Mobile Workforce Report 2010 Review: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
So what happens when mobility sets the rules? The changes already underway will be mostly positive to the mobile workforce of the future. These changes will result in more productivity, cheaper office costs, less absenteeism, and lower staff turnover. Here are some of the iPass predictions for 2011 and beyond…
Prediction #1 -Mobilocracy will rise.
Trained in the consumer world, today’s end users have become more technology savvy than just a generation ago, and they expect to play an increasing role in technology decisions within their companies. Look at the cloud computing market, where most buying decisions today are happening at the department level, and not within IT. Gartner fellow Ken McGee recently summed up the trend when he said, “technology is no longer the preserve of the CIO… It has become everyone’s property and everyone’s issue.” 4
We found that the mobile workforce expects to have choice in the mobile technology they use to get their jobs done. Interestingly, we found that even in companies with the strictest single smartphone policies, 22 percent of their mobile workers used a non-company-standard smartphone for work, and 7 percent used a second or third smartphone for work even though they already had a company-issued one. We think that this trend is the tip of the iceberg for the next several years… employees will want to choose and use their own devices.
Today it is a negotiation with IT, but as the mobile markets mature, companies will increasingly loosen those reins. The rise of the mobilocracy will lead to a reinvention of IT from command and control, to a focus on availability and service levels, and delivering collaboration and presence tools to enable and empower the mobile workforce. Security will transition from strict mandates to more flexible access, based on device assessment and traffic analysis in the cloud – part of the service level role of IT.
Prediction #2 – Companies will adopt a “bring your own mobile device” policy.
In the next several years, there will be a shift in mobile device liability. Companies will consent to a “bring your own” policy. IDC predicts that by 2013, more than 56 percent of corporate mobile devices will be individual-liable devices. While we don’t believe that a day will come when it will be “bring your own” laptop, we do think that for many companies especially mobile workers at the lower levels of the corporate structure it will be “bring your own smartphone or tablet if you want to connect.”
But let’s face it, devices are cheap, networks are expensive. As carriers close the connectivity buffets and move to a la carte plans, employees and their companies will become much more cognizant of which type of network they connect their device to and how much it costs – regardless where liability rests.
This will be a boon to WiFi for the foreseeable future. Today’s 3G and tomorrow’s 4G networks will be a premium service, reserved for the upper echelons of the workforce on an as needed basis. For the rest, it will be WiFi.
Prediction #3 – Security will get a makeover.
With a trend toward “bring your own,” enterprise security will need a significant makeover. For IT, the old security model of building a moat around the data center has broken down. IT can no longer enforce a safe perimeter around their employees and the company’s assets. A shift will take place very quickly from securing each individual system, to securing data – much of it in public and private clouds.
Thomas Hansard said in the Parliamentary Debates, “the possession of great power necessarily implies great responsibility.” Mobile employees need to be custodians of their own mobile security, and IT needs to provide the educational resources to empower employees on how to operate in a safe manner.
Prediction #4 – The trivialization of place will increase.
The New York Times had an interesting article this summer titled, “Forget What You Know about Good Study Habits.”6 It turns out that simply alternating the room improves retention. Take this theory and apply it to the workplace, and you have to wonder how effective people are in the office. The office is a distracting place between interruptions and meetings – tons, and tons of meetings. However, working remotely gives employees a change of venue, often removes distractions, and can help them be more productive.
Work is something people do, not a place that they go. We believe that where people work will matter less and less. For numerous reasons from improved productivity to decreased carbon footprint and reduced office expenditure – a workforce that works anywhere, anytime is a boon to business.
Prediction #5 – There will be a redefinition of social boundaries.
We’ve seen the headlines in the New York Times, “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price,” this past June, and USA Today’s, “Always on Technology: Are We Adapting or Losing?” from August. And throughout 2010, we found that the death of technology-free time is indeed the case. The majority of mobile employees never disconnected from technology, even during vacation.
However, we believe while we are on the upward tick of a pendulum, it will swing back in the next several years as mobile employees develop coping strategies to deal with hyper-connectivity and increasing demands for their attention. Most will find a way to redefine their own social boundaries between work and personal time. For some, this lesson will not be without personal costs to families, health, and sanity. But mobile workers will adapt on their own, or perhaps with the help of a professional 12-step program!
Mobile Workforce Report 2010 Review: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
