As the year comes to a close, I realized that I had not accomplished one of my personal goals – working more references to legendary rock band The Who into my blog. I had pondered blending references to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) with Who song titles (potential candidates included “My BYOD Generation,” “BYOD O’Reily,” and my personal favorite –  “You
BYOD, You Bet.”), but I could never pull the trigger.

Fortunately, Mary Meeker’s December 2012 Internet Trends Update rescued me from pushing the limits of taste and puns.  This year’s report highlighted the tremendous progress of mobile and potential for further growth in the near future.

Highlights from the report include:

• Mobile traffic growing to 13% of all Internet traffic as of 11/12; up from 1% in 12/09
• Smartphone and tablet shipments installed base estimated to surpass PCs by mid-2013
• More smartphone users to come –  While there are 1 Billion Smartphone users, there still remains five Billion mobile users who have not upgraded.

These finding are intriguing when combined with the results from a recent survey by Cisco Internet Business Solution Group entitled BYOD and Virtualization, the findings of which included the following:

• Seventy-eight percent of U.S. white-collar employees use a mobile device (e.g., laptop, smartphone, tablet) for work purposes.
• On average, mobility initiatives will consume 20 percent of IT budgets in 2014, compared to 17 percent in 2012.

With the growth of mobile, the question is no longer “If” but “When.”  Cisco solutions including Jabber and WebEx allow businesses to stay at the forefront of mobile trends and productivity, allowing employees to collaborate and work regardless of location. They also prove the lyrics to The Who song “Going Mobile” prophetic.

Out in the woods

Or in the city

It’s all the same to me

When I’m drivin’ free, the
world’s my home

When I’m mobile