HispanicBusiness

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/09/13 -- Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced the results of the study "Fonts of Innovation - Mobile Development in the Business," exploring the topic of mobile innovation within an organization in EMEA. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), who wrote the report, as more business is conducted using smart mobile technologies, companies' competitiveness increasingly hinges on their ability to continuously generate new ideas for mobile development. The innovation net within organizations is starting to spread widely thanks to the "consumerization" and "bring-your-own-device" trends, in which employees use their own devices and applications at work. The study points, however, to a rift between the IT function and the rest of the business when it comes to mobile development. Fewer than 10 percent of non-IT respondents to the survey believe their IT colleagues are "highly innovative" in this realm.

The study, published today by the EIU and sponsored by Symantec, points to other areas of conflict. Over one-half of the survey respondents believe IT departments are actually resistant to any new mobile ideas other parts of the business might have. These tensions appear to run highest in financial services firms. Sixty-two percent of the respondents from this sector say IT departments push back against ideas that come from other parts of the organization. Indeed, nearly half (46 percent) of IT employees from across all sectors admit this to be the case.

"Consumerization and the take-up of bringing your own devices or apps have led to smart devices and mobile technology truly permeating businesses, and this will continue to have a considerable impact on organizations," says Greg Day, Security CTO for Symantec in EMEA. "Mobile innovation will help to drive business success in an organization and will require collaboration between IT and the business regarding the broad topic of technology and smart devices in particular."

Key findings from the research include the following:

•A rift exists between IT and non-IT professionals when it comes to mobile innovation. Less than 10 percent of non-IT respondents believe IT is "highly innovative" in this area. Over one-half think the IT function is resistant to new mobile ideas emanating from elsewhere. This tension runs especially deep among financial services firms.

•Sources of innovative ideas differ depending on the types of services involved. The IT department appears to be the main initiator within the organization of ideas to improve employees' mobile working. When it comes to using mobile technology to improve interaction with customers, however, sales and marketing emerge as the main sources of ideas.

•Sign of hope: IT no longer isolated. A hopeful sign is that IT departments appear much less isolated within organizations than previously. Around one-third of survey respondents say that the IT function is "extremely collaborative" in developing mobile services, while only 13 percent thought this was the case two years ago.

•The answer lies in collaboration. Amid all the evidence of tension between IT and the business, there is a clear recognition from all quarters that delivering genuine mobile innovation requires the active collaboration of both IT and non-IT staff.