A few weeks back I took a look at an enterprise IT phenomena/reality that has been driven by the rapid proliferation of bring your own devices (BYODs) in enterprises around the world.  It was characterized as “moving enterprise networks beyond connect and protect to protection and flexibility.” 

The reason for the “beyond” emphasis is based on how in just a very short time frame the impact virtualization and the cloud in conjunction with the personal device explosion has literally and figuratively changed the way in which IT must approach not enterprise risk management but in fact how all of its services will be delivered in the future.

The facts are that the acceleration of all aspects of the “virtualization of work”, and the need for always on/all ways connected, everywhere, secure communications and data interchange have meant enterprises have had to, or need to, take a holistic look at how mobility is affecting their ability to do business.  Mobility is creating the need for having a strategic plan of what many have called the “mobile enterprise.”  It means ensuring the right tools are in the right hands to execute in a timely and cost-effective manner. 

This is not longer a question of if, but rather one of how and when.  It is why there is urgency for a mobility strategy that can be executed in a way that provides enterprise asset protection and really does go beyond mere safety and being reactive to enabling employees to be more productive and proactive. 

As was mentioned in the previous article, on Tuesday, December 10, I will be moderating a webinar with AdvizeX Technologies entitled, NetWork Smarter with HP, VMware and AdvizeX, to be held 2013 10:00 AM EST/7:00 AM PST.  AdvizeX’s Paul Timmerman, Vice President of Technology Solutions (News - Alert), and I are going to looking at how to determine and implement best practices for a successful BYOD deployment.

 Through multiple customer engagements, AdvizeX has developed advisory services (available through their Mobility Advizer) that outline the questions that every enterprise should ask before they decide to optimize bringing BYOD into their network.  Timmerman will be highlighting the lessons learned from these services that have resulting in AdvizeX’s seven-step process for building a BYOD strategy which includes: 

• Mobility device management
• Mobile application delivery
• Policy and compliance
• Wireless infrastructure
• Secure data access
• Mobile data management

Timmerman explained to me that: “Our goal is to address the main challenges/benefits of creating and executing a successful enterprise mobility strategy. This means making employees more productive and happier by giving them the right tools and flexibility as to where, when and how they can use them. It means enabling employees them to make customers happier. And, importantly it gives IT the visibility and control they need to create and enforce policies and rules that simultaneously protect vital corporate assets in a cost-effective manner that enhances rather than impedes employees’ abilities to get things done.”  

The webinar is going to look at all of this in the context of customers who have widely deployed HP and VMware environments as the title says.  Even if you do not have robust HP and VMware deployments, and especially if you do and are thinking about better mobilizing your enterprise in the next few months, we hope you can join us for this session.