While more than 61% of U.S. enterprises invested in mobile technology or mobile security in the last year, 73% experienced integration issues. Specifically, they admit their technology needs to have improved data analytics, troubleshooting, and issue resolution, among other challenges. This is according to SOTI’s State of Mobility 2021 Report, released today, which surveyed 1,400 IT decision-makers across eight countries about their recent experience with mobile technology.

Global IT spending is booming and projected to reach $4.2 trillion this year. Overall, Gartner says the pandemic accelerated digital transformation by seven years and that CEOs are betting big on IT to drive strong economic growth over the next two years. And with the rise of 5G and mass adoption of the distributed workforce, mobile technologies are poised to be a growing part of the equation. It’s projected that mobile operators will invest $900 billion by 2025 to upgrade their services to meet the demand, according to GSMA.

The findings

While SOTI, a provider of mobile and IoT management solutions, has a vested interest in helping enterprises with this aspect of digital transformation, the report shines a light on the changing mobile tech landscape. For example, more than 81% of respondents said their organization’s C-Suite now better understands the importance of mobile technology compared to before the pandemic. Additionally, more than half (57%) said their organization has grown its portfolio of mobile devices, but managing the increased number of devices has proven difficult.

The need for better data analytics, troubleshooting, and issue resolution capabilities was cited as the biggest challenge, but other respondents also cited a desire for better tools and business intelligence that could help them spot and navigate future issues. Additionally, 68% of enterprise respondents said they need improved security and user authentication across company mobile devices.

Looking forward

As mentioned, this trend doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. The vast majority — 73% — of organizations are considering further upping their investments in mobile devices and security over the next year. There’s also wide interest in replacing legacy systems, with 59% citing this as an IT consideration for the next year.

Even in a recent conversation with Logitech about how enterprises can plan their video conferencing strategies for hybrid, remote, and office workers, mobile emerged as an increasingly popular trend. Recent research from Logitech suggests that 60% of organizations are strongly considering adopting mobile and next-generation meeting room technology.