As collaboration becomes essential for today’s enterprises, collaboration applications are available on a variety of devices, says a new research from Gartner.
The research firm predicts most collaboration applications will be equally available on desktops, mobile phones, tablets and browsers by 2016.
Three trends that rapidly boost mobile collaboration strategies and investments in organizations are: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), personal cloud file sharing and the increasing availability of mobile applications.
Currently, a variety of apps and services for mobile content access, collaboration and productivity enable employees to collaborate in real time and work more effectively, but the fragmentation of options creates complexity and challenges for the IT organization.
In the past, collaboration on mobile devices was done through wireless messaging and voice calls. Today smartphones and tablets are available with larger screens and touch-based user interfaces (UIs), location support, broad network connectivity, enhanced cameras and video support, voice over IP (VoIP). This has created an opportunity for employees to better communicate, collaborate, socialize, create and consume content.
The industry is set to mature over the next three to five years to address the relative fragmentation and lack of standardization prevailing in the market. At that time every business will be using mobile collaboration to empower workers, make them more productive and engage customers in better interactions.
Gartner predicts that by 2016, the average personal cloud will synchronize and orchestrate at least six different device types. Sharing capabilities are a “must have,” especially for tablet users.
Mobile applications have transformed the internet from a web-centric to an app-centric model. Regardless of what technologies or architectures are used to build them, mobile apps have become the primary entry point for individuals to access and consume complex information and functionality.
Organizations that empower workers with mobile collaboration capabilities are likely to face a number of challenges. Successful deployments of mobile collaboration will need an analysis of business requirements — understanding the potential risks and restrictions while assessing existing investments and obsolescence trends, Gartner said.
