In the past, we often complained of not having enough time in the day to fulfill our personal and professional tasks. Relaxation and entertainment seemed to be limited to weekend fun. This is no longer the case. The workforce is quickly shifting its behavior and embracing a world that allows one to deliver, produce, consume and foster community, family and friendships - any place, any time on any device. Mobile workers now comprise more than 70 percent of the total workforce in the United States and 60 percent in Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, according to a January 2011 InfoTrends report. Companies in some countries have quickly adopted the use of technology from a consumer perspective, giving birth to a movement we now call the Consumerization of IT.

BEHAVIORAL SHIFT

With Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies operating 24/7 in different parts of the world, with different time zones the lines of productive time is maleable. We can turn what used to be "idle time" waiting in long lines for coffee into productive time checking email, texting a partner, checking on the nanny while taking a peek at the market's performance that day. The list of in-the-moment productivity can be endless. Productivity, fun and engagement turns into a default setting when one embraces mobility as a lifestyle. When I started my entrepreneur career 3 years ago in New York City I worked like nobody's business during my first year. Personality founder and journalists like Graham Hill and The Four-Hour-Work Week changed all that. I learned to kite, snowboarded for most of winter, traveled while working and pursued other avenues that lead me to expanding an established presence in the San Francisco. Beyond a person's adoption of a mobile mindset, flexbile clients and resources are important factors of the behavioral shift. It is a mobilization movement.

WHO IS DRIVING MOBILITY IN THE WORKPLACE?

According to Forrester Data , 70 million information workers in the US and Europe will be carrying iPads into their work bag by 2016. A survey lead by our investor the Sandhill Group show's that top business executives and the IT groups are leading the mobility movement in the enterprise - 48% is driven by IT Groups and Heads of Business Units, followed by a close 45% from Executive Management. The rapid adoption of C-levels and senior management who for the longest time have refused to adopt to personal computing were suddenly cradling iPads in their sleep. A workforce that is now exposed to easy-to-use and beautiful consumer apps demands workplace tools of the same caliber. "A software products company had a Web-based workflow management application for its niche audience of Hollywood studios and television show producers. It recently developed a mobile app version of the system to meet the demands from a different segment of executives in the client database . The executives had been exposed to iPads and quickly demanded a system that would be "easy like the iPad, where I just have to point my finger," survey participant.

As early adapters and influencers discover use cases and value-based themes to bring consumer-like experiences into the enterprise, other cross-functional teams will soon follow. We're witnessing Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies heavily investing in business functions like marketing (13%), sales (10%) and service (19%). General productivity workplace tools like a mobile corporate directory or a conference room booking app is not behind at 13%. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica is in-charge of growth and innovative market categories at Taptera, including all marketing, communications and social media functions. A natural entrepreneur with over 12 years of product marketing and digital media experience from Kaplan, Inc., Accenture, Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy and Tribal DDB plus over 3 years as the founder of Mavin Digital, Inc., Jessica Valenzuela brings a combination of enterprise best practices and a “do it” attitude to Taptera. You can find her mobile musings @mavindigital and @Taptera .

ABOUT TAPTERA

Taptera is a startup software company focused on bringing breakthrough mobile enterprise apps to a growing workforce. We deliver scalable, secure and reliable in-the-moment workplace solutions with options for service integration and custom builds. For more information visit Taptera dot com.

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