New Aruba Networks Survey Sheds Light on APAC Workplace Behaviors for a Generation that Prefers Mobility Over Other Benefits
On the heels of the U.S. and EMEA focused #GenMobile study, Aruba
Networks (NASDAQ:ARUN) today asks businesses across the Asia Pacific
region Are
you ready for #GenMobile? by releasing a report that goes
beyond BYOD and explores a new breed of employee that is changing the
workplace as we know it.
The report, which surveyed over 5,500 respondents in the region1,
reveals characteristics of the newly dubbed #GenMobile, a group of
employees defined by their preference for mobility both in terms of the
significance of mobility, and their approach to work. The report also
includes revealing data that shows businesses’ attitude towards the
emergence of this new phenomenon, allowing those organizations to
sharpen their competitive edge and take full advantage of their
employees’ productivity.
The majority of #GenMobile2 employees are in the early stages
of their careers, have a tendency to work non-traditional work hours,
and own three or more connected devices (59%). One third of them are
always online (33%), whether they are working or not. #GenMobile
employees are so attached to their mobile devices that 87% of them
prefer to search for information via their connected devices versus
traditional channels like television or newspapers.
The report reveals that, rather than acting as an aide to the workday,
#GenMobile are shaping their working lives around their connected
devices. With the ability to work effectively anytime, anywhere and on
any device, they expect employers to implement the necessary policies
and structural changes to accommodate their preferred mode of working.
According to the report, more than 94% of businesses are aware of the
need to increase budget to support Wi-Fi usage, so that they can better
cope with the increasing connectivity demands of both employees and
customers.
Regional trends that define #GenMobile in the workplace include:
-
Wi-Fi matters: Nearly 68% would prefer Wi-Fi at the expense of
other connections (4G, 3G or wired), while more than half (58%) would
spend at least four hours or more with their connected devices.
-
The digital-savvy generation is here: Digital means are
becoming the primary source of information for the members of
#GenMobile. Close to 59% would first check emails/news/weather with
mobile devices in the morning, followed by 28% who would also check
social media networks, while only 13% would read newspaper or watch
news on TV.
-
Always-online: 34% are always online, while 68% check their
smartphone more than once per hour.
-
Money alone cannot buy their loyalty: More than two-thirds
(69%) would prefer to have flexible work hours than to receive a 5%
cash allowance at a rigid workplace.
-
From BYOD to CYOD (Choose Your Own Device): Availability of
devices is also becoming more appealing to today’s workforce than free
lunches. 74% would opt for receiving a smartphone of their choice
rather than free lunches from their employer.
-
Evolving business models: Enterprises are become more aware of
how Wi-Fi enhances communications (42%), meets the needs of the
next-generation employees (41%) and improves the user experience
(34%), although improving efficiency still dominates (71%).
#GenMobile employees want to stay connected all the time, no matter
where they are, and they tend to be highly productive members of the
workforce. The typical #GenMobile employee abides by the “anywhere,
anytime” principles of flexible working, where the office location and
working hours are no longer constrained to the traditional workplace and
work schedule.
Aruba Networks believes that understanding and catering to #GenMobile
employees’ needs can be the key to a productive workplace.
Traditionally, when deploying a technology like Wi-Fi, businesses are
looking to improve efficiency (71%) and reduce cost (44%). While these
are still key factors, today’s businesses are beginning to understand
the value brought by mobility and enhanced Wi-Fi networks, in terms of
attracting and retaining #GenMobile workers.
“We’ve seen flexible working modes and BYOD gaining popularity across
demographics for some time, but this report shows that they’ve now
become a way of life for those in the modern workforce,” said Gary
Jackson, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Aruba Networks. “To
take full advantage of the potential of this new generation of
workforce, today’s technology decision makers will need to start looking
for solutions that ensure levels of empowerment and productivity for
this new era of GenMobile employee. This modern work force will expect
high-performance, mobile access as part of their work conditions, just
as they do with salary and other key benefits.”
Among the businesses that were interviewed, 94% are becoming aware of
the transformation and the critical role mobility plays in preparing for
#GenMobile’s entrance into the workforce. While we are in the relatively
early stages of the transformation, at present almost two-thirds (62%)
of businesses provide laptops or desktops to employees at work, but less
than 20% provide connected devices such as tablets (19%) or smartphones
(18%) to employees.
On the BYOD front, more than one-third (38%) of the #GenMobile workforce
use their own devices for business applications, and only 55% of their
employers set security policies to manage devices brought into the
workplace. This represents a security gap that businesses should not
overlook when making decisions on their Wi-Fi infrastructure.
“Aruba believes that businesses will invest more in their Wi-Fi
infrastructure as they see the demands of GenMobile workers entering the
workforce,” said Jackson. “It will be important for businesses to
facilitate this shift to mobility without compromising traditional
requirements such as security and cost efficiency.”
Highlights from the APAC findings
Japan (49.5%), China (42%) and Hong Kong (39%) respondents are among the
users most attached to their connected devices as more than one-third of
the respondents claimed to be always online, followed by Singapore
(35%), Taiwan (31%) and Korea (29%). These numbers are in sync with the
high network penetration in these economies. Less than one-fifth of
respondents in Southeast Asian countries expressed similar responses,
suggesting they are less attached to their devices (16% in Indonesia,
16% in Malaysia and 15% in Thailand).
The increasing demand for flexible work modes is clearly indicated in
Southeast Asia, where more than 70% of the respondents declared that
they would prefer flexible work modes than to have a more rigid
workplace even with a cash allowance (78% in Indonesia, 76% in Malaysia,
75% in Singapore, 82% in Thailand, 75% in China and 72% in Japan).
More than half (68%) prefer to connect to the Internet on their devices
via Wi-Fi, particularly in Japan (79%), China (77%) and Thailand (76%).
77% of the businesses observed at least a 25% increase in Wi-Fi usage in
their organization. The majority of the respondents (90%) plan to
increase their support resources to meet the expectations of Wi-Fi users
within the year, again with the exception of Korea, which has only
recorded slightly more than one-third (38%) of respondents expecting to
do so.
The blending of work and personal device usage is best demonstrated in
Indonesia (63%), Malaysia (61%) and Thailand (86%) with more than 60% of
their respondents using their own devices for business applications more
than half of the time. This indicates that businesses should consider
their BYOD strategy to improve communications with employees in Asia,
particularly in Southeast Asia. In Northern Asia including Korea (25%)
and Japan (15%), people are less inclined to use their own devices for
business applications.
Apart from the predominant factors like cost and efficiency, businesses
in Japan are more aware of the benefits brought by Wi-Fi in terms of
improving user experience (54%), while Malaysia is more concerned about
enhancing communications (64%) and Singapore’s focus is on meeting the
needs of the next-generation employees (54%), implying different
priorities and approaches among enterprises across these countries in
sharping their Wi-Fi user experience.
Businesses in China and Japan (82%) have higher security awareness. More
than half (55%) of businesses have set security policies for connected
devices in the workplace. By comparison, only two-fifths of businesses
in Singapore (40%) and Taiwan (45%) did so.
Additional Resources
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access
solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers
Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a
new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for
every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility
experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined
Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and
trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention.
The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower operational
costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in
Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more,
visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
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and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
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© 2014 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include Aruba
Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized), Aruba
Mobility-Defined Networks™, Aruba Mobility Management System®, People
Move Networks Must Follow®, Mobile Edge Architecture®, RFProtect®, Green
Island®, ETips®, ClientMatch™, Virtual Intranet Access™, ClearPass
Access Management Systems™, Aruba Instant™, ArubaOS™, xSec™,
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AirWave™, Aruba Central™, and “ARUBA@WORK™. All rights reserved. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
1 Research conducted in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia,
Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
2 ‘While #GenMobile is not an age group, for the purposes of
this report #GenMobile has been defined via a cross-section of the
survey base that showed the highest preference for mobility at home and
at work. Typically these respondents were between 18-35 years of age.
Aruba Networks, Inc.
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Director of Corporate Communications
pradda@arubanetworks.com