Australian businesses embrace enterprise mobility with market set to approach $5.5 billion by 2020 as organisations go “mobile first”

Mobile device management used by half of Australian organisations, business process re-engineering still nascent

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Australian businesses are investing more in enterprise mobility management tools as the market for management software, devices and services will approach $5.5 billion by the end of the decade, up from $3.3 billion in 2016, according to new research from emerging technology analyst firm Telsyte.

New findings from the Telsyte Australian Enterprise Mobility Market Study 2017 predict the enterprise mobility market will consist of $1.9BN worth of devices (smartphones and tablets), $1.2B worth of management tools (including MDM) and $2.3Bn of integration and support services by 2020 as more businesses move to a mobile first strategy and regularly support a workforce that is increasingly able to work anywhere.

Telsyte defines MDM as a cross-platform application to manage devices, applications, data and content on smartphones and tablets (often also called EMM or MAM).

According to Telsyte, 34 per cent of businesses have staff that regularly work outside of the work premises, which has been a consistent trend over the past two years.

Furthermore, mobility is becoming more strategic for corporations, with C-Suite executives now in charge of mobility in 80 per cent of organisations, up from 62 per cent in 2014.

Despite the rise in BYOD (bring your own device), almost 80 per cent of business still buy some smartphones for staff, and 50 per cent buy tablets. Almost half of all tablets purchased have cellular features given the productivity benefits from an always-on connection.

The two big consumer smartphone brands also dominate the enterprise, with most organisations purchasing Apple and Samsung smartphones in that order.

 Bring your own apps (BYOA) grows up

Bring your own apps (BYOA), a term coined by Telsyte more than four years ago, has started to gather steam in the Australian market.

BYOA awareness has increased and more organisations are trying to enforce rules that stop or limit the use of consumer grade apps for workplace use, mainly due to security fears. However, Telsyte’s latest research shows organisations’ efforts are being overwhelmed.

"Despite the fears, around 10 per cent of organisations admit they can’t control BYOA and staff use personal apps regardless of policies," Telsyte Senior Analyst, Rodney Gedda, says.

Around half of all businesses with greater than 20 employees allow BYOA, with most citing productivity and employee demand as the main reasons, as well as lack of training needed to use apps.

"With arrival of Facebook’s Workplace, more companies will look to enterprise applications that leverage consumer platforms to reduce training requirements and promote adoption, a trend that has been a driver of BYOA in the past," Gedda says.

The main personal applications used in in the workplace are e-mail, file storage (e.g. Dropbox) and project/task management. Group calendaring is also on the rise.

However, concerns remain around data privacy and security of BYOA apps in the minds of more than a third of all CIOs.

 MDM growing amid security concerns, BYOA

Telsyte estimates that almost half of all organisations in Australia now have an enterprise-grade MDM with this expected to near 70 per cent by 2020.

Australian enterprises still have a lot of opportunity to go beyond basic management and re-engineer business processes with mobile devices and applications. Telsyte research shows less than 20 per cent are mature with their enterprise mobility and realising innovation and productivity benefits.

The leading MDM vendors in Australia, according to Telsyte research, are BlackBerry (following the acquisition and integration of Good Technology), IBM and Samsung in that order.

The growth in MDM is being driven by a high rate (86 per cent) of enterprises still concerned about the security of enterprise mobility.

This includes inadequate separation between work-related use and personal use of a device and the security of devices that have access to corporate information but are not corporately managed.

For further information on the study or media enquiries contact:

Rodney Gedda
Senior Analyst
Tel: +61 2 9235 5891
Email: rgedda@telsyte.com.au

The Telsyte Australian Enterprise Mobility Market Study 2017 is a comprehensive study which provides subscribers with:

  • The size of the enterprise mobility market and what is it forecast to reach in 2020

  • The market split between mobile devices, software and services

  • The market penetration for mobile device management

  • How organisations procure mobile devices

  • How organisations are using MDM to manage and secure mobile devices and apps

  • The state of BYOD (including wearables) and BYOA (apps)

  • How people work outside the office, including remote locations

  • Are organisations adopting wearable computers and how they are viewed by CIOs

  • How mobility is impacting sales and operations

  • Is the CIO losing control of enterprise mobility?

In preparing this study, Telsyte used:

  • An online survey of a representative sample of 257 Australian CIOs, IT managers and enterprise mobility managers in August 2016.

  • Interviews conducted with executives from service providers, network operators, manufacturers, retailers, financial analysts and channel partners.

  • Financial reports released by service providers and manufacturers.

  • On-going monitoring of local and global market and vendor trends.

About Telsyte

Telsyte delivers strategic insights and advisory services to businesses that are producing, or are impacted by, disruptive technologies. Telsyte publishes studies into emerging consumer and business markets and provides custom research and advisory services. Telsyte is an independent business unit of DXC.

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