Statista predicts that the number of mobile devices globally will reach 18.22 billion by 2025, a 4.2 billion-device increase from 2020. While we are obviously using more devices, one interesting notion to consider is which devices those are. Here are four enterprise mobility trends affecting device portfolios across all types and sizes of businesses.
TREND 1: Just Like Home
One of the biggest trends we are seeing emerge right now is the idea of similar user experiences across home and work devices. Employees are craving, and sometimes demanding, a setup and experience just like the one they use at home or on their personal time. So, for example, an employee that uses Apple devices at home and is familiar with that interface may expect that same experience at work.
TREND 2: Budding Developer Relationships
In years past, user experience suffered across platforms and devices due to a lack of support and collaboration amongst software developers. Rarely did your favorite application look and/or operate the same in Windows as it did on a Mac, and vice versa.
Today, software developers are banding together, so to speak, as a somewhat unified front. They don’t care which type of device you access their app, as long as you access their app. More and more, we are seeing GUIs that look and function the same from one device to another regardless of size, type, or manufacturer.
TREND 3: The App Explosion
The app marketplace is seeing unprecedented growth because we are no longer married to our desks or the applications available on our desktops. Developers are showing up – and showing up big – to deliver an ideal UX for traditionally work-related apps across non-traditionally work-related devices like mobile phones and tablets. So, those people who used to lug around their clunky laptops to access popular platforms like Salesforce, for example, can now manage most – if not all – of their Salesforce activity on their mobile phones or tablets. Additionally, mobile apps are continually being created for every function, hobby or whim. Mobility is our norm now, and there’s an app for that.
TREND 4: The Silicon Situation
Another shift we are seeing is the result of Apple producing its own chips (Apple Silicon). The manufacturer’s chips deliver high-end performance at low energy consumption, enabling new and emerging Apple devices to do more in smaller packages. You don’t need to be an Apple fan to realize these benefits of raising the competitive bar. Simply put, organizations and individuals will be able to use their mobile phones and tablets to execute tasks that previously required laptops or desktops.
What does this mean for Managed Service Providers (MSPs)? These all point in the same direction – increasing usage of new, diversified, or non-traditional devices. With employees on the go and the technology improving, upgraded phones and business tablets and more sophisticated phones can displace – or complement – laptops.
There’s a significant opportunity, as these trends emerge, for providers to assist customers in procuring their desired devices. Employees will no longer be saddled with devices that aren’t able to run powerful applications. Likewise, IT and line-of-business departments can procure devices capable of running best-in-class software suites that boost collaboration, creation, and productivity.
Managing these devices can be burdensome on corporate IT and procurement departments, opening the door for MSPs to assist with mobile device management (MDM). Moreover, the “great resignation” created staffing shortages and the pandemic is causing ongoing supply chain difficulties – right in the middle of a massive digital transformation. Those challenges are not expected to let up any time soon. Organizations need help executing procurement, distribution, security, accounting, billing, policy, MACDs – the list goes on.
So, what’s next? Anything. And that’s the point. Hardware manufacturers, software developers, and even policymakers on every scale are changing the way they think about applications and devices in the wake of the pandemic. As work-from-home fully evolves to work-from-anywhere, the range of devices your clients need to procure and manage will expand, creating plenty of need for a trusted partner to help them shoulder the load.
Want to learn more about optimizing your enterprise mobility program? Connect with a vMOX expert today.