North American Mobile Forms Solutions, Forecast to 2022

Evolving to a Next-Generation Strategy with New Partnerships, Technologies, and Targets

This study examines the North American mobile forms market. A traditional “form” has typically been a typed or printed paper document that is designed to be manually filled out with requested information or feedback. The research defines a “mobile form” as the digitized version of this, built to function on a mobile device which is typically a worker’s smartphone or tablet.

Mobile (or wireless) forms are available as a standalone offering or as part of a larger mobile enterprise solution. This insight focuses on the standalone sector which was quickly carved out as a niche over a decade ago when mobile worker solutions began leveraging smartphones, GPS, and affordable cellular data networks to become mass market - instead of expensive proprietary-offerings.

Mobile forms have become the preferred data collection tool for lines of business (LOBs) that are intent on driving digital transformation in their companies. Key industry participants are profiled. Trends and issues, drivers and challenges, the competitive landscape, and potential growth opportunities are defined and discussed. A revenue forecast is included, as is a view of three different user forecast scenarios.

In North America, mobile forms offer a straightforward, fast ROI. Companies typically experience quick, impressive savings when they replace manual paperwork with wireless data flow onsite and in real time. Other positive business impacts can include enhanced customer engagement, increased worker satisfaction, and better regulatory compliance. However, there are indications that mobile forms could be becoming commoditized--with continued popularity but lower profitability on the horizon. Leading providers are proactively building next-generation success strategies that leverage innovative technologies, new partnerships, and flexible pricing models.

Major challenges for the mobile forms vendors include:

• Proactively addressing a trend toward commoditization
• Neutralizing worker resistance to using new mobility software
• Being flexible on pricing models for industries with unique needs
• Forging new partnerships that open up new revenue streams and new potential target markets
• Making new deployments possible by assisting customers that lack the internal resources to implement and manage a mobile forms solution

Key Issues Addressed

• How are leading mobile forms providers innovating in this market?
• What are the major issues and trends that have emerged around mobile forms?
• What steps are leaders taking to avoid commoditization?
• What role is the wireless carrier taking in this market?
• What are the near-term growth opportunities in the mobile forms market for today's providers?