BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Nov 6, 2013) - A new study titled "Employee Mobile App Satisfaction Report" reveals that 58 percent of employees at mid-to-large businesses abandon the corporate mobile apps they should be using for work-related tasks on their smartphones and tablets. Instead, 64 percent of employees "go rogue," freely downloading apps of their own choice from the public app stores to use at work and putting corporate security at risk. These were the findings of an independent study, conducted by ResearchNow and commissioned by mobile engagement provider Mobiquity (www.mobiquityinc.com). The full report can be downloaded here and an infographic illustrating the findings can be found here.
Mobiquity's study highlights a key challenge facing enterprises: that B2E (business-to-employee) apps often lack the rich design and user experience usually found in customer and consumer-facing apps. According to the study, 43 percent of smartphone users and 41 percent of tablet users say they are not impressed with the corporate mobile apps they are expected to use. Most often they abandon them, returning to their desktop to complete their work. Twenty-six percent of smartphone users and almost 20 percent of tablet users report that they "stick with" the corporate mobile app, but their productivity suffers as a consequence.
"It's clear that employee satisfaction with corporate mobile apps is falling short," commented Scott Snyder, chief strategy officer at Mobiquity. "To ensure greater app engagement -- and reduce the privacy and security risks associated with rogue app usage -- enterprises must adopt the same best practices as they do for customer-facing apps. Identifying use cases and user personas is key to designing rich, mobile app experiences that keep employees engaged and productive."
How IT is tackling the mobile app "free-for-all"
According to the study, almost 70 percent of employees currently use personally-owned smartphones and tablets in the workplace -- a trend that is only set to continue, according to a Gartner report. With only 24 percent of businesses enforcing a formal BYOD (bring your own device) policy, the study found that IT departments are using varying tactics to try to limit employees downloading and using apps of their choice for work, including:
- 9 percent have an enterprise app store and mandate which apps must be used on mobile devices
- 13 percent restrict which apps can be used on personally-owned smartphones and tablets in the workplace
- 20 percent pre-load apps onto employees' mobile devices
- 25 percent block all or some personal apps on company-owned smartphones
"Once CIOs allow employees to bring their own devices, they open to the door to this outflow of unprotected company data and there is no way to enforce or secure it," said Ty Rollin, Mobiquity's chief technology officer. "But implementing a BYOD policy can actually help employees become part of the solution, making them the 'security guards' of corporate data."
To download the full report, please visit: http://www.mobiquityinc.com/employee-app-satisfaction-report
To view the infographic, please visit: http://www.mobiquityinc.com/employee-app-satisfaction-infographic
Methodology
From Sept. 20-25, 2013, ResearchNow surveyed 1,000 full- and part-time employees who use smartphones and tablets for their work at U.S. companies with more than 500 employees.
About Mobiquity
Mobiquity is a mobile engagement provider creating innovative solutions that drive business value. Because mobile is in our DNA, clients benefit from how we expertly and effectively blend the three key disciplines that unleash the power and innovation of mobile computing: strategy, user-centered design and core technology. Since inception in 2011, we have worked with more than 150 companies, including CVS, Fidelity Investments, MetLife, the New York Post, Putnam Investments, The Boston Globe, The Weather Channel and Weight Watchers International. To learn more, visit www.mobiquityinc.com.