Not Enough Apps? That’s What Mobile Workers Say

Apple’s App Store boasts “over 500,000 apps for work, play, and everything in between.” The promise of the smartphone and tablet was an ever-evolving ecosystem of applications designed to increase productivity at work and in daily life. No matter the pain point, Apple’s commercials reassured us, “there’s an app for that.” The solution would always be waiting, one download away. But are mobile workers getting the apps they need to be productive? New research indicates that they’re not.

In spite of the fact that digital advertising agency Vertic, in their infographic, proclaimed 2012 “The Year of the Enterprise Tablet”, a new report from Altimeter surmises that mobile workers are not getting the apps they need to operate at full productivity. The report, entitled “Power to the People: Identify and Empower your Mobile Workforce,” claims that mobile workers should be encouraged by their employers to utilize their own smartphones and tablets in order to gain access to any apps that can their productivity.

Though Altimeter’s philosophy is in conflict with IT’s ability to establish a single standard, the benefits will, according to the report, outweigh the costs. As the report states in its executive summary: “Enforcing a single standard will do a lot to serve all users partially, but none particularly well.” In his post announcing the mobility report, Altimeter’s Chris Silva rightly expresses that different roles have different needs from mobility. As such, a single standard can only be seen as a hindrance to worker’s reaching their full potential.

Altimeter’s report also shows that several businesses are rushing to adopt smartphones and tablets. As a case study, the report shows that over the course of a single year one large law firm switched from 100% Blackberry devices to 5% Blackberry devices, with 95% of mobile workers swapping their Blackberry phones for iPhones. “As mobile application ecosystems continue to flourish, supporting mobile users is no longer about email.” states the report.

The Altimeter report falls in line with Revenue.io’s “one device” philosophy. We envision a mobile enterprise in which workers can perform their tasks on a single tablet, while on the go. The App Store ecosystem gives mobile workers the ability to choose for themselves the tools that make them the most productive, rather than having those tools selected arbitrarily. We’re proud that our Revenue.io for iPad app will soon be joining the ranks of some of the best productivity apps available.

With our app, mobile workers will finally be able to consolidate their mobile devices and operate in the field with just an iPad. Not only does Revenue.io allow users to make and take sales calls on their iPads, but it makes those calls more impactful, allowing users to instantly leverage customer data from Salesforce.com and social media streams.

We believe that enterprises will continue to understand the importance of giving users the freedom to choose their own mobile tools. As such, we’re feverishly working to develop tools to make mobile workers more productive.