Enterprises are struggling when it comes to mobile ECM (enterprise content management) deployment, with more than three quarters of business executives surveyed in a new Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) study saying they need to embrace mobile applications or be left behind.

Just 10 percent of those surveyed have a smooth running BYOD program, while four in ten have zero mobile access to content, according to the AIIM study, Mobile and Cloud: accessing, capturing and processing content. However, ECM in the cloud deployment is more mature, with around three-quarters of respondents likely to be using some form of cloud ECM within the next four years; 26 percent are doing so already.

“Mobile is one of the biggest disruptive forces technology has seen and there is simply no debate – organisations have to put mobile at the core of their content strategies,” said Doug Miles, AIIM’s Chief Analyst.

“It has changed forever the way people work and collaborate, and workers need to access enterprise content via mobile. The good news is that many organizations have acknowledged this and mobile emerged as the biggest area for future ECM investment in our research.”

Only 17 percent of respondents have a mobile information governance policy relevant to their business and just five percent employ anything that looks like a Chief Mobile Officer (CMOO). However, more than seven in 10 agree that there should be a single person with responsibility for mobile innovation. Of those that are using mobile ECM, 76 percent are seeing return on investment (ROI) within 18 months.

Some of the traditional barriers to ECM in the cloud are no longer as pronounced, with three-quarters of respondents believing that the security offered by their cloud provider is likely to be better or equal to their own. Organisations are also alive to the benefits of content in the cloud, with the two biggest operational benefits cited as effective collaboration, and more modern and flexible applications. One-third of cloud ECM users had noticed a cost reduction compared to on-premise.

“The benefits of both cloud and mobile ECM are well-documented. Many of the traditional perceived barriers to deployment are long gone and so now is the time for organisations to truly embrace cloud and mobile ECM,” continued Miles.

“There is more content than ever before, with volumes growing daily in many enterprises. So using the best ways to manage that content, get the most value from it and empower workers to work more effectively just makes sense. ECM is changing and organizations need to be able to change with it.”

Other key findings include: 

• Just 10 percent of organisations have a firm ‘no cloud’ policy with regard to ECM.
• Individuals are more positive about moving ECM/DM content to the cloud than the organisations they work in - 87 percent compared to 42 percent.
• Thirty percent are planning a BYOD program or have one mid-rollout, while 20 percent have a BYOD program that is ‘working OK but with some issues.’
• The main benefits cited from mobile ECM are staff mobility and the speed of data availability.
• Seventeen percent of respondents are not looking at mobile ECM at all.

The research for ‘Mobile and Cloud: accessing, capturing and processing content’ was underwritten in part by AvePoint, IBM, Kofax, Konica Minolta and Nitro.

The full report, which includes a number of recommendations for progress, is free to download at http://info.aiim.org/mobile-cloud

The survey was taken using a web-based tool by 282 individual members of the AIIM community between June 5, 2015, and July 2, 2015.