Did you know that one in every five phones sold is a smartphone? Sales of smartphones, tablets, and e-readers are rising all the time and have actually passed that of laptops, notebooks, and desktop computers. The world has gone mobile and enterprises are following suit.

It has been reported that 60 billion mobile apps were downloaded in 2012 and this number is expected to increase exponentially with the ever-growing popularity of smartphones and tablets. That being said, decision makers are seeing that these apps can increase productivity, reduce paperwork, and increase revenues in ways that a desktop computer simply can’t. Long story short, it’s time for the enterprise to go mobile!

According to this infographic, companies are adopting and consuming mobile technologies more and more each year. A survey by GigaOm Pro reported that 30% of businesses are using phones more than in the previous year. 43% of business report plans to incorporate more mobile technologies in the future. Let’s take a look at some statistics.

• Half the devices on corporate networks will be mobile devices by 2015
• 34% of workers use smartphones for work at least weekly
• The North American market for mobile office applications is expected to surge to $6.85B in 2015, up from $1.76B in 2010.
• 60% of employees in the US said data services are more important than voice plans when deploying cellular phones for business use.

That’s all well and good but the bottom line for business is what really matters. Why should an enterprise introduce mobile apps? Businesses that choose to incorporate mobile apps into their operations aim to accomplish several goals but most importantly are productivity and revenue.

Paul Hamerman, in this article from computer weekly, explains perfectly how business apps can enrich business processes in the enterprise. He says:

“With mobile technology drawing so much attention today, the question facing business process professionals is less about where we are today with mobile business applications but rather where we are going. In addition to extending enterprise applications to mobile devices, applications will evolve to encompass end-to-end business processes (for example, procure to pay, talent management and sales to delivery) and a broad range of business users.”