Adoption of mobile applications throughtout enterprises reached 27%, an increase of 6% compared to 21% in 2009, and an annualised increase of 38%, according to a survey by InformationWeek Analytics.
The Application Mobilisation: A Rapidly Changing Landscape report revealed that mobile applications are becoming critical for companies trying to improve employee efficiency and customer service and sharpen their competitive edge in global markets.
However, to achieve the same, companies must be able to accommodate multiple mobile platforms, establish and manage security and access disparate back-end data sources.
In the survey, 52% of respondents said their companies are currently deploying, or planning to deploy, mobile apps on smartphones, up from 42% in 2009, a 30% annualised increase.
BlackBerry topped the mobile apps platform with 57%, iPhone 35%, Google Android 27% and Windows Mobile 22%; Palm Pre and Symbian trail with 6% each.
In addition, 50% of respondents claim they’re willing to develop their own enterprise mobile applications.
Of respondents who say their companies aren’t deploying mobile apps, 42% cite a lack of business benefit as the biggest reason.
InformationWeek Analytics content director Lorna Garey said they probably shouldn’t be surprised by the fast growth of app mobilisation, the iPhone and the Android barely factored into the enterprise equation not too long ago, but look at them now.
"Tablets are already making inroads too, and so the mobile app landscape will continue to change," Garey said.
