Mobile employees want speedy apps

Anticipating greater numbers of employees working on the road? Better pay close attention to application performance.

As more employees work outside the office and need remote access to files, the issue of productivity is getting greater attention.

Poor application performance -- not surprisingly -- impacts employee productivity. It also affects employees’ willingness to work remotely, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive (and commissioned by Riverbed Technology, which makes WAN optimization software for mobile users). Basically, if employees can’t efficiently access business files or software while on the road, they’re going to be less inclined to work offsite.

The survey polled 900 U.S. adults who are employed full-time, normally work onsite, and have tried accessing business files or software from an offsite location. Improving application performance could be key to mobile growth, the study found.

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Anticipating greater numbers of employees working on the road? Better pay close attention to application performance.

As more employees work outside the office and need remote access to files, the issue of productivity is getting greater attention.

Poor application performance -- not surprisingly -- impacts employee productivity. It also affects employees’ willingness to work remotely, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive (and commissioned by Riverbed Technology, which makes WAN optimization software for mobile users). Basically, if employees can’t efficiently access business files or software while on the road, they’re going to be less inclined to work offsite.

The survey polled 900 U.S. adults who are employed full-time, normally work onsite, and have tried accessing business files or software from an offsite location. Improving application performance could be key to mobile growth, the study found.

Nearly half (47%) of employees surveyed are working offsite more often now than they were two years ago. And the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing. Two-thirds (67%) of employees polled would like to be able to work offsite more frequently than they currently do.

One driver is comfort: 54% said they concentrate better when working offsite compared to being in the office.

But not everyone is satisfied with application performance. Among employees surveyed, 40% say they would work offsite more often if their business files or software would load more quickly, and 33% report that accessing business files or software remotely negatively affects their productivity.

Harris Interactive also asked about where employees were working when they weren’t onsite at the office. Among the more popular locations for offsite work are: home (cited by 80% of employees), hotel room (37%), vacation destination (20%), airport (19%), Wi-Fi enabled public space (13%) and coffee shop (11%).

Among employees who access business files or software from a remote location, 29% do so at least 5 times per week.

“Employees today are more connected than ever – no matter their location. They’re working from home, on the road and even on vacation,” said Eric Wolford, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Riverbed. “Companies need to make it easier for employees to be productive when working off-site.”

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