Abstract
This IDC study surveys a cross section of software as
a service (SaaS)–based enterprise applications and on-demand, hosted mobile middleware
platforms purpose built for connecting enterprise applications to converged mobile
devices (CMDs, commonly referred to as smartphones). The emergence of
cloud-based infrastructure offerings, and the myriad "as a service" intersection
points emerging for delivering service-enabled software to business users, provides
numerous strategic and tactical benefits for user firms, including IT
de-capitalization, easy access to applications, business agility, and scalability.
"IDC believes
that the mobile device clients, cloud-based mobility platforms, and services
now emerging from SaaS applications vendors provide a template for
what customers will choose in building, consuming, and paying for
mobility applications," says Robert Mahowald, research director for SaaS and
Cloud Services at IDC. "Furthermore," adds Sean Ryan, research analyst
for Mobile Enterprise at IDC, "the mobile workforce is a
growing and important segment of the workforce, one which accounted
for 847.8 million workers globally in 2008. It is important
to understand that the mobile workforce is not monolithic —
enterprise requirements and the needs of these workers can vary
greatly. To this end, corporations will be better served leveraging
mobile cloud–based solutions in some cases, and on-premise solutions in
other cases."
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