CompTIA Study: Companies Still Struggling To Implement Mobile Solutions

By Ally Orlando, contributing writer

There’s no disputing that enterprise mobility is on the rise, but managing mobile devices remains a major roadblock for many businesses. Organizations have fallen behind in updating their business processes and policies, a recent CompTIA study finds.

The Third Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility study examined the current trends, challenges and opportunities of mobile technologies and reported that although many businesses continue to push for mobility, they are facing significant challenges and have yet to realize the full potential of such technologies.

The study, conducted in March 2014 with a survey of 400 U.S. IT and business executives, examined their setting or executing of mobility policies and processes among organizations and end users.

The study’s key findings are:

1. Mobile solutions are indeed on the rise. More than 70 percent of all companies — regardless of their feelings toward BYOD (bring your own device) — have made an investment in mobile devices and technologies.
2. Workers are operating in a three-device environment. Among companies that provide devices, more than three-fourths provide smartphones and more than half provide tablets.
3. There has not been notable progress in building formal mobility policies over the past year. Less than one-third of companies have them in place and a mere 8 percent have experienced significant workflow changes as a result of mobility.
4. Security is one of the top challenges for companies — namely the ability to centrally monitor and control security, as well as poor security implementation by end users.

According to CompTIA, two primary signals that show mobile maturity in today’s market are behavior saturation and multiple implementation options. Businesses are recognizing mobile solutions as valuable devices and the market has seen an increase in form factors and operating systems.

Mobility has also gained ground because of changes in workforce dynamic. Although an estimated 76 percent of workers are full time at an office location and 53 percent don’t travel, employee flexibility has become a growing trend as a result of new technologies.

In addition to security issues, employees’ knowledge of mobility solutions is a big challenge for businesses — especially when it comes to system settings, encryption capabilities, or new enterprise applications.

“Mobile devices get used heavily in employees’ personal lives, but there are enterprise aspects such as encryption, proper security settings and enterprise apps that require further and ongoing education,” said Seth Robinson, CompTIA director of technology analysis.

This is especially true for smaller organizations that might lack the budget, bandwidth or infrastructure to support such technologies.

On the other hand, medium-to-large businesses face their own unique challenges. The study finds that the biggest obstacle for medium-sized businesses is balancing end user needs and IT requirements. For larger firms, the magnitude of employees and devices can make implementation complex.