Even though it believes that the rate of adoption of
mobile technology is advancing at a recession-defying rate, market
analyst Forrester is warning firms that they need to put in place
robust device management and
mobile security strategies so that they can reap any potential
benefits of the flexibility mobility could bring.
Obtaining the views of IT and telecom/network decision makers in
North American and Western European companies, Forrester found that
nearly 93% of firms are anticipating having to support and increase
the number of mobile devices over the next 12-18 months despite the
global recession. However, even though firms recognise that mobile
devices need to be managed and secured in the same ways that their
PCs and other traditional IT platforms are, at present the majority
of firms concede that they have not achieved this objective
yet.
Making this need more pressing is the trend of firms wanting to
support a wide range of devices running an equally diverse range of
operating systems such as
iPhones, BlackBerry and other smart phones running on the Apple
operating system and Windows CE and Symbian operating systems. The
drivers for this trend can be sourced from senior management and
lines of business (LOB) managers who expect themselves and
employees to be able to use non-standard or consumer grade devices
and mobile applications.
The shift to LOB applications says Forrester will mean that
increased amounts of data residing on devices and removable storage
that are more susceptible to loss and theft than PCs. Again, even
though all managers believe that security should be tightened the
research found that this universal wish was not universally
applied.
Forrester says that
robust security
and device management are an absolute necessity and that firms
simply have to recognise their critical role in the
construction of a successful mobile strategies.
By doing this, suggests the analyst, businesses will be well
positioned for the next phase of mobility which will driven by LOB
applications with mobility shifting right down the management
pyramid to include significantly more knowledge workers. It adds
such management solutions should also include asset management and
reporting, device provisioning and settings management and
applications management in order to be truly effective.
Commenting on how she saw the mobile management scenario, Alison
Henderson, North Europe and UK Operations Manager of device
management solutions supplier Sybase iAnywhere said that her
company faced an increasingly complex landscape that made device
management and security an increasing challenge. She added, “The
whole point of device management is that the there are no
implications for the end user and that [device management] does not
interrupt working. It is a major challenge for organisations. Even
in large enterprises, people plan applications and think about the
management later, leaving people to [have to] change settings in
the field. [You have to] negate problems happening in the first
place”