Most CIOs believe mobility will generate significant sources of new revenue for their businesses, and most will invest 31-40pc of their discretionary budgets to achieve that goal – compared with only 19pc of CIOs surveyed last year, Accenture reports.
In The Accenture 2013 CIO Mobility Survey, 79pc of 413 CIOs and other C-suite IT professionals around the world cited mobility as a revenue generator. Eighty-four per cent said it would significantly improve customer interactions and 83pc responded it would significantly affect their business.
The survey also revealed mobility is a priority in the coming year for more than a third (34pc) of CIOs; and 42pc of CIOs ranked mobility as one of their top 5 priorities.
Anecdotal data from interviews also suggests that many CIOs approach new IT projects with a “mobile first” thinking.
Regarding specific mobile capabilities, 43pc of survey respondents indicated that improving field and customer service with instant data access, capture and processing topped the list of needs, followed by engaging customers via mobile devices (36pc), especially with transactions on mobile devices (34pc).
Twenty-nine per cent of all respondents said they plan to design, develop and/or distribute connected devices to support B2B applications.
Over the next year, 46pc of CIOs said they plan to make workflow changes to better incorporate mobility into the business.
Additionally, 73pc believe mobility will impact their business as much or more than the web revolution of the late Nineties, compared to 67pc who felt this way in a similar Accenture survey conducted last year.
“It’s encouraging that companies are embracing the importance of mobility but they need to go further by identifying the top areas for mobile deployment,” said Jin Lee, senior managing director, Accenture Mobility.
“In particular, they should look at areas that will grow, such as connected devices, and conduct a ‘gap analysis’ to determine how to catch up, or even better, get ahead of the curve. Other critical considerations include investments, budget allocation, retraining staff, hiring mobile expertise, and leveraging external experts to help develop or implement mobility strategies.”
