Enterprise Mobility Far From Pain Free for Road Warriors

The wireless industry paints a glowing picture of enterprise mobility. However, Ovum's recent interview with users of mobile enterprises applications and services highlight four areas in need of improvement by enterprises and service providers: configuration and set-up; roaming; presence functionality; and corporate culture.

Enterprises that understand to learn from the frustrations of current users are better able to reap the true efficiency benefits and service providers will reap the revenues. Software configuration and set-up causes many problems in many areas, giving users the feeling the software is distributed before being tested properly.

Research has found that the installation of 3G cards and the associated software are the cause of the pain, with users also expressing frustration at a lack of technical support when travelling. Other frustrations that stand as major barriers to the seamless integration of corporate networks with mobile working include:

• Mobile data roaming: Inconsistent coverage and the lack of interconnectivity between Wi-Fi hotspot providers
• Application functionality: Mobile devices that can not view attachments or use corporate network features such as unified messaging
• 'In' and 'Out' of office employees: Corporate cultures assume everyone is in the office, by assuming that people are working remotely, companies could amend processes and technologies to ensure that applications are pre-installed and available in a mobile environment

Though the frustrations cause irritation, enterprises and service providers prepared to ease the burden on the individual through increased enterprise mobility.