mobility for the small business

These Key Performance Indicators KPIs are some of the operational metrics that are fundamental to defining workforce productivity: • 58% increase in employee responsiveness to others – 2

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Mobility for the SMB

March 2008

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Executive Summary

Research Benchmark Aberdeen’s Research Benchmarks provide an in-depth and comprehensive look into process, procedure, methodologies, and technologies with best practice identification and actionable recommendations

Aberdeen’s research shows that while enterprise mobility has made

significant inroads in organizations and more importantly, is having a

measurable impact on the productivity of an organization’s workforce, there

is still much room for growth and maturation in the SMB space

Best-in-Class (BIC) SMBs are leveraging their mobility solutions as an integrated

part of their overall business strategy The findings are drawn from an

October / November 2007 survey of almost 300 organizations

Best-in-Class Performance

Aberdeen used three key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class

SMBs from all other organizations These Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

are some of the operational metrics that are fundamental to defining

workforce productivity:

• 58% increase in employee responsiveness to others – 27% better

than the Industry Average

• 53% increase in an employee’s ability to gain knowledge / data from

others – 54% better than all other organizations

• 63% increase in the flexibility of the workforce – 36% better than

the Industry Average

Competitive Maturity Assessment

Survey results show that Best-in-Class SMBs shared several common

characteristics:

• Best-in-Class SMBs are 47% more likely than Laggards to have IT

staff in place to test new mobility initiatives

• Best-in-Class SMBs are 26% more likely than all other SMBs to have

help desk staff trained on mobility solutions

• Best-in-Class SMBs are 41% more likely than Laggards to monitor

their mobility policies

Required Actions

In addition to the specific recommendations in Chapter Three of this

report, to achieve Best-in-Class performance, companies must:

• Standardize mobile device options

• Secure mobile devices and their content

• Develop processes to evaluate new mobility initiatives

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 2

Best-in-Class Performance 2

Competitive Maturity Assessment 2

Required Actions 2

Chapter One: Benchmarking the Best-in-Class 4

SMB and Enterprise Mobility Are Not The Same 4

The Maturity Class Framework 5

The Best-in-Class PACE Model 6

The Returns from Best-in-Class Performance 6

Mobility is Driven by its Underlying Components 7

Chapter Two: Benchmarking Requirements for Success 9

Competitive Assessment 9

Capabilities and Enablers 11

Chapter Three: Required Actions 13

Laggard Steps to Success 14

Industry Average Steps to Success 14

Best-in-Class Steps to Success 14

Appendix A: Research Methodology 16

Appendix B: Related Aberdeen Research 18

Figures Figure 1: Key Pressures Driving SMBs to Leverage Mobile Solutions 4

Figure 2: Investing in Mobility Impacts the Top and Bottom Lines 6

Figure 3: Best-in-Class Actions for SMBs to Improve the Mobility of Their Workforces 7

Figure 4: Top 5 Deployed Mobile Applications 12

Figure 5: Top Key Performance Indicators for SMB Mobility 13

Tables Table 1: Companies with Top Performance Earn Best-in-Class Status 5

Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework 6

Table 3: Key Considerations within a Mobile Strategy 7

Table 4: The Competitive Framework 10

Table 5: The PACE Framework Key 17

Table 6: The Competitive Framework Key 17

Table 7: The Relationship Between PACE and the Competitive Framework .17

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Chapter One:

Benchmarking the Best-in-Class

SMB and Enterprise Mobility Are Not The Same

Fast Facts

√ On average, SMBs state that

46% of their workforce is

considered mobile

√ 96% of SMBs believe that

smartphones have improved the performance of their workforce

√ 66% of SMBs have

increased the proportion of

their IT budgets spent on mobility over the last two years

Aberdeen's November 2007 study, The 2008 Enterprise Mobility Benchmark

Report, showed that the number one reason organizations were developing

a mobility strategy was to manage an increasingly decentralized workforce

This was in contrast with the research Aberdeen had conducted 12 months

earlier that found the number one driver was the need to respond to

customer needs more quickly While SMBs share the same #1 pressure as

do enterprises, it is interesting to note the differences Small and Medium

Business (SMB) face as compared to enterprise organizations Specifically,

while one in three organizations in the November 2007 study stated that

reducing operational costs was a key driver, Aberdeen’s data shows that

SMBs vary greatly in terms of how they prioritize reducing operational

costs The smallest organizations, those under $50 million, are some of the

most costs conscious organizations in the market, ensuring that every

expense is not only justified but optimized, as they strive to make the jump

to their next financial milestone (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Key Pressures Driving SMBs to Leverage Mobile

Solutions

21%

48%

31%

15%

38%

19%

47%

35%

30%

23%

13%

58%

38%

15%

21%

Competition for new customers

Manage a decentralized workforce

Increased number of remote workers

Geographic expansion of customer base

Reduce operational costs

% of Respondents

$0 - 50m $50 - 100m $100 - 250m

Source: Aberdeen Group, March 2008 The data also shows an interesting difference between the three tiers of

SMBs in terms of how they rank the importance of “competition for new

customers.” Specifically, it is worth noting how much more important the

geographic expansion of the customer base is to organizations with $50 –

100m in revenues versus the other two SMB groups Often, organizations

that have reached $50 – 100 million in revenues are in the interesting

position where the addressable local or national customer base may be

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Fast Facts

√ 80% of Best-in-Class SMBs

either already have in place

or plan to implement policies

to standardize their employees’ mobile device options

have a mobility “guru” on staff

are using or have budgeted for 3G wireless data cards

maturing to the point where higher growth rates can only come from

(inter)national expansion The increasingly geographically diverse customer

base inevitably requires one’s workforce to travel greater distances more

frequently, meaning they will be away from their offices (and the data that

can most easily be accessed from those offices) for greater periods of time

This increased travel drives an even greater need to ensure that employees

can access data anytime and anywhere That connectivity – particularly

when facing international roaming charges - can significantly increase the

costs of doing business

The Maturity Class Framework

The value of any solution – let alone a mobile solution – must be tied to the

quantifiable results it can deliver to an organization While there are

pockets of tangible and measurable value in enterprise mobility (e.g.: time

savings from the adoption of mobile field service solutions), it is far more

difficult to develop a meaningful ROI for more widespread horizontal

mobility solutions such as mobile email Aberdeen used three key

performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class organizations from Industry

Average and Laggard organizations These KPIs are some of the

time-sensitive operational metrics most frequently touted as key factors in

measuring an organization’s (and its employees’) effectiveness and

productivity: (1) responsiveness to others; (2) ability to gain knowledge /

data from others; and (3) the overall flexibility of an organization’s

workforce Table 1 summarizes Aberdeen’s findings and defines

Best-in-Class performance for this study

Table 1: Companies with Top Performance Earn Best-in-Class

Status

Definition of

Best-in-Class:

Top 20% of aggregate

performance scorers

̇ 58% increase in employee responsiveness to others

̇ 53% increase in an employee’s ability to gain knowledge /data from others

̇ 63% increase in the flexibility of the workforce

Industry Average:

Middle 50% of

aggregate performance

scorers

Laggard:

Bottom 30% of

aggregate performance

scorers

Source: Aberdeen Group, March 2008

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The Best-in-Class PACE Model

Using applications and technologies to drive enhanced workforce

productivity and further enterprise mobility to ultimately achieve the

Best-in-Class performance in Table 1 requires a combination of strategic actions,

organizational capabilities, and enabling technologies (Table 2)

Table 2: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework

̇ Managing a

decentralized

workforce

̇ Streamline business

processes

̇ Develop systems for global access to

information

̇ Policies for appropriate use of devices

̇ Policies for appropriate use of wireless data services

̇ Procedural controls in regards to enterprise mobility (Sarbanes Oxley, etc.)

̇ Processes to evaluate new mobility projects

̇ Mobile VPNs

̇ Mobile VoIP

̇ Wireless data cards / 3G plans

̇ WiFi enabled smart-phones

̇ Mobile PBX integration

̇ Mobile IM / collaboration Source: Aberdeen Group, March 2008

The Returns from Best-in-Class Performance

Figure 2 shows how a policy driven strategy for mobility for SMBs directed

at enhancing workforce productivity can provide tremendous benefits to an

organization Best-in-Class SMBs invested, on average, almost 65% more

than all other SMBs invested on mobile solutions That upfront investment

has paid off handsomely over the last 12 months In fact, the larger

investments in mobility translated into a 222% relative increase in top

line revenue and in the overall profitability of the organization

"We really haven't gone into it but considerations are

underway though the later part

of the year as we streamline our operations from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore."

~ Business Process Manager, Asia/Pacific transportation

company

Figure 2: Investing in Mobility Impacts the Top and Bottom Lines

9%

7%

29%

11%

Increase in

profitability over last

12 months

Increase in

revenues over last

12 months

% of company wide

budget spent on

mobility

All Others Best-in-Class SMBs

To achieve that performance, the Best-in-Class actions in Table 2 show that

top performing SMBs place the most emphasis on leveraging their

technology enablers as a means to provide global access to information (i.e

provide the mobile workforce the information they need when they need it)

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to enhance that productivity Figure 3 illustrates how Best-in-Class SMBs

strategically approach the challenges illustrated in Figure 1

Figure 3: Best-in-Class Actions for SMBs to Improve the Mobility

of Their Workforces

31%

35%

39%

Increase workforce collaboration

Create a borderless office

Deliver prompt customer service

Streamline business processes

Provide global access to information

% of Best-in-Class SMBs

Mobility is Driven by its Underlying Components

While taking the most appropriate actions is key to any successful strategy,

the old adage that “the devil is in the details” holds particularly true in

mobility Aberdeen surveyed SMBs not only on the maturity of their mobile

initiatives, but also on the scope of their initiatives– specifically looking at

the factors they included in their mobility strategy A complete mobile

strategy must cover a broad set of factors, including: back-office hardware /

software, end-user devices / platforms, and appropriate usage and

procurement / payment policies

Table 3: Key Considerations within a Mobile Strategy

Best-in-Class SMBs

All Other SMBs

Security policies for enterprise mobility 72% 51%

"We are still struggling with the performance of the applications

we are using on our devices

We need to review what applications are being deployed and who should be required to use them vs who can use them optionally."

~ Senior Executive,

US High Tech company

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Best-in- All Other

Source: Aberdeen Group, March 2008 What the above table highlights is that SMB mobility must be driven by both

a top down (i.e., proper strategic planning) and a bottom up approach (i.e.,

proper tactical execution) Mobility is in fact, less about the devices that are

being used (although that certainly is an important component of the

equation), and more about how those devices are being used, managed,

secured and paid for

Aberdeen Insights - Strategy

SMBs need to take a holistic approach to mobility and understand the

importance of a complete strategic vision and total visibility around their

mobile initiatives, whether it be regarding devices, applications, security, or

even the carriers selected The fact that Best-in-Class organizations

consider more facets of mobility in their mobility strategy is directly linked

to the fact that as mobility becomes strategic to an organization, more

senior executives are involved in the decision making process at

Best-in-Class organizations However, because they may not be able to have a

mobility “guru” on staff, CEOs at Best-in-Class SMBs are actively involved

in their organization’s mobility initiatives Specifically, Aberdeen’s research

found that 55% of the CEOs at Best-in-Class SMBs are spearheading the

mobility initiatives at their organizations

"Currently we only really use mobile email but we use it a lot We are now exploring what other applications we should mobilize."

~ CIO, European Software Manufacturer

In the next chapter, we will see what the top performers are doing to

achieve these gains

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Chapter Two:

Benchmarking Requirements for Success

Fast Facts

currently use or plan to implement remote over-the-air backup systems

√ Best-in-Class SMBs are 50%

more likely than Laggards

to leverage over-the-air updates for devices and applications

currently use or plan to implement remote device maintenance systems

The selection of mobility solutions and their integration with business

intelligence and business process management systems plays a crucial role in

the ability to efficiently apply these strategies, resulting in increased

productivity and profitability

Case Study – MS Walker

Take, for example, MS Walker (MSW), a Massachusetts based, 4th

generation family-owned wine and spirits wholesaler/distributor operating

in 29 states across the country One of the largest distributors in the area,

MSW distributed over three million cases of wines and spirits in 2007

MSW began its mobility initiatives in 2002 when it started providing mobile

solutions including VPN and web access to email to its employees Later

that year, it began deploying smartphones and PDAs in response to its sales

force’s need for more effective and time sensitive sales tools MSW

deployed handheld devices that had a SFA application to access information

regarding product inventory, pricing and client sales history These devices,

combined with a wireless data card, allowed the sales force to perform

real-time order entries, thereby speeding up the entire order generation

and delivery process

As the cost of wireless data services declined, MSW chose to streamline its

mobility strategy by combining the functionality of the PDA and mobile

phones onto one device With that newfound technology, MSW was able

to provide its workforce with push email services, as well as the SFA

application with extended business intelligence functionality

The mobilization of any process is predicated on a case by case business

analysis where MSW’s CIO, Michael Saitow, works with the line of business

managers to determine how the technology can best impact the business

process in question “We look at the individual pain points and put a value

to those specific returns,” says Saitow Although a major challenge for

Saitow is that his industry is not a strong adopter of technology, he remains

confident of the benefits mobility has brought to his organization and is

now examining how to mobilize processes such as invoice processing

“We’re at the tail end of crossing the chasm,” concludes Saitow

Competitive Assessment

The aggregated performance of surveyed companies determined whether

they ranked as Best-in-Class, Industry Average, or Laggard In addition to

having common performance levels, each class also shared characteristics in

five key categories: (1) process (policies for appropriate use of devices and

processes to evaluate new mobility projects); (2) organization (corporate

focus and collaboration among stakeholders); (3) knowledge

management (documenting mobility implementations and staff training on

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the applications); (4) technology (the selection of appropriate tools and

intelligent deployment of those tools); and (5) performance

management (the ability of the organization to measure the benefits of

technology deployment and use the results to improve key processes

further) These characteristics (identified in Table 4) serve as a guideline for

best practices, and correlate directly with Best-in-Class performance

Table 4: The Competitive Framework

Policies for appropriate use of wireless data services

Procedural controls in regards to enterprise mobility

Process

IT staff to test new mobility initiatives

Cross-functional (non-IT) teams to evaluate new mobility initiatives

Organization

Help desk staff trained on mobility

Staff training programs for mobile applications

Knowledge

Enterprise mobility technology currently in use:

Technology

̇ 53% mobile VPN / VPN for mobile devices

̇ 53% WiFi enabled smartphones

̇ 39% antivirus software for mobile devices

̇ 27% antivirus software for mobile devices

̇ 18% antivirus software for mobile devices Measurement of the impact of mobility solutions:

Performance

̇ 79% monitored the progress of their mobility initiatives

̇ 85% monitored the performance

of their mobile applications

"Remote access capabilities blur the landscape For a small business such as ours, the mix

of smartphones for mail/collaboration, and remote access means we can be productive no matter where

we are in the country."

~ Senior Executive,

US based publishing company

"Mobility has at times caused headaches for us, especially when there was a virus on a device, but we are doing ok with it now."

~ Senior Executive, North American IT company

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