If you've been following the mobile industry in Europe lately, you've probably seen many recent announcements about 4G roll-outs in France, the U.K. and elsewhere. Between 4G and new devices that are as tempting as Twinkies once were, it's clear that enterprise mobility is only going to increase.
The temptations of broadband data speeds means that employees can easily use large amounts of data without realizing how much they've consumed -- consider Vine, twitter's new video-sharing service. The mobile devices we have access to today are capable of doing amazing things, and once you've had a taste of working from just about anywhere, it's virtually impossible for people to go back to working in a confined space. As a former colleague used to say about reversing a flexible working policy: you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.
So, the sooner organizations address the challenges brought by mobile workers, the better able they will be able to manage the risks that accompany this shift.
where to start?
The white paper goes into detail, but I want to highlight six steps that to get you started:
-
accept BYOD as a reality; it helps reduce your costs and improves staff loyalty
-
engage users in creating your mobility strategy
-
embrace cloud services and consider virtualized desktops
-
centralize mobile contracts to reduce complexity and costs
-
control your spending with telecom expense management
-
consolidate your organization's mobile device management
My footnote to this list is training and education. Employees can be a weak link in securing the enterprise -- take a look at Cisco's 2013 annual security report for evidence. IT needs to do their part to educate staff on how to protect their devices -- both corporate and personal -- and the organization's digital intellectual property. Every organization needs to systematically (and repeatedly) educate staff on mobile technology risks, both hardware (such as implementing PINs) and software (like Dropbox).
Even the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recognized the need for mobile technology education with its useful Smartphone Security Checker. Though primarily created for consumers, the tool could just as easily be leveraged by an enterprise.
what about the benefits?
The benefits of BYOD can be found all over. Employees gain control over how and where they do their work and productivity can grow as well, though that can be difficult to measure in many organizations. And what organization isn't interested in maintaining (or improving) employee morale and boosting productivity?
learn more
Download the white paper to learn more about challenges and benefits of enterprise mobility (email registration required). And, feel free to share your feedback in the comments section below!
Katie
I've spent more than 17 years in global telecommunications, and was formerly responsible for international social media activities at Orange Business. I enjoy making technology accessible to non-techies and I'm a strong supporter of flexible working.