Singapore leads in mobility but falls behind for prosumer readiness, study reveals
ConvergenceAsia staff
25/10/2007

Organisations and prosumers across Asia demonstrated strong adoption of mobile solutions for communication and collaboration, according to new research findings in a recent survey on business mobility commissioned by Nokia.

Key findings showed organisations in Singapore leading in mobility, indicating high adoption of at least two mobile solutions, with their IT infrastructure ready for virtual private network (VPN) and/or wireless local area network (LAN), and relevant security policies in place. Kuala Lumpur made the biggest leap this year, clinching the third sport after Bangalore. Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Bangkok indicated potential to drive higher adoption among organisations.

Prosumers in Mumbai and Bangalore took the lead in mobility, with high adoption of at least two mobile solutions, and enjoyed policies that encourage mobile work culture. However, Singapore prosumers lagged behind among all cities in mobility adoption with lesser usage of mobile solutions and lack of policies in place to provide a conducive mobility environment.

The research, conducted by independent research house, Saffron Hill, in September 2007 surveyed 300 key business and IT decision-makers and 300 prosumers in six cities, including Bangalore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, and Singapore.

“Business mobility is here in Asia, and both organisations and prosumers are embracing it,” said Mathia Nalappan, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia. “In our second year of the mobility index for organisations, we are pleased to see progress in this region, with many reaping the benefits that business mobility has to offer. Prosumers are also a growing influence on the mobility decisions of organisations and more are enjoying the returns of mobility through improved productivity and work-life balance.”

The benefits of business mobility were also understood by most organisations. The findings show that almost 8 out of 10 organisations across the region agreed that highly flexible or mobile employees result in increased productivity, while 77.3 per cent of the organisations agreed that mobility leads to better work-life balance. This was followed closely by 76 per cent agreeing that mobility leads to increased sales and services, better customer service and significant competitive advantage.

According to the survey, while Singapore is perceived as very advanced among organisations in terms of mobility adoption, it falls behind for prosumer readiness, scoring the lowest in the mobility index for prosumers. Singaporean smartphone or PDA users appear to be less proactive and involved compared to prosumers in other cities.

The major barriers to adoption cited among prosumers in Singapore include:
- Unable to switch off work (54 per cent)
- Expect to be available at all times (44 per cent)
- High subscription fees (42 per cent)

The survey results show that about 7 out of 10 prosumers in Singapore used applications to view office documents on their mobile device or phone, mobile email, and access the Internet. These were the top three solutions adopted, followed by mobile calendar and contact information syncing with corporate network, and mobile access to files and sharing.

The survey also shows that in terms of positive life impact, only half of the respondents in Singapore felt that their work-life balance has improved, of which 58 per cent cannot imagine themselves not using the smartphones or PDAs. This is in contrast to the perception of IT decision makers where 86 per cent organisations agreed that mobility leads to better worklife balance.

In Singapore, according to the findings, 78 per cent of organisations indicated that their employees use personal handphone for work without IT department’s involvement. This points to the preference by individuals to buy their own phones versus being given one by the company, which may create challenges in device management and security for organisations.

The top 5 mobile solutions used by organisations in Singapore are as follow:
1. Mobile Email (92 per cent)
2. Access to Internet on mobile device/phone (82 per cent)
3. Mobile calendar and contact information synchronisation with corporate network (78 per cent)
4. Applications to view office documents (72 per cent)
5. Mobile access to files and sharing (56 per cent)

The Nokia survey findings also indicate that for Singapore organisations, the most important aspect in choosing the mobile email solution is the wireless LAN or WiFi hotspot capability (70 per cent), followed closely by security provisions (68 per cent). This is probably due to the widespread availability of hotspots through the Wireless@SG initiative over the past year.

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