A recent study by Citrix has found that Australians favour mobility for its ability to provide remote access.
This mindset is different to the leading global driver found in the Mobility in Business survey, namely enhanced productivity.
With the dispersed nature of the Australian workforce, Citrix A/NZ product sales senior director, Bede Hackney, said it is understandable that local businesses want the technology for its ability to facilitate remote access.
“Which, in turn, will deliver various benefits including increased staff satisfaction and reduced real estate costs,” he said.
The research also revealed that almost a third of Australian businesses see mobility as a point of market differentiation in attracting and retaining talent.
“This is in contrast to most global companies, who view it as a way to transform their business,” Hackney said.
Enabling the worker
As for why the leading global driver, enhanced productivity, was not the priority in Australia, Hackney said businesses globally are seeking to implement mobile strategies to enhance worker productivity.
“While increasing worker productivity is the second largest driver for mobile initiatives in Australia, the primary objective currently is to fulfil the demand to provide workers with more mobility,” he said.
Hackney point out Australia’s unique characteristic a the world’s largest smartphone market per capita, with more than 84 per cent of the population owning a smartphone.
“Businesses are also responding by providing their employees with mobility solutions that match worker demand for mobility,” he said.
The report found that 44 per cent of Australian businesses enable BYOD, compared to 36 per cent globally, with the perception that only a third of employees are using their own mobile apps for work purposes.
Android remains the fastest growing mobile platform within organisations at 67 per cent, with iOS (57 per cent), Windows 8 (30 per cent), Windows Mobile (26 per cent) and Blackberry (21 per cent) rounding off the mix.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.
