While few of us try to navigate the world without our smartphones, this trend has only been a pervasive phenomenon for the past 10 years or so. And while the iPhone (News - Alert) has certainly staked its claim as a leader in the market, Blackberry really started the trend. If you’re one of those companies that stayed true to this pioneer but wants to embrace a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach to operations, it may be time to take a look at MobileIron.
The mobile device management solution provider offers migration for Blackberry users from a complete Blackberry-only environment to one that supports multiple operating systems. If you hope to support BYOD and offer your team the ability to select their own devices, this migration is necessary to ensure consistent and seamless performance, security, and usage.
Let’s take a look a few of the lessons MobileIron has to share about the decade of the Blackberry and how CIOs can make smart decisions moving forward.
The Death of the Enterprise Smartphone
Blackberry provided an excellent platform for the enterprise that wanted to embrace mobile before the mass adoption of the cloud or mobile device management solutions. But the demand for BYOD is growing and companies are recognizing the benefits associated with shifting this cost to the employee base, providing flexibility and freedom. The key is to ensure safe and secure operation when accessing the network and supported applications.
Get Rid of the Bottlenecks
It was common to see bottlenecks in the days of the Blackberry-only environment. Users often had to knock on the network to get permission to access the things they needed. This was fine in the all-Blackberry world, but today it will now cause a number of bottlenecks and essentially render the benefits associated with mobility obsolete. This is no longer the norm and users won’t accept it as efficient.
Go Beyond Email
It’s not enough to offer your users access to email when they’re on the go. They need access to anything they use in the office when they’re on the move. This includes applications, data, information and other assets that may be protected by the firewall. Mobile device management helps provide a way in.
Focus on the User Experience
The lockdown approach of the Blackberry was much of its appeal in the early days. For those environments where this is still necessary, the Blackberry is still the way to go. If you want an iPhone to perform like the Blackberry in this way, it’s not going to happen. Users, however, want the flexibility afforded by their own devices, which is why BYOD is so popular. You can’t have it both ways – so choose.
Migration is the Norm
While launching a Blackberry migration is the priority right now, don’t expect that this will be the last migration you’ll need to complete. Technology is moving at a breakneck pace, putting increased pressure on the enterprise to stay one step ahead of the game.
If you want to make your employees as efficient and productive as possible in the field, it may be time to consider wholesale Blackberry migration.