IDC: 60% of Nordic Companies See Mobility Solutions as a Necessity to Stay Competitive

September 16, 2004 - (HostReview.com) - After years of hype, Nordic companies have taken mobility solutions to heart, and have moved from trials to implementation within the organization.

According to a new IDC study, 65% of Nordic companies find it more important to provide their mobile employees with solutions for access to corporate networks than to integrate their mobile telephones into the corporate telephony solution.

"Nordic companies have a clear understanding of the role of mobility solutions — 60% regard them as a necessity to stay competitive with the purpose of increasing the productivity of the company," said Mette Ahorlu, IDC Nordic consulting manager.

According to the study, almost all Nordic companies plan to let their mobile workforce use computers when not in the office, either from home or on the move, and half the companies recognize the need for them to have communication solutions enabling mobile workers to access their emails and calendars remotely. Every sixth employee at companies using mobile technologies for data has mobile access to email and calendar functions for access to corporate networks, and in two years from now it will be every third employee."

The existing solutions are fairly simple, giving access to email and calendars, with companies focused on hardware and communication investment. The next step will be to give access to business-critical functions, and this is where the real productivity gains lie. Nordic companies are not yet ready for this step, however. They need a better understanding of the potential and risks before deciding, and the vendors have an educational task in this.