Why Companies Want Employees to Use Custom Apps

By Dennis McCafferty | Posted 2016-04-20

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Why Companies Want Employees to Use Custom Apps

A growing number of companies are giving their workers customized mobile apps to improve business processes, increase productivity and enhance employee morale.
Company Connection

91% of the survey respondents said their organization is equipping corporate employees with mobile apps, and 39% are doing the same for hourly employees.
Extended Network

30% said their business is equipping contract workers with mobile apps, and 28% are doing this for business partners.
On the Upswing

47% of respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with their organization's adoption of custom apps—up from 31% last year.
Vision Statement

55% said their company has visibility into the apps that are being used, and 54% said they know which platforms (such as iOS or Android) are being used.
Benefits of Enterprise Mobility Programs

Improved business processes: 30%, Greater productivity: 23%, Competitive advantage: 20%, Increased employee satisfaction: 14%
Happy Returns

56% of respondents said productivity apps (such as note-taking) have the most positive impact on ROI and other business factors, while 50% cited field service apps (such as apps supporting maintenance).
Enterprise Access

58% said their organization is enabling mobile access to critical enterprise systems in order to drive app adoption. That's up from 47% who said their company was doing this last year.
Shopping Spree

35% of respondents said their business has launched an enterprise app store to help users find apps—up from 23% who said their firm did this in 2015.
PR Push

35% said their organization has initiated the internal promotion of apps—up from 32% who reported that their company did this a year ago.
Support Structure

25% of respondents said their enterprise established a help desk for mobile users—up from just 6% who said this in 2015.
Biggest Mobility Challenges

Complexity of mobile landscape, with multiple operating systems: 48%, Lack of budget: 45%, Reaching BYOD, contracted or unmanaged devices: 31%, Inadequate metrics to determine ROI: 25%, Shortage of app development talent: 25%
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Businesses are greatly increasing efforts to encourage their employees to adopt customized mobile apps, according to a recent survey from Apperian. The "2016 Executive Enterprise Mobility Report" reveals that nearly all the organizations surveyed are equipping salaried staffers with these apps, and many are doing the same for contract workers and business partners. Overall satisfaction levels with the results remain lukewarm, but that's starting to change. To encourage more adoption of custom mobile apps, a number of companies are launching internal enterprise app stores and opening up help desks dedicated specifically to mobile users. With this approach, they hope to improve business processes, increase productivity and raise employee satisfaction levels. "Custom apps connect employees to enterprise systems so they can be productive from anywhere," according to the report. "An increasing number of companies push a large set of apps to employees, with greater emphasis on productivity apps. … Advancing enterprise mobility management technologies are enabling companies to support users outside their organizations—such as contractors—with apps that matter." 100 professionals took part in the research.

Dennis McCafferty is a freelance writer for Baseline Magazine.