Sybase Survey Finds Employees Willing to Give up Free Coffee, Paid Parking, and Even a Vacation Day, for Choice of Mobile Device and Access to Apps in the Workplace

DUBLIN, Calif., July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sybase, Inc., an SAP company (NYSE: SAP) and industry leader in enterprise and mobile software, today released the results of a new survey by Kelton Research highlighting employee demand for, and impatience with, IT departments to support not only a growing list of mobile device types, but also the apps that will help improve mobility and productivity in and out of the workplace.

The survey of more than 500 workers in the US and UK is a call to action for IT departments to be more agile and adaptive to mobile app deployment in the enterprise. This enterprise transformation requires a careful reexamination and rapid execution of mobile solution strategies to quickly and securely meet the exponentially growing employee demand.  In this critical inflection point, the survey also reveals that while security concerns highly resonate with both employee and employer, the need to host discussions about enterprise mobility solutions spanning multiple devices and platforms is imminent.

"Since not all mobile apps come with the same level of required security, IT managers must consider different application deployment and management strategies," said Dan Ortega, senior director of product marketing, Sybase. "This is where a leading solutions provider like Sybase is facilitating the conversations for many enterprises around solvable issues, such as meeting employee demand for choice and convenience, while ensuring corporate security policies are met."

Embracing Mobile in the Workplace

• Freedom of Choice: Half of respondents would rather choose the mobile device they use at work, instead of the company making this decision for them.  Fifty-nine percent of those who chose their current mobile device believe that employee choice is the best option for companies; vs. 44 percent of those who are using a company-supplied device.
• Apps are the Future:  The demand for better work-related mobile applications is high, with 56 percent stating that using these programs on the job makes them more productive.  Of that 56 percent,  over eight in ten (82%) of those who use more than three mobile applications for work feel this way, vs. 63 percent who use less than three apps on the job.
• An App Store Just For Work: Many workers would be quicker to adopt more apps if they were easier to get. Almost half (45%) state that they would use an employer-provided online marketplace for downloading company-approved mobile applications – and another 40 percent believe their coworkers would do the same. These findings support the recent launch of the App Store Volume Purchasing Program for Business – a new platform that simplifies the buying and deployment process of BtoB mobile apps, including custom apps built by third party developers.
• What They Could Live Without: Interestingly, 71 percent feel so strongly about using their own device over what IT offers that they are willing to give up at least one thing in the workplace to keep their preferred device. Free coffee (58%) topped the list, followed by free food (39%) and office supplies (30%). Some were even willing to give up paid parking (26%), or a vacation day (20%).

Not Enough: Support and Security Concerns Curbing Usage

• No Support From Upstairs: Only 19 percent of participants strongly agree that their employers make it as easy for them to do their jobs from a mobile device as they can from a work computer. Almost half (44%) state that they don't have access to enough mobile applications to ensure they can do their jobs as well as they can from their work computers.
• Behind the Curve: Complicating matters further is the fact that only 29 percent claim their company's IT departments are generally good at managing mobile devices, with 27 percent speaking highly about their IT department's ability to set up or troubleshoot mobile applications or programs.
• Further Security Risks From Employees: Employees, perhaps unwittingly, are also putting company data at risk through sending work-related emails (35%) or documents (32%) to their personal email accounts and accessing the company intranet from remote locations (29%). One in four (25%) have also conducted work-related email exchanges on their personal mobile devices.  However, there are solutions to address these concerns such as Sybase Afaria®, the industry's leading mobile device management (MDM) and security solution.

A survey, earlier this year, (Sybase Survey Finds Mobile Enterprise Apps Poised To Take Off In 2011)  looked at the enterprise approach to mobility and found that app deployment is top of mind.  Ninety percent of IT managers stated they will implement new mobile applications this year, with almost a quarter (21 percent) looking to introduce 20 or more applications into their organization(1).  

"This latest survey is a wake-up call for enterprises to broaden and accelerate their enterprise mobility strategies," continued Ortega.  "Employees are beginning to have a much greater understanding of mobility, resulting in greater expectations from IT. We're seeing more demand for mobile-focused methods of productivity, such as being able to use a variety of devices in the workplace, or being able to gain access to corporate applications through an app store environment."

For graphical representation of the survey findings, please download the PDF.

About the Study

The study was commissioned by Sybase and conducted by Kelton Research.  The study consisted of online surveys of 500 employees in the U.S. and UK at companies with revenues of $100 million or more.

About Sybase

Sybase, an SAP® company, is an industry leader in delivering enterprise and mobile software to manage, analyze and mobilize information. We are recognized globally as a performance leader, proven in the most data-intensive industries and across all major systems, networks and devices. Our information management, analytics and enterprise mobility solutions have powered the world's most mission-critical systems in financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing and government. For more information: http://www.sybase.com. Read Sybase blogs: blogs.sybase.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Sybase and @MobileWork.

Sybase and Afaria are registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. ® indicates registration in the United States.  SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world.  All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

(1) Source: Sybase Survey Finds Mobile Enterprise Apps Poised To Take Off In 2011, January 12, 2011 http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1091062

SOURCE Sybase, Inc., an SAP company