The number of white-collar employees working from outside the office has been increasing.

Employees who say they telecommute …

Source: WorldatWork employee surveys

And consumers are buying smart phones and tablet computers at a brisk rate.

Mobile-device sales (millions)

Source: Gartner

Employees in office jobs have high expectations for using mobile devices—including their own—at work.

Measuring employee attitudes

Source: Survey ­commissioned by Cisco of 1,300 ­workers in 13 countries

Partly to capitalize on this trend, employers are adopting social technologies that allow employees to share and collaborate.

Worldwide business spending on social platforms (millions of U.S. dollars)

Source: IDC