Over half of IT and line of business professionals plan to deploy 10 or more apps in the next two years, according to a survey.

The research, sponsored by Kony and conducted by 451 Research, also showed that professional developers in IT will spend 68 percent of their time on internal apps projects in the next two years compared to 43 percent now.

Another trend will see more of the app development work being undertaken outside of IT. Currently IT undertakes 58 percent while 42 percent is done outside of IT; in two years 65 percent of apps will be developed externally.

This move reflects a certain confusion over the role of IT; 55 percent of developers think that they should be leading mobile app projects while 61 percent of IT management respondents believe that they should be. In addition, among companies planning to build 20 or more employee apps, around 60 percent are planning 20 or more customer apps. 71 percent expect IT to manage these.

"There is strong demand for new mobile apps, and companies are broadening their focus beyond core processes and application silos; however, enterprises are still very much in the early stages when it comes to mobile app strategies," said Chris Marsh, principal analyst, 451 Research.

Marsh added: "IT is still in the driver’s seat when it comes to both the bulk of internal mobile app development, technology procurement and project management, although line of business want input and greater collaboration. Line of business is also starting to bring a great amount of funding support to the discussion."

"The global market for enterprise mobility is expected to grow from $72 billion to $284 billion by 2019, nearly quadrupling in size," said Dave Shirk, president of Products and Marketing, Kony, Inc.

Shirk added: "Companies need to be prepared to meet this demand for mobile business solutions with proper alignment between lines of business, IT developers and IT management, to effectively manage and lead enterprise mobility projects. As the largest independent provider of enterprise mobility solutions, Kony has successfully helped the world’s leading enterprises to effectively use mobility as a catalyst for business innovation."

The research surveyed 480 IT management, IT development and line of business professionals from North America, Europe and Australia.