Every organization hopes to achieve the nirvana of multi-platform enterprise mobility management. Can it be done?
According to a new report in Network World it can; but you’ll have to go to the cloud to do it. In an opinion piece by Donna Henderson, VP of product marketing at Blackberry, she spells out the steps necessary to take, comparing them to an airplane flight and breaking it down into portions.
The first one, Preparing for Launch, she likens to Taxiing: “Before you take off for the cloud you’ll need to prepare for the journey ahead,” Henderson says. “Consider the level of mobile device management (MDM), application management (MAM) and security your organization will need. Offices that embrace bring-your-own-device policies (BYOD) for smartphones and tablets especially benefit from cloud-based, multi-platform enterprise mobility management solutions. A multi-platform EMM strategy can make the transition to the cloud seamless with a simple Web-based administrator console to easily control all devices and users in real time,” she says.
The next step is getting your solution off the ground, which Henderson compares to Takeoff: “Whether you have a full-fledged IT department, a dedicated mobility management department or an employee in accounting who tinkers with IT, a cloud-based solution can be implemented and operated without IT expertise,” Henderson observes. “For those weary of migrating their information to the cloud without dedicated IT resources on staff, look for a provider that offers ongoing tech support to answer your questions and troubleshoot any issues that arise.”
At this point, Henderson notes that an administrator is needed to oversee the operation. But one immediate benefit is that they can log in from anywhere from any type of device, as needed.
“The advantage of a Web-based system is that it allows administrators to log in from any device with a browser and from anywhere they have an Internet connection — keeping business operations flowing seamlessly,” she says.
Henderson concludes by likening life in the cloud to a Safe Landing: “Once your organization has reached the cloud, your newly mobilized employees can enjoy benefits such as instant access to company information on the move, independence and improved productivity.”
She also notes that “Self-service Web-based access to cloud EMM solutions can allow users to easily manage their own devices, including basic IT commands such as setting and changing device passwords, and remote wiping or locking — enabling users and freeing up your IT department from fielding these routine requests.”
Edited by Blaise McNamee