A topic that has been repeatedly addressed over the past year is the increased adoption of mobile technologies, with the aim of increasing worker productivity and operational efficiency. There are many factors driving this trend, from the impacts of COVID-19 on modernizing the enterprise to improving employee retention rates, with the hope that mobile technologies will add to the efficiency of each individual worker. SOTI released its Global State of Mobility 2021 Report in September 2021, which recognized the importance of mobile technology to post-COVID operations, but also the challenges with implementing these solutions effectively. According to SOTI’s study, 79% of enterprise decision-makers believe mobile technologies are more important compared to before the start of COVID-19. However, with the increased adoption of mobile solutions comes the challenges of managing a larger mobile fleet and integrating these technologies into existing systems.

Management and security of devices are at the forefront of this change. Over half (56%) of the organizations surveyed say managing the increasing number of devices is proving to be difficult. VDC Research’s 2021 Buyer Behavior guide supports these findings across almost every vertical. While security was cited as a major concern across sectors, it is prioritized for different reasons: healthcare services seek security to protect patient information, while manufacturers and transportation & logistics organizations seek to protect key innovations and enterprise data. Exhibit 1 compares barriers of deploying mobile solutions into operations between healthcare, manufacturing and transportation & logistics enterprises.

Exhibit 1: Top Barriers to Deploying Mobile Solutions amongst Decision-Makers in Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics, Healthcare, and Retail Organizations

Device management systems and analytics solutions are becoming essential tools to deal with a growing mobile fleet. In SOTI’s study, enterprise decision-makers emphasized the need for better data analytics/troubleshooting (69%) and better tools to preemptively diagnose potential issues (67%). According to VDC’s 2021 Enterprise Mobility Analytics report, although 58.8% of organizations are currently or planning to evaluate analytics packages for mobile solutions, only 24.4% have currently adopted and deployed such a solution. The capabilities of analytics solutions driving opportunities for these enterprises are device security and device performance and health.

Investing in system integration services/solutions may be the most effective way for enterprises to deal with modernizing their mobile technologies. SOTI’s study found that over the next 12 months, better device and system integration are priorities to enterprises. In addition, the ability to increase the capacity of mobile devices deployed, as well as reliability, security, and performance of those devices is driving the deployment of private cellular across industry verticals. In VDC’s upcoming report, Private 5G and 4G/LTE Networks, 61.5% of respondents said network monitoring and control was the most important feature of applications, while 34.6% indicated analytics. System integrators that offer managed services to integrate new technologies, such as device management/analytics tools, and private networks for enterprises have a unique opportunity to solve many of the persisting challenges for organizations as they look to digitalize and scale their mobile technology systems.

VDC’s upcoming report, Private 5G and 4G/LTE Networks, will provide networking technology providers and others in the ecosystem with the insight needed to navigate this market and maximize their opportunities in a time of dramatic and rapid change. VDC’s Enterprise Mobility Analytics (link) report explores the market trends and opportunities for mobile analytics solutions are device adoption increases in the enterprise. The 2021 Buyer Behavior Guide (link) shows VDC’s findings of key mobile technology trends amongst decision-makers across all industry verticals. For more information or interest in custom research services, please e-mail info@vdcresearch.com.