The Mobile Work Force Today

iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS), a provider of enterprise mobility services, recently published its quarterly Mobile Workforce Report. The report found that 27 percent of mobile employees surveyed are using a tablet, typically an iPad, for work. While most mobile employees think that in the next five years there will be just one über device, that same mobile employee is carrying 2.68 devices for work today. iPass is calling these multiple devices the mobile stack, the new unit of computing that includes a laptop, a smartphone, and also a tablet.

"Tablet and smartphone use in the enterprise is being driven by the growth of cloud-based applications, in addition to the availability of these devices being reasonably priced," said Steven Wastie, senior vice president marketing and product management at iPass. "User experience and economics drive this mobile stack phenomenon which shows every sign of expanding rapidly amongst the mobilocracy -- a powerful class of worker who relies on mobile devices for greater productivity -- as cloud computing finds a greater foothold with users both on a professional and personal level."

The report, which drew from the experiences of more than 3,500 mobile employees at 1,100 enterprises worldwide, also found a 10 percent decline in preference for laptops as mobile employees increasingly prefer smartphones and tablets.

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