IFS North America Study Reveals Most ERP Users Are Unable to Access Software from Mobile Device

ITASCA, Ill. (July 06, 2011) – IFS, the global enterprise applications company, has released a study that proves most manufacturing executives have little to no access to enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other enterprise software from mobile devices like smart phones.

In the study of more than 281 manufacturing executives conducted with analyst firm Mint-Jutras, only 27 percent of respondents were performing any functions in enterprise software using a mobile device. And 47 percent of respondents said they had little to no access to ERP from a mobile device. Among customer relationship management (CRM) users, 32 percent said they had little to no mobile access to their CRM application, indicating that mobile access is more mainstream for CRM than it is for ERP, but is still not prevalent.

Respondents also shared their thoughts on the importance of the mobile interface in the selection process of ERP and other enterprise software. The study also provides views about the impact the ability to work from a mobile device would have on respondents’ work habits and which smart phones and other devices they are currently using or plan to use in the future.

IFS is currently taking a leadership position in mobile access to enterprise software with its Touch Apps initiative, which makes available to users of the IFS Applications enterprise suite a growing portfolio of smart phone applications that connect to IFS Applications through Microsoft’s Windows Azure Cloud.

“We realize how important mobile access to key enterprise data is today and will be in the future,” IFS AB Chief Technology Officer Dan Matthews said. “That is why we are taking a unique approach of delivering mobile functionality through the IFS Cloud – a set of web services running inside Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud environment. By putting most of the logic for the apps inside IFS Cloud, IFS also reduces the overhead of providing apps for multiple device platforms, allowing us to get more mobile functionality to customers to market faster than would otherwise be the case.”

Download the study, “IFS ERP Mobility Survey; Overview and Projections on Remote Access to Enterprise Data,” at http://download.ifsworld.com/ERP_Mobility.

About IFS

IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications(TM), a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. IFS focuses on industries where any of four core processes are strategic: service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects. The company has 2,000 customers and is present in more than 50 countries with 2,700 employees in total.

For more information about IFS, please visit: www.IFSWORLD.com

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Source: IFS

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