Survey Shows Borderless Enterprise is Influencing User Environments
Posted by Stuart Lisk on February 1, 2011
From time to time we conduct surveys of our customers and community to identify new trends or changing habits. Once we have this data, we’re able to proactively factor it in to the development of our products, and help guide the direction of our product roadmap. Our most recent survey of over 200 North American IT managers looks at the current and future corporate usage of operating systems, Web browsers and smartphones, and revealed some interesting results.
With a schmorgesborg of choices between Microsoft, Apple and Google, it’s clear that IT has its work cut out for them to enable, standardize and secure technologies across the borderless enterprise. According to our survey, with the increased adoption of new technologies coupled with ever-growing, distributed, mobile workforces, companies are no longer able or willing to standardize on a single platform. Instead, they’re allowing multiple types of smartphones, Web browsers, plug-in technologies and operating systems for corporate access, so they can meet the needs and preferences of their diverse, distributed workforce.
On the OS side — a decade after its launch, Windows XP remains the dominate operating system for enterprises. Overwhelming, 75 percent of respondents stated Windows XP as their companies’ standard operating system for desktops and laptops, followed by Windows 7 (38 percent) Windows Vista (16 percent) and Mac OS (15 percent).
Additionally, nearly half of all respondents indicated that they do not plan to change operating systems in the next year. Of the 20 percent who plan to switch, the majority – 85 percent – plan to migrate to Windows 7 with Linux migration coming in a distant second at 12 percent, followed by Mac OS migration at 6 percent.
The smartphone wars continue as Blackberry and iPhone users duke it out for dominance with growing mobile enterprise workforces. An increasing number of companies want to monitor and manage network systems remotely by mobile device. While Blackberry currently is the most popular smartphone for remote network management, iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile devices are all gaining ground fast.
Of those surveyed, currently:
- 58% use a Blackberry to monitor or manage their network and application system, or access their desktop.
- 45% are Apple iPhone users.
- 27% prefer to use Google Android.
- 8% have chosen Windows Mobile.
When asked about smartphone usage over the next twelve months, usage shifts slightly with iPhone users edging out the Blackberry, 61 percent to 56 percent. In a close third is the Android (50 percent) with Windows Mobile in fourth (22 percent).
The landscape is more stable on the Web browser side, with most companies standardizing on a limited number of browsers. Enterprises are choosing to stay current with the most recent versions, such as Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox, but hot on their heels is Google Chrome with 18% of survey respondents already adopters. However, it’s also clear that corporate IT is more open to the newer Web browsers. Whereas in years past, IE would dominate installations, the survey shows that other browsers, particularly Firefox and Chrome, are rapidly being adopted and standardized on.
As I mentioned above, by understanding the market’s preferences today and trends for the future, we can deliver the best products and services to meet our customer’s needs. Stay tuned for product announcements from Hubspan that will show this research in action.
Tags: Mobile workforce, Operating System, Smartphones, Web browsers
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