February 6, 2002—With more than 78 million remote and mobile workers (including frequent business travelers who spend 20%+ of the work year traveling, telecommuters, multi-site workers, non-office workers, and mobile office workers) in the US today, demand for Internet and wireless-accessible hosted applications may rise in 2002, according to Cahners In-Stat/MDR. In a series of reports, the high-tech research firm finds that providing workers with access to business applications and the Internet will be key priorities for US businesses this year, as the steady growth of the remote and mobile (RAM) workforce continues to affect firms’ IT investments.
In-Stat/MDR found a very positive attitude among those surveyed toward Internet-accessible applications, although the firm points out that hurdles still exist to hosted applications for RAM workers, where security and bandwidth constraints remain concerns. In-Stat/MDR’s research also found:
- When looking at which applications RAM workers access while out of the office, e-mail proved to be the most popular among those surveyed, with more than 70% of respondents across size of business indicating this choice. After e-mail, accessing “word processing or spreadsheet” applications was the second most popular in the middle and enterprise markets. In smaller companies, “industry-specific or supply chain” applications came in as a far-off second.
- Workers in the largest firms are more likely to have remote access to business applications while outside of the office, with 71% of middle market and 77% of enterprise RAM workers doing so, as compared to just 48% and 69% of SOHO and small business RAM workers.
- Taking into account recent events and removing overlap, roughly 55% of the corporate market workforce will be either remote or mobile during the course of the year in 2002. Roughly 63% of the small company workforce will be either remote or mobile during the course of the year.
The reports, “Working the Wide Area: Perceptions of Internet & Wireless-Accessible Applications in Select Business Markets” (#OC0107MD & #OC0108MD), provide forecasts and trends on the remote and mobile workforce in select US business markets. The research includes data on mobile and remote employee work practices, how they access business applications while outside of the office, and their perception of accessing their applications via the Web, for both wired and wireless connections. To purchase these reports, or for more information, visit In-Stat or contact Chris Kissel at 480/609-4531. The reports are priced at $2,995 each.
