3 April 2011 fiercemobileit.com April 2011 4 It’s no secret that the consumerization of the enterprise has taken hold, as employees bring their smartphones into the workplace in droves. In turn, those devices have ushered in the mobile apps revolution. Smartphone users everywhere have become accustomed to consuming digital information via apps. Gartner predicts that more than 17.7 billion apps will be downloaded in 2011 alone, up more than 100 percent from the 8.2 billion downloaded in 2010. Now, with the introduction of tablets and workers’ propensity to use apps, experts say enterprises across the country are beginning embrace mobile apps for their workers. “We are seeing a big step up now. A lot of enterprises were slow to develop smartphone applications for back-end systems, but a lot has now evolved around the screen size,” said James Harnedy, CEO of apps developer Appesque. “The smartphone’s screen size didn’t empower the user enough.” Indeed, tablets—particularly the iPad—have already taken hold in the enterprise space. Deloitte predicts that more than 25 percent of all tablet computers will be purchased by enterprises in 2011. It cites four main reasons why: Employees are asking their employers to support them; certain vertical segments such as retail, manufacturing and healthcare are already adopting them because of their ease of use, long battery life and rapid app-development environment; enterprise software providers are quickly responding to Fortune 500 requests for tablet-specific software; and the form factor itself is driving adoption in the boardroom. As such, Ahmed Datoo, chief marketing officer with mobile device management company Zenprise, said tablets have begun Mobile Consumerization: A Revolution for the Enterprise By Lynnette Luna CONSULTING APP DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION DEVICE MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ( ) ( ) continued on page 5
