Australian CIOs expect significant demand for Windows Phone in the near future

Analyst company Frost and Sullivan posted the results of a survey of 227 Australian Chief Information Officers which indicate Windows Phone may see some more enterprise pickup in the southern continent.

Frost and Sullivan asked 227 CIOs what operating system they think users will want in the next 12 to 18 months.

The research found 41% expected demand for iOS, 32% Android, 21% Windows Phone and only 6% Blackberry.

Frost and Sullivan head of ICT research Audrey William said  that the appeal of Windows phone is integration with the rest of Microsoft universe. “One CIO said it makes sense to go all the way with Microsoft,” she said. “They already use nearly everything Microsoft,” noting a heterogeneous environment introduced complexity and compromising security.

A negative point for Windows Phone was the usual issue of the availability of apps.

“I think the challenges with an internal app store is what apps do you provide,” William said. “Will it be enough? Will it make the employee satisfied? There are so many consumer apps that employees love to use. You can build the app store and employees may not be happy with what’s in there.”

We have nevertheless seen a number of case studies from Australian companies moving to Windows Phone. KONE for example offered Nokia Lumias to their employees and saw a 70% uptake.

In theory Windows Phones combination of security, user friendliness, high customer satisfaction and Microsoft back-end integration should see the OS as a shoe-in for enterprise.  I may be that CIOs are finally starting to appreciate this.

Correction: The article previously reported Android numbers as 23%, as reported by the Register, but this has now been confirmed to be 32%.

Via The Register.com