Enterprise Mobility Investments Provide Big Payback

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It's long been professed that it takes money to make money. A recent study from Aberdeen Group seems to support that axiom, at least in the enterprise mobility space.

Released in late March, the Aberdeen report, "More Mobility -- Less Budget: Enterprise Strategies in the Current Economic Downturn," found that while most companies are scrutinizing operating budgets, the highest performing companies -- those that are performing in the top 20 percent across multiple metrics -- increased their spending on enterprise mobility by 19 percent over the past 24 months. These companies reported a 44 percent jump in employee participation in mobility initiatives, a 36 percent increase in employee productivity and a 33 percent increase in mobile devices in full IT compliance.

According to the Aberdeen study, which examined more than 200 firms across multiple industries (6 percent from finance/banking), industry average companies increased their spend on enterprise mobility projects by 4 percent; these firms saw an 11 percent increase in employee productivity and a 15 percent increase in mobile devices in full IT compliance. "Laggard" companies -- those in the bottom 30 percent of performance rankings -- increased their mobility spending by just 2 percent and saw a 1 percent increase in staff productivity.