Just seven years ago, there was no iPhone or Android. No one had a smartphone – or even heard the term. Only a small percentage of business leaders used PDAs with Blackberry and Palm being the major players.

Mobility represents one of the most significant shifts we’ve seen in the workforce. Three of five workers now say they don’t need to be in the office anymore to be productive, according to a 2012 Cisco Study. At Marco, many employees leverage technology to work from home but make it seem like they are in the office. Based on my recent experience at a high school career day in St. Cloud and working with Gen Y, that’s not likely to change.

Mobile Surge
Smartphone users have doubled in the past two years and by next year, the majority of all mobile users are expected to have a smartphone, according to industry estimates.

Tablets are next. They already have a market penetration of 11 percent, which is expected to nearly triple to 28 percent by 2014. That’s significant. How many products can you think of that took over a market that rapidly?

Employers are no longer driving the technology train, being the source that equips employees with the tools – desktop, laptop and a cubicle. Today, thanks to a shift by manufacturers to focus on consumers, employees show up to work with their gadgets. The strong majority of them are using their personal devices throughout the day – often for business. Checking and sending email ranks as the top use of mobile devices.

The New PC
In many ways, the smartphone – and its sidekick, the tablet – have become the new PC. Smartphones act like a PC, allowing users to do everything from check email and browse the Internet to initiate a conference call, and print and scan documents. Tablets offer similar functionality and take it a step farther with the ability to add a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

Here are four important questions businesses should consider when developing mobile policies and procedures:

• Who pays for the device? Decide if the business buys the device or reimburses an employee for use. It does not matter which you choose, but employees do expect something.
• Who owns the device? This is particularly important when an employee leaves the organization.
• Where do you store data? Creating an infrastructure that increases mobile access is smart in today’s business world.
• How will you protect your data? Mobile devices can increase security breaches of your business information. But a few steps can go a long way to protect your organization.

Above all, embrace mobile device as much as you can in the workplace. Although they are consumer driven, they are good for business. Small businesses are using their mobile apps to save time, increase productivity and reduce costs, according to a recent AT&T Small Business Technology Poll. Twenty-two percent even reported using apps to generate sales. The bottom line opportunities are expected to only grow.