Employee mobility is mid-market critical

The world has changed so companies, customers, and partners must follow, says Darron Antill

Employees of mid-sized UK businesses are demanding access to the latest mobile technologies that empower them to work as flexibly and productively as possible, and they are increasingly bringing in their own bits and pieces of IT if it suits them.

Supporting employee mobility is thus now business-critical for the mid-market. And partners have more of a responsibility to invest in mobile technology in order to remain competitive.

Most businesses would agree that mobile technologies are key to their organisational success in 2014 and beyond. Mobility enables employees to access business-critical information, systems and apps on the go, regardless of time, location or device.

The top three areas businesses should focus on with regard to mobility are workforce flexibility, employee productivity, and agility when it comes to customer and market demand.

Customer and partner expectations are changing in a similar way. They too want to engage with organisations using the communication technologies that best suit them.

Private and public sector organisations alike are becoming mobile-first.

Nowadays many businesses are responding to these challenges and demands. Increasingly, to aid employee mobility, businesses are implementing bring-your-own programmes, whether it be around the actual mobile devices or applications, as well as flexible working policies.

For many mid-market organisations success is now defined by software - whether you are IT-savvy or not.

Implemented properly, mobility initiatives will help mid-sized UK businesses exploit mobile technologies to interact internally and externally in more dynamic, agile ways to maintain competitive advantage.

We need businesses across the country to follow suit and look to the channel for mobility solutions to future-proof the workplace.

If they haven't done so, businesses must buy into mobility; they need to design, deploy and maintain the right mobile strategies, technologies and programmes to empower employees to work flexibly, regardless of location or device.

Ultimately, the mid-market will grow and succeed only if it becomes agile and deploys a proper mobility strategy. We're excited about where this will lead the industry as businesses shift into the future-proof fast lane.

Darron Antill is chief executive of Intrinsic Technology