How much is poor mobile connectivity costing enterprises?

Today, over 50% of the workforce (representing 1.7 billion workers) is mobile. However, new data reveals that even one dropped mobile connection is costing enterprises thousands in annual support and productivity losses.

Poor mobile performance is damaging business

In the past five years alone, desk phone usage for conference calls has declined by 70%. Instead, enterprises are opting for mobile solutions for their business needs - but these devices require maintenance.

VDC interviewed enterprise mobility decision makers across various industries on behalf of SOTI. Overall, the 400 respondents supported significant mobile estates averaging 2,267 devices.

While it is evident that poor mobile connectivity is somewhat detrimental to businesses, the report highlights the true extent of the issue. In fact, just one poorly performing application or dropped connection per shift can equate to almost $20,000 in losses per worker.

Moreover, each incident can result in up to 100 minutes in lost productivity or 23% of a daily shift. Despite these critical issues, the vast majority of enterprises are failing to leverage the power of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions.

Enterprises are failing to address the issue

Although 89% of employers believe strong mobile coverage is important, only 17% have access to full-bar coverage. This is according to ‘Building Connections,’ a new report commissioned by telecoms provider Vilicom.

VDC also found that only one in five respondents have complete visibility of their mobile device and application usage. This includes phones, tablets, POS systems, scanners and other internet-connected hardware.

As a result, organisations are failing to capitalise on an opportunity to streamline business-critical mobility support. Over 36% of respondents said improving worker productivity was their main driver for investment in business-critical mobile solutions.

Leading causes of mobile failure

Above all, almost 50% of respondents identified network and connectivity issues as the leading cause of mobile solution failure. Just over 40% said that this was due to software issues, while almost 37% cited mobile battery failure as a major problem.

Meanwhile, just over 36% stated that software issues in relation to security and access control was the largest barrier. However, 34% of respondents said that their operating system software problems were also problematic.

Shash Anand, Vice-President of Product Strategy at SOTI commented on the lack of mobile support. “If organisations are not leveraging an integrated mobile approach to improve the visibility, management, and support of their business-critical mobility solutions, they are limiting their ability to quickly diagnose and fix issues which directly leads to losses in revenue," he warned.

How can enterprises keep up in an increasingly mobile, fast-paced communications culture? Listen to our podcast with Unified Communications expert Irwin Lazar for some tips