The 8th post in a series about how mobile apps will be used as productivity tools in the enterprise, and how these apps will be securely distributed and managed.
The Case for ECM Mobile Apps
Despite the popularity of mobile devices and apps, mobile access to ECM is not prevalent in the enterprise today. In a study completed with AIIM, only 15% of organizations that participated had a dedicated app for ECM. As we can see in the following chart, email is still the number one mobile app. Dedicated apps are also popular for accessing social media or social business content.
Email has driven the enterprise adoption of the mobile device
In fact, 35% of organizations surveyed permit remote access to ECM or document management systems.
So where does this leave ECM in the mobile apps equation?
What makes mobile apps valuable to consumers, along with ease of use and accessibility, is the ability to find, share, and access quality content. Most business apps require a content repository to make them useful. A mature ECM system gives organizations a solid foundation for enterprise-grade apps by delivering a secure repository that can be coupled with a rapid app authoring and deployment framework.
ECM – with its proven content management functionality and security – allows the enterprise to leverage existing IT infrastructures and security to create an environment where business-critical information can be exchanged, used on the go, and retained in ways never before possible. A good illustration of this is a document sharing app that allows enterprise users to access, share, and manage content across devices in secure folders on smartphones, tablets, and PCs, or laptops.
A document sharing app brings together a secure repository, a mobile app, and the private or enterprise cloud. The enterprise maintains absolute control of data, while users can easily share content that is typically emailed or stored on shared on drives. The important point here is that the enterprise still “owns” the content and it is protected. Organizations can maintain safe data in existing systems while still providing the cloud-based app experience that users are increasingly demanding in the workplace.
How will the enterprise develop, distribute, and manage mobile apps? This will be explored in the next post in this series.
Read Part 1 in the series.
Read Part 2.
Read Part 3.
Read Part 4.
Read Part 5.
Read Part 6.
Read Part 7.
