VMware recently revealed new Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) findings from a study on the impact of business apps on employee and business performance. The research highlights that while APJ organizations are actively deploying business apps, their employees feel that more can be done to increase the accessibility of employee technologies in the workplace to enhance company performance and secure future growth.
This situation is the result of a disconnect between CIOs and end-users, which must be addressed in a business environment that is experiencing intense competition for skilled talent, geographically dispersed frontline staff and a greater demand for collaboration and job satisfaction.
The research, titled “The Impact of The Digital Workforce: The New Equilibrium of the Digitally Transformed Enterprise”, surveyed 2,150 global CIOs and frontline staff in large enterprises on how the use, availability and access to business apps is affecting their work and their companies. Respondents from Australia, China, Japan and India were included in this research.
Businesses driven by employee initiative and management trust – by granting employees greater access to the apps they prefer and need to do their jobs – are benefiting from faster decision making, increased productivity, better collaboration and higher staff satisfaction, according to the research.
APJ companies are ahead of European companies and on par with North American companies in providing employees with the apps they need and making them readily accessible.
However, while 39 percent of APJ CIOs believe that they are deploying the apps their employees need, only 24 percent of APJ end-users believe they have access to the apps they need. This highlights a significant difference between CIOs rolling out business apps and employees’ ability to actually use these apps.
For example, less than one-third of APJ end-users believe that business apps are readily accessible to employees on all devices.
“More than before, across the APJ region, we’re seeing employees, especially frontline staff, work and engage with customers remotely. When doing so, having access to critical information anytime, anywhere and on the devices and apps they choose can make a difference in effective customer engagement and productivity,” said Sanjay Deshmukh, vice president, End-User Computing, APJ, VMware.
Making Business Apps Accessible – From Any Device – is the Performance Differentiator:
APJ respondents believe that accessible apps can have a significant impact on the revenue growth of the firm. On average, local CIOs believe business apps are very important to increasing their overall revenue:
- APJ – 59 percent
- Australia – 53 percent
- China – 52 percent
- India – 92 percent
- Japan – 43 percent
They also attribute past growth to business apps, agreeing or strongly agreeing that employee business applications have helped their firm increase revenues:
- APJ – 76 percent
- Australia – 65 percent
- China – 83 percent
- India – 90 percent
- Japan – 68 percent
Overall, APJ companies that make apps available to employees when and where they need them reported higher performance at the employee- and enterprise-levels.
- 17 percent reduction in time employees spend on manual processes
- 16 percent increase in speed of decision-making
- 16 percent increase in team collaboration
- 12 percent increase in productivity
“Employees are taking control of their own performance and, in turn, improving their companies’ bottom lines. They are adopting whichever business apps they need and starting a quiet revolution from within. The downside is the emergence of silos of innovation. CIOs must respond in kind by implementing effective collaboration, device management and enterprise security,” said Deshmukh.
