It looks as if individual business units within companies rather than IT departments are funding most mobile projects such as custom mobile apps.

AppCentral, a mobile app management firm’s report ”Custom Mobile App Usage in the Workplace,” says custom mobile app use is increasing.

“As the workplace becomes increasingly mobile, custom applications have emerged as a way to streamline how companies engage customers, improve employee productivity and boost revenue,” said John Dasher, VP of Products and Marketing at AppCentral.

“More and more we’re seeing individual business units within the organization, rather than IT departments, lead the way in terms of mobile application development and deployment.”

Key findings from the survey include:

• Custom mobile application use is on the rise: According to the survey, 68 percent of respondents indicated their organization had made at least one custom mobile application available to them; almost half of the respondents have up to five custom mobile applications and roughly a quarter (23 percent) have access to more than six.
• Field enablement reigns supreme: The most common custom mobile applications were for field enablement (17 percent). Other common applications include customer service (13 percent), approvals (13 percent) and utility applications (12 percent).
• Business units are footing the bill: According to 36 percent of respondents, the main funder of mobile projects are individual business units, while 31 percent indicated that funding comes from marketing and executive leadership programs. By comparison, IT departments funded mobile projects in only 29 percent of companies.
• Business growth a main driver: According to respondents, increasing employee productivity, revenue generation and improving customer engagement are of greater importance than technology advancement (such as product improvement).
• Enterprise application stores are becoming more common: According to the survey, 53 percent of respondents indicated their organization was at some stage of maturity with regard to enterprise application stores.

Download a full copy of the “Custom Mobile App Usage in the Workplace” report.

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• Mobile revolution boosts productivity but poses business challenges

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Tags: AppCentral, Custom Mobile App Use in the Workplace, survey