Analysts claim enterprises are starting to embrace a new world of online services on smartphones to an extent not anticipated a year ago.
Web-based collaboration tools on mobile handsets are increasingly becoming a critical tool to CEOs. This is according to Frost & Sullivan, which found the number of European CEOs owning a smartphone had doubled between 2008 and 2009.
Frost & Sullivan research manager Krishnendu Roy says: "Of the various mobile communication and computing products and services, all European CEOs surveyed in this research use or own laptops or notebooks.”
The research firm released a report showing that European CEOs perceive reliability as the core function of their notebook, with all other features being secondary.
Roy adds: "Overall, among those using Web-based collaboration tools, 70% consider ease-of-use as the most important feature. Interestingly, having a powerful feature set is least important to European CEOs, as few of them use mobile multimedia content applications or mobile location-based applications."
On the local front, World Wide Worx states in its 'Mobile corporation in SA 2010' report, that three-quarters of South African companies have deployed smartphones within their organisations, compared to almost none two years ago.
Deon Liebenberg, RIM's regional director for sub-Sahara Africa, notes: “Enterprise mobility solutions are no longer just nice to have. They're essential for businesses that want to be competitive, responsive and efficient in a world where a customer won't wait for a salesperson who is visiting customers and where project flow can't stop because a manager is at a full-day meeting.”
According to Gartner, by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide.
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