Australian Businesses Slide in Mobility Maturity Stakes as Asian Economies Surge Ahead

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Australia slipped to 5th place in enterprise mobility maturity in 2016 in the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) region according to a recent regionwide study by IDC. Benchmarked against regional peers, around half of Australian enterprises are at nascent stage of mobility maturity defined by IDC as being ad-hoc or opportunistic in their approach toward enterprise mobility. Only 1 in 15 firms are using mobility as a competitive differentiator and an enabler for new business models.

In comparison to their Asian neighbours maturity has not surged ahead and Australia has slipped in relative terms against them. There are a few Australian organisations that are advanced in their mobility journeys, with dedicated platforms and architectures for mobile to be a primary mode of usage. Most mobile use cases are isolated, uncoordinated initiatives implemented in silos without the necessary coordination between IT and lines of business (LOBs), with a lot to be desired from Australian businesses.

"As enterprises continue to fine-tune their mobile computing experience, integration with the extended business application ecosystem is inevitable. The enterprise mobility ecosystem continues to expand beyond mobile devices and mobile enterprise applications as organisations create newer, unconventional use cases, such as smart devices, wearables, connected vehicles, and mobile-enabled machine-to-machine communication," says IDC's Senior Research Manager, Sabharinath Bala

"Australian businesses become more concerned with mobile applications: their procurement, development, and management as they move up the maturity ladder. As they move further up the scale, their concerns converge on a holistic approach to the mobility of their IT systems and the role of mobility in business strategy," added Bala.

Looking forward Bala commented, "Enterprise mobile strategy needs augment other 3^rd Platform pillars, especially cloud and analytics, with the Internet of Things (IoT) effectively extending the business value of enterprise mobility. It's critical to futureproof the roadmap by including provisions for the production deployments related to wearables, and augmented reality (AR)."

IDC Australia published its Enterprise Mobility MaturityScape Benchmark R eport for the Australian market. This IDC study aims to help enterprises assess their current enterprise mobility maturity and uncover gaps in their mobility strategies. It also provides a framework to assist enterprises in planning, developing, and executing their mobility initiatives. Specifically, this study enables enterprises to:

• Assess their mobility competency and maturity
• Prioritise mobility technology, their partners, and other related investment decisions
• Benchmark mobile maturity against country and industry trends
• Uncover maturity gaps and identify the resources required to deliver and support enterprise mobility initiatives.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company.