Consumerisation is now the primary driver of the mobile universe, and CIOs must be ready to embrace a range of more-flexible approaches to their mobile strategy, according to Gartner, Inc. At least four new mobile management styles will emerge as leaders because different groups of staff will demand different approaches.

“The landscape of devices and user needs is changing, “said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “CIOs are facing mass-mobility, and it is expected to grow rapidly.”

Gartner predicts sales of smartphones to end users will reach 461.5 million in 2011 and rise to 645 million in 2012. In 2011, sales of smartphones will overtake shipments of PCs (364 million). Combined sales of smartphones and tablets will be 44 percent bigger than the PC market in 2011. More of these devices will find their way into enterprises as employees entering the organization will expect to be allowed to use them.

Consumerization, app stores and mobile ecosystems are causing a proliferation of new applications and services in the enterprise. Employees increasingly seek to take full advantage of better browsers and innovative applications from app stores. Gartner estimates that 18 billion apps will be downloaded in 2011, up 114.5 percent from 2010 and will rise to 31 billion in 2012.

This array of mobile devices and applications leads to changes in society. Employees are behaving more like consumers, demanding a wider choice of devices, exploiting consumer devices and applications from app stores, and adopting new strategies such as ‘bring your own’ (BYO) IT, where employees use personally-owned tablets and smartphones for work. As a result, the distinctions between a person's role as an employee and as a consumer are more blurred than ever.

“CIOs need to explore new ways to provide, fund, and manage mobile devices to allow employees more choice and support BYO programs,” said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

Gartner expects several new mobile management styles to include:

• Control-oriented. The primary consideration is to guarantee quality of service, security, support and cost. To assure functionality, service levels, performance and security, the organization provides and strictly manages devices, contracts and applications. All aspects of the device and its applications are controlled and supported by corporate IT.

• Choice-oriented. The primary goal is user satisfaction, typically in cases where users demand a greater choice of devices, but have relatively undemanding application and service needs. Undemanding needs are a necessary consequence of greater choice, because it's usually prohibitively expensive to support complex requirements on a wide range of platforms.
• Innovation-oriented. The goal is to empower users who want substantial autonomy and are often in roles over which IT has little or no control. Users want to experiment with applications and services, and develop new techniques and processes. They are in charge, and no reasonable device, application or service request can be refused.

• Hands-off. The goal is to take the minimum level of responsibility for mobile devices and services, typically by not providing them. This regime is not about avoiding responsibility, but finding approaches that mean it's not necessary to take responsibility.

“CIOs must be ready for the BYO programs sooner than they realize,” said Mr. Jones. “BYO is a principle that most organizations will adopt and organizations must prepare for this change.”

At the same time, global businesses should be prepared to support at least three smartphone platforms by 2012, and some will expect to support four or even five. The decision will vary depending on the geography and whether the applications are business to employee (B2E) or business to consumer (B2C).

Gartner estimates that Android will remain the No. 1 platform for several years, and Apple’s iOS will take the No. 2 position in 2012 until 2014. If the Nokia/Microsoft alliance executes well, Windows Phone should grow to take the No. 2 position by 2015 displacing iOS. RIM will move to No. 4 position in 2013.