The growing number of corporate mobile devices and expensive 3G and 4G plans are costing enterprise companies a bundle, according to a recent survey of 477 IT executives around the world.
North American workers, according to the iPass and Mobiletron 2013 Mobile Enterprise Report, account for the highest mobile data expenses at $97 per month, per worker. The reported noted that since free Wi-Fi is abundant in North America, the expenses reflect non-Wi-Fi forms of mobility such as 3G and 4G data plans.
RELATED CONTENT
After BYOD comes MDM
Analysis: Reducing BYOD risks
As much as 44 per cent of IT managers queried highlighted the growing number of mobile device per worker as a factor of rising cost. Another 41 per cent cited expensive 3G and 4G data plans and 22 per cent of respondents mentioned the increasing number of workers as the primary reasons for the escalating expenses.
As much as 57 per cent of those polled in the said they expect their mobile roaming expenses to go up, with eight per cent predicting cost to go up by as much as 25 per cent.
More than 72 per cent of the companies said they have and enterprise mobility strategy, but only 37 per cent of the IT managers from those firms believe their company’s strategy is effective.
The survey also revealed that mobile spending is moving out of the IT department’s realm. Less than half (48 per cent) of firms have the IT departments manage the mobile budget while non-IT departments manage mobile spending in 40 per cent of the companies polled.
