Singapore's leading the world in mobile usage

Singapore companies are embracing enterprise mobility and consumer technologies to help employees do their jobs in new ways.

Our September 2012 survey of 599 C-level executives and IT decision-makers in 19 countries showed that the “bring your own device” trend continues to take hold.

In Singapore, more than seven in ten companies (72 per cent) reported that the majority of their employees now use personal computing devices in the workplace. One important highlight from the survey was that while over half (54 per cent) of global organizations stated that the majority of their employees use smartphones for basic work functions, Singapore is ahead of the curve with 84 per cent.

Beyond smartphones, tablets are also quickly being adopted as key tools in a multi-device world in Singapore compared to the rest of the world. We are already seeing that the majority of employees (64 per cent) in Singapore are using tablets for simple work tasks, almost double the global average at 33 per cent.

These technological tools have become increasingly ingrained in the workplace since they hit mainstream, especially in Singapore where companies are way ahead of the global curve.

Similarly, against the global average of 33 per cent, almost seven in ten (68 per cent) respondents in Singapore reported that the majority of employees use tablets for advanced business uses with enterprise applications such as customer relationship management, project management and data analysis.

With all these findings, we believe that companies are acknowledging the business value that tablets and smartphones can offer. These companies capitalize on the benefits by redesigning the building blocks of their businesses through creating processes that make better use of the mobile devices.

In addition, the release of Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 now means that there will be a new wave of enterprise-ready mobility solutions entering the workplace to ride on this mobility trend. With the efficiencies that these technologies bring to the various functions such as sales and marketing, human resources and supply chain management, it means a positive impact to the bottom lines of these businesses.

In conclusion, local companies are embracing the adoption of consumer-based technologies in the workplace and providing their employees with more flexibility to get their jobs done.

However, there still needs to be some form of control and management by these businesses to prevent issues such as data leakage, data protection, and device theft, which could all lead to personal disciplinary actions or corporate liabilities.