A majority of SMBs in manufacturing, construction and food and beverage sector don’t have annual budget for mobile technology despite saying that it benefits the companies.
A report found that 74% of manufacturers and distributors did not set budget for mobile technology, but the devices were being used for the overall benefit of the business.
About 51% employees belonging to manufacturing and distribution industry use mobile devices to access work related information when away from workplace.
The companies also admitted that use of mobile devices have improved customer service and helped the organisation get more business.
About 77% of the construction companies claimed that smartphones have a positive impact on its productivity, but less than 14% have set a budget for application and mobile technology.
The survey also found that 20% of the organisations employ only one employee to maintain the IT system.
In construction sector, around 44% of the organisations prioritised app integration with their existing system and emphasised more on client support than customer service.
In food and beverage sector, where mobile devices have positively impacted customer service, with 73% responding that they were able to help their customers with their queries.
About 27% claimed to have got more business to the organization with the use of mobile technology.
The survey also reported that in food and beverage sector 76% employees used smartphones and 67% used laptops to access work related information when outside the workplace.
For the survey, Sage sampled accountants/bookkeepers, office managers and organisational leadership in 331 small and midsized construction companies in the US and Canada.
Sage North America mid-market solutions executive vice president and general manager Joe Langner said, "With more than 40 percent reporting that they have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy in place, employers in all three industries may not see the need to budget for mobile since BYOD helps ensure that expenses are relatively small."
