Mobile Usage by Industry

Some key differences emerge when analyzing mobile computing usage by industry: Manufacturers (non-I.T.) are most likely to use inventory management applications, as well as those for logistics and tracking. Manufacturing companies are also most likely to support proprietary or custom mobile devices, though retailers are close behind. Financial firms, meanwhile, are the top providers of mobile applications for customers, according to our survey.

Table 4: Which mobile applications does your I.T. organization support? (for select industries)*

Application Banking/financial services Manufacturing (non-I.T.) Health care Retail Information technology Remote access to e-mail 75% 87% 77% 57% 81% Remote access to corporate network files 42% 67% 69% 43% 62% Personal contact management 33% 57% 54% 71% 65% CRM/sales force automation 25% 30% 31% 14% 22% Field-service applications 25% 44% 39% 0% 24% Logistics/tracking 17% 30% 0% 14% 14% Inventory management 8% 52% 15% 14% 16% GPS/maps/geographic information systems 8% 17% 8% 14% 21% Customer-facing applications 33% 30% 23% 0% 25%

* Multiple responses allowed
Source: Baseline survey of 143 I.T. executives whose I.T. organizations support mobile devices

Table 5: Which mobile devices does your I.T. organization support? (for select industries)*

Device Banking/financial services Manufacturing (non-I.T.) Health care Retail Information technology Notebook/tablet computers 67% 78% 100% 71% 81% Personal digital assistants 67% 65% 69% 57% 60% Smart phones that can access e-mail and the Web 58% 57% 46% 14% 51% Standard mobile phones 50% 70% 69% 71% 59% Proprietary/customized mobile devices 8% 17% 0% 14% 5%

* Multiple responses allowed
Source: Baseline survey of 143 I.T. executives whose I.T. organizations support mobile devices