Mobility is only just starting to come onto the radar screen for
most companies, according to Mary Wardley, vice president of
enterprise applications and CRM software at IDC.
Part of the difficulty of a mobile deployment is deciding
whether or not you need one. For example, Geoff Le Quelenec,
business analyst with Suncor Energy, needed to speed up information
flow at his company, eliminate process bottlenecks, and close the
loop quickly with retailers. The reason these challenges aren't
wireless-related is that "people don't think of their problems as
[stemming from] a lack of mobility," Le Quelenec said. "Nobody
says, 'We have a problem with this wire being here.' "
Start small -- with the right device
Once the mobile solution is realized, however, it can be further
complicated by the vast variety of
mobile device form factors. Some mobile
devices have unique characteristics, and failing to recognize
that fact is the first pitfall of a mobile deployment, according
to Gene Signorini, vice president of enterprise research at
Yankee Group.
Le Quelenec recommends "[finding] that one device that does the
one thing really well that you need for your business, and you'll
get past ROI and management …. As long as your first rollout goes
over really well, it will pave the way for your other devices."
He added that mobility is still at the stage where a company can
deploy solutions relatively cheaply, without a million-dollar
budget. Proceeding with mobility does require a degree of caution,
however.
"Everything with mobility is in beta stages," Le Quelenec
explained. "Be conscious of that, but don't be scared of it." He
recommended that companies "build that understanding with [their]
user community," because users must realize the benefits and risks
involved with a mobile deployment.
Put the end user first
They are called "end users," but you need to put them first from
the start, explained Signorini. Once companies have found the right
devices for end users, they are charged with teaching them how to
use those devices and informing them of the wireless risks that
mobility can introduce.
@38442 If no mobile policy exists, however, these risks become
nearly impossible to mitigate, according to Carrie MacGillivray,
senior research analyst of mobile enterprise network services at
IDC. Companies need to ensure that when they lay down the law, the
policy includes, not only security, but software downloads and
installation, wireless service spending (voice and data usage),
synchronization with other devices, specific application use,
network access, and device support.
Work with vendors and carriers
Belinda Watkins, vice president of IT in the network computing
and IT operations groups at Federal Express, recommends that you
work closely with your vendor but, more importantly, "make the
suppliers work for you."
In order to manage her vendors, Watkins had to shrink the number
her company had accumulated. To accomplish this, she identified key
suppliers of services and built strong partnerships with them.
"Make sure you develop rules of engagement for suppliers," she
said. A good partnership involves clearly defining rules, much as
IT should do with end users. Essentially, Watkins said, companies
have to specify who sells what and when.
After working with vendors, Le Quelenec suggested, negotiate
with carriers and set ground rules that cover every possible
scenario – even the worst case. "The carrier you should live with,"
he said. "You need to build defensively around a worst-case
scenario [and] assume your carrier won't give you what you
need."
Le Quelenec said carriers who provided him the best service
would be rewarded with his business. "Sure enough," he said,
"towers sprung up and dead spots started disappearing."
Set policies and manage
Yankee Group's Signorini considers letting costs and challenges
get out of control to be one of the sins of a mobile deployment.
Taking an ad hoc
management approach would make this even
worse. Signorini said that in order to formulate a process
toward strategic mobility, a company should let its business
dictate mobility requirements and information dictate
application requirements. Policy is what holds these pieces
together.
Watkins agreed. She said mobile managers need to set guidelines
and standards for device types and usage; develop policies,
guidelines and standards; develop end-to-end processes to ensure
inventory management, billing accuracy and reporting; automate as
much as possible; and centralize controls and functions such as
security.
Provide adequate security
Failing to provide adequate security is another item on
Signorini's list of mobile sins.
Many companies make the mistake of not going end-to-end when it
comes to security, according to Ira Winkler, author of "Zen and the
Art of Information Security." Managers often leave out something
simple. Companies need to remember to turn on security, use
encryption, and manage devices.
At the "View From the Top: CTOs on Mobile Security" session at
the Mobile & Wireless World Conference in May, Bill Laberis,
vice president of custom content strategy at ComputerWorld,
facilitated a conversation among several chiefs and senior vice
presidents, including Norm Fjeldheim, senior vice president and
chief information officer at Qualcomm; Bill Kramer, vice president
of solutions engineering and architecture in the business markets
group at AT&T Mobility; Kevin McConnell, chief architect of
mobility and wide area wireless technologies at IBM; and Gregg
Plekan, senior vice president of product development at Antenna
Software. The group found that security problems can be traced back
to technology and policy issues. Companies need to have the same
policies on the PDAs as their laptops. At the very minimum, devices
should be password protected. Unfortunately, end users don't want
password protection because it would prevent them from calling
while they're driving, limiting quick access.
In the end, the panel concluded that it is the users who are the
biggest security risk because of human error or laziness -- a
concern echoed by the participants of SearchNetworking.com's
Hacking for Dummies Contest. More devices
are lost by end users than are stolen. Since mobile devices are
small and carry voice capabilities, users often view them as
phones instead of computers and so are more neglectful of
them.
Future proof
Enterprises cannot buy mobile devices without regard for the
future. This is another of Signorini's sins of a mobile deployment:
failure to
future proof. Companies should demand
flexibility with devices and find products and vendors that will
last. "We didn't want to tie ourselves to a vendor [or] device,"
Le Quelenec said, "because we didn't know who would be around in
six months."
So far, Le Quelenec said, his company's deployment has brought
about significant ROI, but above all, an immediacy of information
-- which is something you can't put a price on. "Mobile computing
lets us take advantage of opportunities we never could have
before," he said, "and it has really changed the way we think about
our information."