A new global research from Oracle indicates that workers around the world are happier than ever to work in a mobile and flexible way, confident that to do so makes them more productive. However, with the majority of organisations yet to embrace mobile working, the research also reveals that employers are at risk of it taking off without their input and guidance, leaving their businesses at the mercy of integration challenges and security threats.
In the face of this challenge, Oracle calls on business executives to stop ‘holding back the tide’ and to instead ensure mobile working is deployed efficiently, securely and on their business’ own terms.
The study finds that 68% of respondents stated they are happier working in a more mobile and flexible way. In India, the figure is almost the same at 67%. Over half (53%) think mobile and flexible working makes them more productive, rising slightly to 55% in India.
According to employees however, their employers are less enthusiastic about the mobile revolution, with some actively trying to hold back its use within their businesses.
Less than a quarter (24%) of respondents stated that their employer actively encourages mobile working. In India, this figure rises to 31%. About 21% of respondents overall and the same percentage respondents in India say their employer actively tries to limit the applications and data employees can access on their mobile phones, the study finds.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm from employers, the research also reveals that restrictions on mobile working are often ineffective and employees are taking it on themselves to use mobile solutions at work:Only 18% of respondents believe their company effectively controls what can be done on a mobile device. In India, this figure is higher at 29%.
Nearly, 15% of those surveyed said they had found a way to use their mobile for work without any help or intervention from their employer, rising to 17% in India. Over half (56%) of respondents overall and 53% in India said they are working in a more mobile way than they were two years ago. 40% over all and in India believe mobility will become even more integral to their work in the next two years.
Suhas Uliyar, VP Mobile Strategy, Product Management, OracleThe current situation where employees are taking it upon themselves to go mobile is simply not tenable and insecure; without a strong partnership with IT, it will be very challenging for businesses to secure the mission-critical data being accessed by mobile workers.
“Our message is therefore clear: businesses need to deploy effective mobile applications for their end users (employees, customers and partners) in a way that is simple, mobile contextual and cost-effective. Simplicity holds the key to the rapid and effective integration of business data with user-friendly mobile applications to enable teams to collaborate more effectively no matter where they are. This requires a robust end to end mobile platform to execute on this mobile strategy. Preserving user-experience without compromising on security can be achieved through innovative mobile security techniques like ‘containerization’ enabling businesses to adopt a secure BYOD strategy,” Uliyar said.
He added, “If businesses don’t have a mobile strategy, then they do not have a strategy for growth. Mobile is creating new business models challenging old ones. Mobile working is going to happen in businesses whether they want it to or not – the question now is whether organizations want to benefit fully from this revolution or continue to try and stop the inevitable.”
