B2B mobile research reveals the rise of the ‘Appy Office’

Recent research has revealed that employee habits are driving UK companies to embrace apps in the workplace. Here The Drum takes a look at the results of the research, and what it might mean for UK businesses.

74% of marketing decision-makers surveyed in the research, undertaken by ORM London, believe that apps will be commonplace in the workplace over the next three years. The study also revealed that staff demand, the desire for innovation, and competitors’ use of apps will be the key drivers behind the rise of the ‘Appy Office’. The Appy Office report, which surveyed 150 marketing decision makers in UK businesses, shows that employees are increasingly using their own apps at work but companies are also beginning to see the benefits and issuing official apps, whether proprietary, branded or purchased. 47% of those surveyed had issued official customised apps, 38% tablet apps and 43% mobile apps. As well as staff demand, 40% of those that had created an app said that competitors having a similar in-house app was a driving force behind building their own, showing that businesses are starting to see the competitive edge apps will give them. 53% of marketing decision makers also cited the desire to be seen as innovative as a reason for building apps. An increase in companies issuing personal devices at work, with 54% of those surveyed issuing smartphones and 28% issuing tablets, is also driving the increase in app usage in the workplace. Currently the most common apps used in businesses are database apps (53%), marketing and marketing measurement apps (51%), event apps (46%) and communications/messaging apps (44%). B2B apps have many different functions including allowing companies to streamline business processes, push and pull information to customers and colleagues, as well as access up to date information on the go. The above graph indicates that over half of those surveyed strongly believe that employee standards for B2B technology have risen as consumer technology becomes more sophisticated. It was found that only 2% feel that apps are inappropriate for their business.45% feel that smartphone apps would be most appropriate. The above outlines that 74% of people expect a greatly increased presence for apps coming soon. However, only 30% feel personally pressured to adopt apps in the organisation. The majority also believe that older employees find it harder to learn apps. The research found that 65% of marketing decision makers identified an existing demand from their staff for an in-house app.Both a slide deck of the findings and an infographic are available to download for free below.Click here to download infographic