A modern business needs a mobile workforce

by Martin Nurser, Vice President of Qumu EMEA

October 24 2014 - The modern employee is no longer tied to an office desktop. Whether it is on a smartphone, a laptop or a tablet, employees are increasingly taking their work with them wherever they go. The requirements of modern business necessitate a mobile workforce, capable of meeting the demands and expectations of their clients whenever they arise. As such it is not surprising to learn that, according to a global survey carried out by Wainhouse Research, 72% of enterprise decision makers say that mobile capability is a very important if not required factor when selecting a video solution for their business. Mobile video consumption is increasing across the globe.

The development and advancement of mobile video in the enterprise is being driven by both users and video producers. As more and more workers choose to work out of the office, a strong demand for mobile capabilities within workforces has developed and business executives must meet that demand by providing engaging content. Enterprise video is at heart a creative tool that enables the spread of knowledge within an organisation. You only have to look at the breadth of the enterprise video market to see that mobile video apps can be effectively implemented within a variety of industries ranging from energy and utilities to financial services. Video is not simply a tool for training, video conferencing or any other single-use implementation. It is a blank canvas that businesses can deploy for myriad uses and applications.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is becoming ever more of a mainstream option as almost 50% of business executives use their personal smartphones for work (32% using a tablet for the same purpose). As Generation Y employees enter the workplace, their expectations of a company's flexibility in facilitating mobile working will push this trend ever further towards the norm. It is telling that 3 out of 4 employees under 40 regularly watch video on a mobile device and as 4G speed devices increasingly become the norm this number is and will continue to increase. Modern businesses need to react to the expectations of their employees in order to be considered an attractive employer in their space.

By facilitating BYOD policies and backing that up with the effective software architecture you are demonstrating an inclusive attitude towards your workforce. This is central to unlocking another aspect of mobile video: user-generated content. By enabling and encouraging your employees to create video content for use within the company you are tapping into a huge resource of knowledge and experience, sharing it across the business. In this way, appropriate and effective video technology can make a real difference to a developing business.

Optimising your business for mobile communications represents a laudable attitude towards meeting your clients' demands, enabling your employees to work in a way that suits them best and fostering a culture of sharing and respect for the content of your peers throughout your company. The statistics highlighted above show that the trend for mobile enterprise video is here to stay and it is up to business managers to react accordingly.

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