feature-phones and smartphones, and an increasing demand for enterprise application mobility, a recent survey of CIOs from top 500 enterprises shows that businesses are looking to their mobile operator partners to provide tools and services to help them control, secure, and manage mobile devices in the same way they manage other IT assets.

While CIOs have reported significant productivity gains from their use of mobile technology, and expect further gains from ongoing investments, the effective management of these corporate assets is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, 45 percent of the CIOs surveyed are looking to mobile operators to provide assistance with the management of mobile devices. 62 percent of US CIOs indicate that they would change their mobile operator if they were offered a comprehensive mobile device maangement (MDM) solution by a competing mobile operator.

To determine how CIOs feel about the operators’ role in helping to manage mobile devices and the sensitive corporate data on them, Mformation® Technologies, Inc sponsored a survey by independent research firm Coleman Parkes. The firm conducted 200 detailed interviews with CIOs and telecommunications directors of top 500 enterprises divided across the U.S. and Europe (U.K., Germany, and Spain).

Key research findings:

• 82 percent of US CIOs report that managing mobile devices has become increasingly difficult.
• Almost all CIOs surveyed (95 percent) are currently looking for a solution for managing and securing enterprise mobile devices and applications.
• The vast majority of US companies (88 percent) expect the operator to have a role in enterprise mobile device management, with nearly 60 percent indicating that they would prefer an arrangement with their operator that gives the IT department direct control over their mobile assets.
• Not surprisingly, therefore, 62 percent of US companies indicated they would consider switching to a new mobile operator if they offered MDM as a managed service.

“Clearly, very real opportunities exist for mobile operators to provide value-added device management services for enterprise customers, increasing their competitive advantage,” said Matt Bancroft, CMO of Mformation. “More than 90 percent of CIOs expected operators to play a role in the management of their mobile devices, with most preferring that their IT departments directly control the devices with some support from the operator. There is a significant opportunity for operators to help enterprises with the challenges and complexities associated with mobile device management.”

Enterprise Expectations and Operator Actualities

Companies are already taking action to address some of the issues created by growing mobile device usage. 74 percent of US companies said they have increased investment in data and system security, while 71 percent said they have increased investment in staff training. Furthermore, 66 percent have increased their investment in monitoring and security systems.

A critical device management concern among enterprises is the ability to provide a high degree of device and network security. Other key concerns are the ability to remotely support users, so that device problems are quickly identified and fixed, technology is kept updated and future-proof, and support costs are kept under control. CIOs surveyed indicated that they expect some level of operator support in this area. However, the present enterprise view is that the operator is not supporting these needs well. 60 percent of US enterprises surveyed did not have any positive opinion of current operator device management support.

“From a revenue perspective, enterprise customers are immensely important to operators. However, their needs are significantly different from those of consumers. Enterprises are looking for far more advanced device and application management services; they need the same levels of security and control as they have over other IT assets such as laptops and PCs. If mobile operators can’t meet these needs, they risk losing their most profitable customers,” concluded Bancroft.