According
to IT research firm Techaisle's multi-country primary research study on small
to medium-size business (SMB) mobility adoption and trends shows that U.S. SMBs
are likely to spend $32 billion on mobility solutions in 2011. Overall, 81
percent of SMBs are either currently implementing or planning to implement some
type of mobility solution ranging from simple mobile device based applications
to sophisticated logistics solutions, the report found.
Techaisle
research found 23 percent is being spent on mobile applications including new
application development and customization, 17 percent is being spent on devices
and 8 percent is being spent on security and management. SMBs also expressed a
strong desire to integrate mobile solutions with line of business applications
as a way to derive greater business value over time.
While
mobility adoption among SMBs is 28 percent higher than cloud adoption, the
report warned there are significant barriers to adoption, with the top three
being the cost of the solution, concern for theft and data privacy and data
service pricing. “With both Verizon and AT&T discontinuing their unlimited
data plan, hindrances become greater,” the report noted.
The
10-19 and 100-249 employee size businesses are exhibiting highest growth rates
for mobility solutions spend, according to the report. Irrespective of employee
size categories, Techaisle analysts said clear attitudinal differences exist
among SMBs adopting mobility, creating three different groups: aggressive
adopters, steady movers and fence sitters. Nearly 17 percent fall into the
aggressive adopters category, which also shows highest adoption of smartphones
and tablets at 90 percent and 38 percent respectively.
The
corresponding Techaisle multi-country channel survey shows that value added
resellers (VARs) have been more active in offering mobility solutions as
compared to other channels. A little under half (44 percent) of SMB channel
partners either currently offer or plan to offer mobility solutions, which is
one channel partner for every 140 SMBs. The above data is available in
individual country reports for US, UK, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Australia,
Canada and upcoming India for SMBs and US, UK, Germany for channels, Techaisle
noted.
Computer Networking 
