Tablets are Great, but Don’t Forget About Smartphones in the Workplace

New research from Gartner indicates that despite all the buzz about tablets, smartphones are still the number one priority for consumers – and by extension, for workers. Forrester has a new report out on the use of personal smartphones at work. According to Forrester’s research, 18% of workers are using smartphones for work – even if it’s not officially sanctioned by IT.

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According to Forrester, 29% of workers polled do work outside the office and 55% of firms allow employees to bring in personal devices.

The top 5 most common uses of smartphones for work are:

• E-mail
• Voice
• Calendar
• Maps/Navigation
• Instant messaging

Additionally, Forrester identifies four segments of mobile employees:

• Mobile information workers – Workers that use mobile devices purchased by their employers.
• Task workers – Many of these workers use mobile devices for specific activities within verticals such as healthcare, retail and transporation.
• Mobile wannabe workers – Workers who work at desks but want to use smartphones for work. According to Forrester, wannabes account for 16% of all employees.
• Mobile Mavericks – Mobile information workers who purchase their own devices.

These categories are somewhat confusing, since so-called “mavericks” are officially supported by IT. It’s the wannabes that may be using devices for work without ITs’ knowledge or approval.

The research from both Gartner and Forrester is a reminder that although tablets use is exploding in the enterprise, there’s still a lot of untapped potential – both good and bad – in smartphones.

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