Ovum: Mobility firms set to weather St Jude storm

Analyst highlights need for businesses to provide formal remote working capabilities in light of this morning's stormy weather

The disruption caused by this morning's stormy weather should act as a warning sign to businesses that have not formally introduced remote-working technology, according to analyst Ovum, which said those selling mobility tech could be set to cash in.

This morning, a severe storm dubbed St Jude caused transport chaos for millions after winds up to 100mph and heavy rain battered the country, meaning thousands of commuters were unable to get into work.

Ovum said this morning's weather will undoubtedly have left some businesses suffering from low productivity as staff struggled to gain access to business applications beyond email, but added that those embracing the cloud and mobile working tech could have been a step ahead.

"When it comes to providing value to a business and reaping the benefits of the mobile consumerisation... mobile enterprise apps will make the difference," said Ovum.

"Failing to provide employees with the right applications across the right range of devices will increase their inability to access the tools and services they need on days like today, when conditions make it difficult for many to get where they need to be."

It added that failure to provide company-approved mobile technology could encourage staff to use consumer applications which could compromise important business data.

"Informal, unmonitored activity... presents a severe risk to businesses in terms of data protection," said Ovum analyst Richard Absalom. "Giving employees access to services with... business-grade security is key to any business continuity programme.

"Going a step further and providing employees with enterprise mobile apps, specifically designed to let them perform core tasks beyond email and document sharing on their smartphones and tablets, will vastly improve mobile and flexible working practices."

Ovum added that opportunities for suppliers selling enterprise mobility management tools are rife following today's events and it expects firms to start taking such technology more serious in the coming year.