13 October 2014 – Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of employees in mid-market businesses in the UK want to see greater investment in mobile technology to access back office systems in order to boost their productivity. This is the key finding of research carried out by Source for Consulting in partnership with leading software provider, Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced).
The research findings have been published in a new white paper – Don’t forget the back office: exploiting social and mobile to make mid-sized organisations more productive.
The report is based on a survey of staff from 160 mid-market UK organisations in July 2014, carried out to gauge interest in using mobile technologies to access and manage information held on CRM, HR, finance and other business critical systems.
The survey reveals that employee demand to use smartphone and tablet devices in a professional capacity is only partially being met. Only seven per cent of finance staff can access customer and supplier data via mobile devices and just nine per cent can retrieve key business performance data and metrics. Only one in five HR personnel can access their organisation’s core HR systems via their smartphones.
56 per cent of respondents stated they would like to submit holiday requests via their smartphones whereas only 23 per cent are able to do so. 50 cent admitted they would like to be able to report absences using a mobile device but this is currently an option for just 21 per cent of those surveyed. Approving expenses while on the move is a preferred option for 44 per cent of respondents.
Simon Fowler, Managing Director, Advanced Business Solutions (Commercial division) comments: “Our research reveals that staff are keen to extend their use of mobile technology but many mid-market employers are not keeping up with their demands.
“We believe the impact of mobile technologies on the back office is only set to increase, with the current application of these technologies by HR, Finance and IT only scratching the surface of what is possible.”
Mobile devices are increasingly being used by field-based staff to access customer information held within CRM systems and by finance managers to view and approve financial documents such as invoices and purchase orders remotely. HR and payroll processes can also be managed quickly and easily from any location to enable faster response times and minimise downtime.
Kaynak : 