The fact that we as professionals want to be mobile is not a new concept. We look to the latest technologies and how they compare with the IT support we have at work. If the two don’t blend well, we tend to lean on our own devices to get the productivity results we need. When this happens, enterprise mobile solutions are falling short of meeting the needs of the employee base, making BYOD a harder strategy to deploy.
So why the pull toward using personal devices over those paid for and supported by the corporation, you may ask? A Cisco (News - Alert)-commissioned Forrester study suggests that employees rely on their own devices for a number of things, like email, Web browsing, accessing company portals and more. They want to be able to click between a personal use application and the access portal to corporate documents without switching devices. It’s seamless and convenient for them, but can be a nightmare for corporate IT.
Enterprise mobile solutions with security initiatives are a priority for a majority of firms, according to the study. Likewise, as many as 46 percent of firms view the implementation of BYOD as a critical or high priority as IT aims to identify which mobile devices, services and applications they need to support. They also need to determine the right policies to put in place to secure the network and guide the user on safe operations.
The question remains whether or not these companies are better off implementing new technologies to support these initiatives or leveraging current assets to enable secure enterprise mobile solutions. Companies like Mobile-Flex offer mobile applications that are positioned to provide employees with quick access to the same files, programs and data they would normally access at work from their home computers. The solution reportedly eliminates the risk for the employer where unmanaged devices are concerned.
With Mobile-Flex, employees access employer applications remotely so no code is needed on the mobile device for the application to work properly. As a result, this also means that no data actually resides on the device, providing the true security companies need. This approach definitely responds to concerns company leaders have when it comes to mobile accessibility and Cisco has put out its own solution to enable the secure BYOD environment, along with Citrix, Dell (News - Alert) and other providers.
In today’s economy, the reality is that mobility is here and growing. Companies are finding their employees more engaged and productive when they can access corporate assets with their mobile devices. To make this work, IT has to get on board with a solid BYOD policy and supporting technologies to protect the network and the user so all benefits are readily realized.