Approach to Mobile App Development Being Business-led in the Next 24 months

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today revealed in a new mobile survey focused on line of business (LOB) decision makers that almost half (47 percent) see mobility as a means to automate existing business processes but only 26 percent of them cite the objective of mobile as changing the way they do business. IT decision makers, on the other hand, view mobile apps as more transformative (35 percent) for the business.

Red Hat commissioned research firm Vanson Bourne to conduct two separate surveys, the first of which polled the views of 200 IT decision makers in October 2015, followed by a more recent survey of 200 LOB decision makers in January 2016, from private sector organizations across the U.S. and Western Europe. The latest research reveals that LOB decision makers are well-aligned with their IT colleagues on many aspects of mobile strategy, investment growth, performance measurement, and the increasing role of the business in mobile decision making. This points to greater harmony between LOB and IT in meeting demand for mobile apps.

Key findings of this survey include:

• LOB decision makers see the current approach to mobile app development as primarily IT-led (38 percent) followed by business-led (24 percent). However, they see this flipping towards being business-led (36 percent) over the next two years.
• In regards to the current primary approach to building apps, LOB decision makers in the U.S. and Western European favor different methods. While 28 percent of U.S. LOB decision makers use a collaborative Mobile Center of Excellence (MCoE) approach, only five percent of LOB decision makers in Western Europe take this approach to app development.
• LOB decision makers are more focused on client side development tools and technologies, while relying on IT to support them with a range of modern app development and integration technologies. Seventy percent of LOB decision makers have already used the IT department as a resource for designing and building mobile apps, compared to just 27 percent that have used a third party.
• LOB decision makers expect implementation of IoT projects to increase in 2016. Twelve percent of LOB decision makers said their organizations have already implemented an IoT project, but that number jumps to more than half (53 percent) that expect IoT projects to be initiated this year or next.
• The majority of LOB decision makers (78 percent) cite the use of KPIs to measure mobile success and see responsibility for tracking these shifting more towards the business. LOB decision makers (58 percent) report that senior IT heads are currently responsible for tracking KPIs but half of LOB decision makers expect that LOB heads will be responsible for KPIs in the next year.

Supporting Quote

Cathal McGloin, vice president, Mobile Platforms, Red Hat

“The new mobile survey shows that there is a mutual understanding from both LOB and IT executives that mobile app development will take on more of a business-led approach in the near future. Organizations that have fully implemented a mobile app strategy are more likely to be empowering their line of business managers to influence the development of mobile apps and are supported by IT through the use of modern app development tools, platforms and integration technologies. This is collaboration in action. I see the relationship between LOB and IT continuing to strengthen as mobile programs become increasingly focused on business outcomes.”

Methodology and Demographics

Red Hat, Inc. commissioned Vanson Bourne to poll the views of a sample of 400 line of business and IT executives across private sector organizations across the U.S. and Western Europe. The survey was completed in January 2016, and was carried out online.