Tablets aid mobility's growing importance

Two decades ago, the internet presented enterprises with a paradigm shift in terms of how they conducted business. Now, it appears history is repeating itself, except mobility is serving as the landscape-shifting technology.

Accenture's 2012 CIO Mobility Survey reveals that mobility continues to gain in importance among companies of all sizes. The results show that more than two-thirds of chief information officers and other IT professionals believe mobile technology, including tablet computers, is primed to either equal or surpass the importance that the internet displayed in the 1990s.

Another 69 percent of respondents say they would like to allocate more than 20 percent of their discretionary budgets to enhance their companies' mobility capabilities.

"A majority of CIOs now recognize mobility's potential to transform their business, and we see that reflected in the increasing share of spend for mobility in their IT budgets," says Dan Lauderback, the global managing director for Accenture Mobility Services.

The results of a 2011 Global Industry Analysts study also reflect increasing investments. The research reveals that the market for enterprise mobility -- including devices, services and applications -- will reach nearly $174 billion by 2017.