Enterprise support for multiple OSes growing 21
Consumer Maket Research Analyst and VP Research Director of Data at Forrester Reineke Reitsma provides an interesting report on the state of Enterprise support for mobile OSes in 2010. Citing the Enterprise and SMB Networks and Telecommunications Survey, which polled over 2000 enterprise executives in Europe and North America, Reitsma notes significant year-over-year changes in device support, going from nonexistant to 8% support for webOS, and an increase from 2% to 11% for Android. It’s also interesting to see that despite RIM’s utter dominance in this sector with 70% representation, there are still eight other OSes maintaining support, with five of them showing growth. And if you need more proof of just how different the enterprise market is, look no further than Windows Mobile, which maintained it’s 41% despite a palpable sense of stagnation in the consumer sector.
Additionally, she also found that, “...enterprises are not standardizing on one type of mobile device or operating system. In fact, more than 50% of the surveyed enterprises support more than one mobile device operating system, and 25% of firms support three or more mobile device operating systems.”
Certainly this platform-agnostic stance corresponds with what we’ve been hearing repeatedly from Jon Rubenstein, who insists there’s room at the top for at least 3 different OSes. The lack of standardization also speaks to how much room for growth and shift still exists while mainstream mobile computing is in it’s infancy.Seems like a fantastic place for a company with a considerable enterprise presence to make inroads with it’s shiny new operating system.
Source: [Enterprise and SMB Networks and Telecommunications Survey, via The Data Digest]
-Thanks to Mike for the tip!
21 Comments
Palm OS and WebOS are synonymous right? Why are both graphed in 2010 with different data? How can that be a reliable stat? I assume it's due to HPs acquisition, but the graph needs clarity.
No,they are different OSs. Palm OS is the old Palm mobile OS used in the Treo line.
webOS is the current Palm mobile OS.
There is a BIG problem with this report. All of them don't add up to % 100. Looks like it might be a made up graph.
No, there is a BIG problem with your understanding of statistics.
They aren't supposed to add up to 100% Different companies can support more than 1 OS.
50% of organizations support more than one OS, 25% of organizations support 3 or more OS.
That means many or even most organizations will be counted more than once.
It looks like webOS might soon overtake Palm OS ;)
And, no, Palm OS and webOS are completely different operating systems. That's what this entire blog and forum have been about for the past two years.
Palm OS is not the same as WebOS. They are very different beasts.
PalmOS is obsolete and being phased out. The OS was originally based on PIMs and expanded to support other apps and eventually the web, though not too well.
WebOS is a web based OS as the name implies and is built on Linux. That is why terminal apps work and why it is so easy to customize.
It's like MS going from DOS to Windows. Same company, different OS.
So it is natural and RIGHT to have them as different data.
Hp bring those enterprise apps to webOS:
http://bit.ly/gHEA0h
why is linux counted by it self, when android and WebOs are Linux by it's core, how can you support one thing and not the other when it's clearly the same damm thing ?
Yes, Android and webOS are Linux, BUT Linux is NOT webOS or Android.
Even if A = B, B =/= A
Phones and other mobile devices can have generic Linux, or just some other random flavor of mobile OS based on Linux but not important enough to be listed by name.
So what is meant by "support" here? Is it the relatively simple "that platform is allowed to access our corporate email" or the relatively complex "that platform is fully supported including access to corporate email, secure services beyond exchange (VPN) and runs specialized apps we've built to take advantage of that patform's features"?
If it's just email, I'm surprised the numbers are that low for platforms other than RIM and WM.
I work at a College where we use Cisco's Clean Access Agent. Any device that is able to support Clean Access or VPN with Cisco support is a huge advantage which is why the iPad and iPhone are king right now.
I believe webOS 2 supports Cisco VPN, IIRC...
Personally I am amazed to see that Andoid only has a relatively small lead over webOS despite the massive lead in user base.
Given how tied Android is to Google, its apps, and its data collection, it's far from the best choice for a security- or privacy-concerned enterprise. {Jonathan}
And that's part of the reason I'll never use Android.
Anyone else questioning why they lumped OS X together with iOS, or as they label it (Apple iPhone)? I think there are a couple of actual Linux phones if I've heard right so that can get a pass but OS X is a purely computer OS rather than a "handheld" OS.
Because iOS is a mobilized version of Mac OS X.
My guess is that since they used data from Quarter 1 2010, they had iPhone OS as the name in Quarter 1 (IIRC, it was renamed iOS officially in June of last year)
Keep in mind that PalmOS and Windows Mobile are probably being used on things OTHER than mobile phones.
I'm willing to bet that UPS and FedEx were included in this research poll. If they were, then I'd bet they said "Yeah, we have thousands of (Windows Mobile or PalmOS) devices out there" while referring to their package scanners/signature retrievers that their delivery drivers have.
Those are mobile devices and they do connect to the Enterprise networks (to upload package delivery data, etc.), so it is completely logical they're included in this research poll.
Um, not to be a Debby Downer, but I call bogus. Notice this is based on response of "executives", not by their IT departments. This means at some comfy conference these executives were handed a sheet of paper while sitting on the beach sipping their mai-tais.
Further more, follow the link an you find this: "Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Networks And Telecommunications Survey, North America And Europe, Q1 2010, was fielded to 2,247 IT executives and technology decision-makers located in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US from SMB and enterprise companies with two or more employees."
Two or more employees makes a company an enterprise?!? Come on....
Hi all,
To me, this supports what I have maintained all along. As soon as HP got into the mix with Palm and used it's huge marketing prowess with it's suppliers and retailers.... we would see a huge upswing in both interest in writing for webOS and consumers looking into webOS as well as phones and Pads that use webOS!
This proof that it already happeneing...after all HP is looking to fold webOS into may kinds of end use products from PDA/smartphones, pads, printers & netbooks.....suppliers including app writers/creators know that HP is a humongous company and can market the hell out of webOS...all of the app writer/creators want to be on board before the train leaves the station....I expect a few app companies that left webOS will shortly come back to webOS!
I expect HP will use webOS like a club, to beat MS over the head with... to roll costs of licensing back or keep increases in check, or MS might find HP putting webOS on full fledged laptops as well....
Take care,
jay