Mobile DEX Primer And Market Overview
Discover how unreliable mobile devices and network issues can hinder worker productivity and learn strategies to overcome these challenges for a seamless digital employee experience.
Elemez provides the Mobility Intelligence and field evidence a Mobile DEX program needs to measure and improve those outcomes.
Table of Contents
What is DEX?
DEX stands for Digital Employee Experience. It’s part of a broader set of tools and processes to help IT measure and improve employee sentiment toward and performance of company-provided technology. When implemented, DEX continuously provides actionable insights, visibility, and even remediation of technology issues affecting employees.
Although technology experience has mattered for decades through both Customer Experience and Employee Experience solutions, DEX emerged as a distinct IT discipline in the mid-2000s with early entrants like Nexthink pioneering real-time employee experience analytics.
The category accelerated through the late 2010s and was recognized by major analysts like Gartner with a dedicated Magic Quadrant by 2024, making it a formal and fast-growing market today.
- Have fully implemented 11%
- Have partially implemented 26%
- Are piloting or have procurement underway 9%
- Plan to Implement in next 12 months 18%
- Plan to Implement beyond the next 12 months 11%
- Have no plans to Implement 24%
source: Magic Quadrant for Digital Employee Experience Management Tools. Gartner. May, 2025
As shown in the chart, Gartner’s research from May, 2025, shows that 76% of all enterprises polled have either implemented or are planning their implementation of DEX.
Gartner further estimates the DEX tool market will grow at a CAGR of 23% through 2028.
DEX has traditionally been deployed around office workers and their use of desktop / laptop PCs or virtual environments.
DEX has not traditionally focused on frontline workers – those who work outside the “four walls” of the enterprise. That is changing, with more and more DEX vendors extending their offerings to also include Mobile DEX (aka Frontline DEX). Click here for a formal definition of Mobile DEX.
At various Gartner conferences over the last year, Gartner has advised “Don’t forget your frontline workers” as you seek to further expand and improve the Digital Employee Experience.
B2M’s Elemez Mobility Intelligence APIs have been selected by two leading DEX vendors as they seek to expand their DEX offerings to include Mobile DEX.
Why Is Mobile DEX Needed?
Frontline workers run on mobile technology.
Their devices are the job.
Their apps are the workflow.
Their network connections determine where work continues or stops.
When mobile devices fail, apps crash, batteries degrade or connectivity drops, frontline productivity is immediately impacted. Unlike office workers, frontline employees typically lack backup devices, alternative workflows or nearby IT support.
As shown in the pie chart, 81% of frontline workers in a 7th annual global study report that at least once a month they can’t do their job because something is not working properly with their mobile.
58% of these same workers say it happens weekly.
Traditional DEX tools were not designed to address these conditions.
It is the necessary expansion that makes a company’s DEX strategy complete.
Enterprises that continue to limit DEX to office-based computing environments will struggle to support a workforce that increasingly operates beyond those boundaries.
Those that extend DEX to mobile and frontline environments will be better positioned to deliver resilient, reliable operations at scale.
% Frontline Workers With Mobile Problems That Causes Them to Stop Work One or More Times Monthly
%
source: 7th Annual State of Enterprise Mobility. B2M Solutions. February, 2026
The Troubleshooting Gap
- DEX Tools focused on PCs and virtual environments – not Android and mobile technologies in the frontline
- MDM/EMM/UEM platforms focused on security, configuration, and compliance
While both are necessary, neither provides sufficient visibility into the frontline digital experience leaving a GAP IT would love to fill.
DEX tools have historicallty primarily focus on PCs and virtual environments – not Android and mobile technologies on the frontline.
MDM/EMM/UEM Tools were designed for IT to manage mobility. The table below highlights key features in these systems, and compares them to Mobile DEX solutions.
Managing mobility is not the same as ensuring frontline reliability.
Mobile DEX answers questions like:
- Is the device reliable across a worker’s full shift?
- Is the latest app version degrading performance?
- Where does the network consistently fail?
- Which issues are impacting productivity before any tickets are submitted?
Mobile DEX fills the troubleshooting gap by focusing on experience, not just management or security.
Mobile DEX vs MDM/EMM/UEM
| MDM/EMM/UMM | Mobile DEX | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Device control and compliance | Frontline reliability and experience |
| Core question answered | “Is the device configured correctly?” | “Can the worker do their job right now?” |
| Data collected | Device state, policies, OS version | Real-time app, device, battery, and network performance |
| Visibility into downtime | Limited, mostly ticket-driven | Continuous, proactive, and contextual |
| Detection model | Reactive, after failure is reported | Proactive, before work is disrupted |
| Root cause analysis | Manual, fragmented, often inconclusive | Correlated across domains |
| Battery management | Scheduled or policy-based | Health-based and predictive |
| Device replacement decisions | Time-based or anecdotal | Data-driven, based on actual condition |
| Outcome for IT | More tickets, slower resolution | Fewer incidents, faster root cause |
| Outcome for the business | Hidden downtime and waste | Measurable productivity and reliability |
Defining Mobile DEX
It applies the same core DEX principles but adapts them to the realities of mobile-first work:
- Measure experience
- Analyze impact
- Proactively improve outcomes
- Mobile device health and stability
- Application performance and reliability
- Network and connectivity experience across locations
- Frontline-specific KPIs tied to real workflows
The goal is not device management.
The goal is operational reliability for frontline work.
Mobile DEX vs Samsung DeX: Clearing Up the Confusion
You may encounter the term “DeX” used in different contexts.
Samsung DeX is a device feature that allows certain Samsung smartphones and tablets to project a desktop-like interface onto an external monitor. It focuses on how a single user interacts with their personal device when connected to a screen.
Mobile DEX, by contrast, stands for Mobile Digital Employee Experience. Click here for a formal definition of Mobile DEX.
Mobile DEX has nothing to do with screen mirroring or desktop modes. It is an enterprise discipline and software category focused on ensuring frontline workers can reliably do their jobs using mobile devices, applications, batteries, and network connections in real-world conditions.
The difference is fundamental:
- Samsung DeX is about how a device displays content
- Mobile DEX is about whether work can happen at all
When IT leaders talk about DEX in the context of frontline work, they are talking about Mobile Digital Employee Experience, not desktop projection or device display modes.
Mobile DEX Business Outcomes & Use Cases
- Reduced frontline downtime and disruption
- Faster identification and resolution of mobile issues
- Lower support costs through proactive remediation
- Improved employee experience and retention
- More consistent customer and operational outcomes
Most importantly, they gain visibility into a workforce segment that has historically operated as a blind spot for IT and DEX programs.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) are covered here.
Is Mobile DEX just software?
Software is a foundational component of any DEX strategy, as the software is what first and foremost provides the monitoring of health and usage of mobile devices, apps, batteries and network connections. The software provides actionable insights that either humans or automated processes take advantage of to reduce downtime, outages, and costs. A true DEX program with an enterprise encompasses not only the software tools such as B2M’s Elemez to provide the monitoring needed, but also a broader set of KPIs and operating procedures for how to best take advantage of this to improve the experience for mobile workers.
What is Mobile DEX? How is it different from traditional DEX?
Mobile DEX extends visibility, analytics, and proactive support beyond the knowledge worker in the office to the mobile frontline worker and their mobile devices, apps and network connections they depend on every shift.
Mobile DEX is a critical evolution of any company’s DEX management strategy by expanding the focus to all employees, not just those at desks.
To learn more, check out our What is Mobile DEX? page.
Is Mobile DEX the same as Samsung DeX?
No. They are completely different and unrelated.
Samsung DeX is a device feature that allows certain Samsung smartphones and tablets to display a desktop-like interface when connected to an external monitor. It focuses on how a single user interacts with their device’s screen.
Mobile DEX, which stands for Mobile Digital Employee Experience, is an enterprise software category and operational discipline.
Mobile DEX focuses on whether frontline workers can reliably do their jobs using mobile devices, applications, batteries, and network connections in real-world conditions.
In other words:
- Samsung DeX is about how a device displays content
- Mobile DEX is about whether work can happen at all
Mobile DEX extends traditional Digital Employee Experience (DEX) strategies beyond office computers to mobile-first frontline roles, helping IT teams proactively identify, diagnose, and prevent mobile-related work stoppages that often go unseen.
If you’re evaluating Mobile DEX, you’re evaluating frontline reliability, productivity, and experience, not a device display feature.
Does Mobile DEX replace my MDM / EMM?
No. Mobile DEX solutions are typically not a replacement for your MDM / EMM tools you have in place. MDM/EMM tools are excellent for what they were designed to do – ensure all devices are up to date and secure with the latest apps, operating systems, firmware and config files.
Mobile DEX software works alongside these tools to give the visibility and insights they do not.
What is the difference between Mobile DEX and DEX?
Digital Employee Experience (DEX) has historically focused on the needs of the corporate employee working either in the office or remotely. These software platforms have evolved to fully meet the needs of these employees and their Windows, Mac OS, or Chrome OS devices.
Mobile DEX is an emerging extension to enterprises’ DEX strategies, allowing them to bring their frontline workers and their mobile devices under the DEX umbrella.
These frontline employees typically produce and deliver goods and services to customers, and depend on their mobile device, apps, and network connection as their sole means of computing and working each day.
B2M’s Elemez was designed from the ground up to ensure that the experiences of these frontline workers can be monitored and reported on, allowing for the proactive identification and resolution of problems affecting their mobile technology usage.
Mobile DEX does not replace existing DEX platforms, but is a supplemental set of tools uniquely designed around the mobile estate.
Is Mobile DEX the same as DEX used for delivery in retail?
No. They are completely different and unrelated.
DEX, or Data Exchange, in retail is a variant of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) used primarily for direct delivery to stores. Using Data Exchange (DEX) components, information can be electronically exchanged around delivery information, invoices, credit memos, inventory and more.
See Mobile DEX in Action
To discuss and see how Mobile DEX and improve your IT and Operations teams’ ability to support critical frontline workers and their need for reliable mobile, please schedule a demo.