belief that it would be beneficial, rather than detrimental, to host more of their mobile applications in the cloud. 90 percent said they will implement new mobile apps this year, with 21 per cent looking to introduce 20 or more apps into their organisation. In addition, they anticipate supporting about eight different mobile platforms or operating systems by the end of 2011.

Despite IT departments’ enthusiasm for apps, however, many are currently not being strategic about mobility. 46 per cent of respondents who don’t currently have a mobile strategy in place did not expect to hire staff to specifically deal with their enterprise mobility strategy, while 45 per cent admitted they did not have a plan or timeline in place.

45 per cent of respondents predict that implementing or managing the onslaught of mobile enterprise apps tops the priority list in the coming year, even over more common issues such as adhering to IT budgets. In addition, 56 per cent of IT managers said they consider customising company information for mobile purposes a crucial part of conducting business and not just a “nice to have.” In addition, 84 per cent of those who feel this way work for companies that profess to be flexible about the use of new mobile applications or devices.

Security issues are a concern, the study found. IT managers report that possible data security issues with mobile apps cause more problems (65 per cent) than implementation (25 per cent) or employee adoption issues (10 per cent).
50 per cent of respondents said that employee demand is driving the adoption of new mobile applications, while 73 per cent reported that decision-makers are flexible and not rigid about incorporating new mobile apps and mobile devices into their organisation, showing that many mid-to-large sized companies are committed to mobilising the enterprise.

“The proliferation of new devices, coupled with the vast expansion of mobile applications used by consumers, has paved the road for mobility solutions to enter the enterprise at the worker, workgroup, and workflow levels,” says Dan Ortega, senior director, product marketing at Sybase. “Given all this, we expect 2011 to be the year of the transformation of the enterprise.”