Top 5 Enterprise Mobility Management Predictions for 2018

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) is all set to graduate and become a leading force of organizational growth for businesses, rather than a technological innovation pursued by only hi-tech enterprises. Willingly or unwillingly, enterprises will have to adapt to the enterprise mobility revolution that is all set to hit us as early as next year. Here are some of the trends that will bring about a paradigm shift in the business operations on a global scale in 2018.

1.      IoT is Exploding

Enterprise and consumer adoption of IoT devices is growing at an exponential rate. As per the 2016 Ericsson Mobility Report, the number of IoT devices is likely to overtake the total number of mobile phones worldwide in 2018. In fact, IoT devices will become the largest group of connected devices in 2021, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 23% over the period from 2015 to 2021. By 2021, the number of such IoT devices will be a massive 16 billion.

The report’s predictions prompt a greater sense of urgency on part of the enterprises to develop an enterprise mobility strategy with renewed vigor. This will bestow them all the advantages of an early entrant into a market that is on the verge of reaching maturity in a handful of years.

2.      Sixth Sense Technology?!

The mobile revolution has only just begun. More and more of the internet is being migrated to the mobile platform, liberating the mobile users from the limitations that are inherent to laptops and desktops. In 2018, businesses will be offering mobile users everything that they offer desktop users and a lot more. The location-based business apps, for instance, will offer a whole another degree of functionality and features that were hitherto impossible to realize. Apps will notify the users of their daily appointment schedule as soon as they enter their office building. Perhaps, the users will get reminders to get groceries as and when they leave their office.

In fact, businesses are already pursuing this feature. The app City Hour suggests connections to business professionals based on their location and proximity. Then there are the Real-Time Location System (RTLS) devices, such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons that are already being used by hospitals to offer indoor navigation assistance to the users.

There are many more features and functionalities that are waiting to be realized in 2018, such as keyless access, proximity marketing, employee tracking, asset tracking, and more. These, and other such features, will bring about a paradigm shift in how we interact with the world around us. They will keep us in a state of hyper-awareness that is nothing short of a sixth sense miracle. This also means that all of these futuristic features and product ideas are just waiting to be grabbed by innovative startups and enterprises alike.

3.      Unified Endpoint Management Solutions Become Mainstream

The dizzying array of computers, mobile phones, printers, operating systems, and now, the IoT devices, make it a nightmare for the CIOs to manage them and simultaneously ensure a high degree of security across the network.  In fact, CIOs have been waiting for unified endpoint management solutions to become available for quite some time now. However, that technology has remained a much sought after, but as yet unavailable, technology. At least to most of the enterprises.

IBM, for instance, has already made great strides in this direction with its MaaS360 with Watson solution that offers an EMM solution, coupled with Watson artificial intelligence, to provide a vastly improved endpoint management solution. The year 2018 will see more players enter the market with their own unified endpoint management solutions, thus increasing the competition in the industry, and making the products more affordable. They will make the jobs of CIOs struggling with enterprise mobility management so much easier.

4.      Advent of AI and Government into EMM Security

This year saw several high profile cyberattacks, which has again shone the spotlight on enterprise level security. To uncover hidden malware and to fight smarter malware that will inevitably be created by hackers, security brands are now resorting to artificial intelligence. AI is expected to give their security solutions the teeth they need in combating the malware that are getting more complex and more ingenious with each passing day. The next year is expected to be the year when the AI makes a big splash in the enterprise security domain.

Another trend is the increasing migration to the cloud. Enterprises are choosing to migrate everything, including their in-house IT operations and customer management solutions, to the cloud because of the ease, affordability, and reliability. However, the security risks associated with the cloud platforms have not been eliminated completely. This will force the governments to act and put in place a regulatory framework that dictates stronger security controls of enterprise mobility solutions.

5.      Rise of the Intelligent Apps

Google Assistance gave the world a taste of what intelligent apps can do. Its contextual search feature is nothing short of revolutionary. The good news is that it’s only the preface to something much bigger. Real-time data generation and predictive analytics have advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few years. It is now possible for many top players in the tech industry to come up with their own intelligent apps that are increasingly smart and feature-rich. The year 2018 will be the year of intelligent apps.

These apps will have plenty of sources to glean massive amounts of data about their users – social media, phone, browser history, wearables, IoTs, and more. Larger the information they have access to, the better they will be able to predict their users’ choices. They will be smart enough to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, and thereby provide solutions to potential problems even before they happen. From a highly personalized experience to a significant boost in the productivity of the users, the applications of such technology would be nothing short of disruptive. These apps have the potential to transform the technology landscape forever.