How many? It seems like just a few years ago, all the pundits and futurists were predicting the rise of a single, carry-along computing device; one handy computer to rule them all. It’s not that long ago (post 2001), and yet “the one” device has not arrived and probably won’t.
In this quarter’s Mobile Workforce Report, we found that while most mobile workers think that the day is coming in the next five years (67 percent) when there will be one über mobile device, that same mobile worker is carrying 2.68 mobile devices for work today and despite their claims, we don’t believe that number will be shrinking any time soon.
Instead, we believe there is an emergent natural trinity – the laptop, the tablet, and the smartphone – and mobile employees (and consumers) are already mixing and matching them at will. Smartphones for quick messaging, voice and your handy dandy 3G/4G hotspot, tablets for viewing and reading, and laptops for creating and composing.
Clearly, Apple has the most mature stack but Android is catching up fast, and look for HP and Microsoft to do the same. And we won’t be surprised to see a lot of mixing and matching going on; because even though they are used by mobile workers, the new generation of devices at their core are truly designed for the masses across their work and their personal life. This makes them consumer devices and is rapidly, for better or worse, bringing down the boundaries between work and life.
The actualization of the trinity is facilitated by radical changes in the application world. More web-based applications like Google Docs, Zoho and even Salesforce and new generation of smaller state-aware applications like Evernote, Facebook and Pandora are appearing; all of which leverage the cloud to deliver tremendous functionality without all the infrastructure of traditional IT.
At a fundamental level, we believe that the “stack” is here to stay. We believe the mobile stack – the devices themselves – will remake enterprise IT. Our surveys increasingly indicate that the days of a locked down single laptop provisioned and managed by your employer are ending …quickly. There is a new architecture that will define IT over the next generation it starts with the new unit of end user computing .. the stack. It extends to a new generation of cloud-based applications and demands the need to be connected … almost all the time. The answer to the question – for now isn’t one – its three.
… And look for more from us on this subject in the coming weeks as we explore these trends in a little more depth in our upcoming white paper on the new device-driven computing architectures.
Last month, our CEO, Evan Kaplan, participated in the GigaOM Net:Work conference. His presentation on “Mobilocracy – The Rise of the Mobile Workforce” prompted discussion on the change in mobile employees and their influence on IT regarding decisions on their devices and connectivity. Mobile employees want to use the tools of their choice and they will be more productive doing so.
Based on a year of our Mobile Workforce Reports, Evan explains the “mobilocracy” movement and the consolidation into five trends, finishing with predictions for 2011. Can you say “destruction of place?”
Yesterday, Evan Kaplan, our CEO, presented at the GigaOM NetWork conference on the “Rise of the Mobilocracy,” a term I covered yesterday.
Within this new regime of mobilocracy, the mobile employee can be empowered (and provide their company with more working hours), if they can use the tools of their OWN choosing. This includes iPhones, Androids and tablets, such as the iPad.
“Kaplan wasn’t exactly proposing an overthrow of the traditional corporate hierarchy… Rather, he aimed to provide some guidance about how companies should try to accommodate the needs of a mobile workforce and to understand what must happen to business processes and applications when mobility is the design imperative.”
At the conference, iPass President and CEO Evan Kaplan added some stats that didn’t make the press release: Only 6 percent of respondents disconnect entirely during vacation, he said, and all but 3 percent use at least two devices. Half of respondents use three.
Just so you know, all those stats are in one of our four quarterly Mobile Workforce Reports for 2010. Check out the four reports, and the summary on our website.
You can see some photos from the event posted here at Flickr or on Facebook.
Evan’s presentation is available below. Stay tuned for next week in which I will have his video plus some more fun interviews.
Many had anticipated that when the carriers launched their wireless broadband (3G) networks, Wi-Fi would have died a swift and painless death. Surprisingly, the very opposite has happened. Home Wi-Fi networks have skyrocketed and public Wi-Fi hotspots continue to proliferate as Wi-Fi becomes standard in an every expanding array of portable electronic devices including smartphones, notebooks, tablets, music & game players, cameras etc. Users want an alternate and affordable way to connect to the Internet so they can communicate, entertain themselves and remain productive. Wi-Fi is serving that need.
In fact, Wi-Fi has become so ubiquitous that companies such as Devicescape, Skyhook Wireless, Apple and Google are now leveraging Wi-Fi signal data to pinpoint the location of Wi-Fi enabled devices with a surprising degree of accuracy, a feat that not too long ago could only be accomplished with GPS. In addition, carriers are actively seeking opportunities to offload 3G data onto Wi-Fi so they can expand their network coverage and keep up with the bandwidth demands of their customers.
So, in a world of Wi-Fi ubiquity, why is iPass launching a new version of its hotspot finder? What’s there to find if the thing you’re looking for is everywhere? Unfortunately, all hotspots are not created equal. Some are wide open while others are either secured or require end user input before permitting access. Once connected, end users sometimes have to endure the wrath of temperamental hotspots whose bandwidth and connection duration vary with each passing minute. This is especially true for free hotspots.
iPass’ new hotspot finder for laptops and smartphones will continue to provide information on the location of iPass enabled hotspots, on the ground and in the sky with the iPass Inflight Internet service introduced earlier this year. However, in addition to making the search process easier, we’re seeking to inform. We’ve taken a Web 2.0 approach and are enabling our end users to rate their connection experience as well as provide value added information regarding the hotspot. Similar to product and service reviews on shopping and local search sites, this information will be publically available to the benefit of the broader community. We’ve also added functionality that will enable our users to bookmark their favorite hotspots for trip planning and future reference.
In our recent Mobile Workforce Report, we discovered that the majority of smartphone users are using Wi-Fi because it’s faster than 3G. We anticipate that the number of users seeking reliable high bandwidth hotspots will continue to increase as they discover the benefits of video communications currently being included in next generation mobile devices.
By providing additional information on the quality of hotspots, we hope to set user expectations in advance of connection as well as provide valuable feedback to venue owners. We understand the joy of finding a hotspot when you really need to connect and the disappointment that quickly follows when the connection experience is disappointing.
We welcome your feedback on ways we can further improve the hotspot finder and encourage you to post reviews as well as participate in the feedback survey found within the My iPass tab.
Our CTO, Barbara Nelson, always points out some good industry news clips, and I liked the variety last week. So I compiled these for you.
1. GSA advances the virtual meeting place
To really convince people to move off airplanes and on to telepresence, they are setting up video-conference facilities in 11 cities, to minimize the need for travel.
See NextGov for the full article.
2. Collaboration services drive cloud-based apps
Salesforce.com lets social media paradigms help shape applications. “Why can’t all enterprise software be like Facebook?” asked Alan Barr, RVP of telecoms, media and technology at Salesforce.com, during a keynote presentation at Broadband World Forum in Paris. “It’s engaging, it encourages collaboration – enterprises need services like this that are secure, reliable and private.”
See TotalTelecom for the full article.
3. Using the OpenMobile Platform:
“Coming to the end of my European travels – Open Mobile worked flawlessly at SFO, Heathrow, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris airports, as well as at all my hotels. A perfect field-testing experience with OpenMobile.” She’s a happy mobile employee!
How many? It seems like just a few years ago, all the pundits and futurists were predicting the rise of a single, carry-along computing device; one handy computer to rule them all. It’s not that long ago (post 2001), and yet “the one” device has not arrived and probably won’t.
Many had anticipated that when the carriers launched their wireless broadband (3G) networks, Wi-Fi would have died a swift and painless death. Surprisingly, the very opposite has happened. Home Wi-Fi networks have skyrocketed and public Wi-Fi hotspots continue to proliferate as Wi-Fi becomes standard in an every expanding array of portable electronic devices including smartphones, notebooks, tablets, music & game players, cameras etc. Users want an alternate and affordable way to connect to the Internet so they can communicate, entertain themselves and remain productive. Wi-Fi is serving that need.
