Is the number of mobile workers set to further increase in the coming years?
The last few years have seen a significant shift in workplace habits, with business employees increasingly able to choose where and when they work.
With connected laptops, tablets and smartphones at their disposal, mobile working is now a viable option for employees - even in the small business environment.
Productivity solutions such as Office 365 mean remote workers have access to all the information and IT tools they need to get their work done, even when they are far away from their normal business environment.
The question is - is mobile working just a fad. Or a genuine revolution in the way people work, not just in the UK but around the world?
All the evidence points towards the latter. Mobile devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with apps existing for most business functions imaginable.
And with 4G connectivity soon to be a reality in most of the UK, there will be fewer mobile broadband notspots to derail mobile workers.
IT analyst IDC expects more employees to embrace remote working in the coming months and years - it believes the global mobile worker population will reach 1.3 billion by 2015.
This would be an incredible 37.2 per cent of the overall workforce - more than a third.
Mobile working creates certain challenges - in terms of device management, security and compliance - but it also creates unlimited opportunities to boost productivity.
And this is what businesses appear to be focusing on as they increasingly allow employees to venture off-site and customise their working day.
Posted by Jenny Arthur
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