3 Essentials of Mobility Lifecycle Management that Every CIO Must Know
The shipment of enterprise mobility devices is expected to nearly double over the period from 2017 to 2021.
By offering better responsiveness, higher efficiency, and increased productivity, mobility is transforming the way in which businesses and business leaders operate. Enterprise mobility adoption is no more a new development. It has already reached the stage of maturity in many industries. Organizations that are still contemplating the decision as to whether they must take the plunge or not are running a grave risk of being outcompeted by their competitors. Naturally, the responsibility of helping the top management realize the benefits of mobility, champion its adoption within the organization, and ensuring that it delivers on the promises falls on the able shoulders of Chief Information Officers (CIOs). Clearly, that’s a tall order.
It is the job of the CIOs to grasp the basics of Mobility Lifecycle Management (MLM) to understand how to make smart decisions that can minimize costs, maximize the benefits, keep the employees happy, and all the while, give their organization a competitive edge. Here are the 3 essentials of MLM that every CIO must know.
Thorough Policy Documentation and Provisioning of Resources
The foundation of any strong Mobility Lifecycle Management lies in the policy document created by the IT department. CIOs should create or supervise the development of a thorough policy document that clearly communicates the purpose, the implementation, and the end result of the project across the hierarchical structure of the organization. The IT departments must permit the employees to gain access to the company devices, networks, and other digital infrastructures only after they have read and accepted the corporate policy.
A well-written policy document does not leave any room for ambiguity in the provisioning of resources. This will also ensure better management of the organization’s budgeting and keep a lid on the expenses. In addition, thorough policy documentation becomes an effective tool in gauging the impact of mobility on the performance of different departments, thereby creating a matrix for analyzing the ROI of the adoption.
A policy document also gives CIOs the opportunity to create the requisite capacities and justify them. One of the primary roles of the business leaders is to prepare the organization for the future. So, CIOs should be mindful of the fact that they are implementing solutions that do not work just today, but are easily scalable tomorrow to take on bigger problems.
Asset Management and Cost Effectiveness
Without proper asset management, there can be no scope for security management or accounting for costs.
While mobility can theoretically usher in a bevy of benefits for an organization, it is crucial for the CIOs to be aware of the challenges in sourcing the right devices and managing this cost effectively.
Asset Management in the mobility lifecycle is a critical step and CIOs must give it due importance. Sound sourcing and deployment plans are key to the success of any mobility strategy. In 2017, “Global Smartphone Shipments Reached Record 1.55 Billion Units”. Individuals as well as organizations are buying smartphones at unprecedented rates. At the same time, IT assets are becoming more complex to maintain due to the challenges related to erasure of data, availability of parts, factory reset protection, and more.
Then there is the case of using Wi-Fi or cellular data networks. Once again, the choice depends on the organization’s needs and the location of its employees. Cellular data plans, for instance, are best suited for workforces that are spread within the metropolitan areas.
Asset management is the part of Mobility Lifecycle Management that has a direct and the biggest impact on the organization’s mobility endeavors. So, CIOs must meticulously create an asset management plan that keeps the costs under control.
The Security Challenges & Available Solutions
Mobility, new mobile devices, and the never-ending software updates constantly throw up new challenges to corporate security. With each new software and operating system, the challenges only pile up for the IT department. They are now faced with the triple threat to corporate data security, corporate data loss, and employee privacy management.
Once you acknowledge all the security risks out there, there are many security solutions available for CIOs to tackle the various digital threats. They can use MDM solutions, IPSec VPN, SSL VPN or mobile VPN, depending on their security requirement. For mobile teams or workers that need to stay better connected, MDMs and mobile VPNs are better suited. However, for workforces that cannot compromise with the security of the connection, but are ready to trade off some efficiency, the answer lies with IPSec and SSL VPNs.
Enterprise mobility can have a profound impact on the productivity of the employees, efficiency of operations, and cost management of the company. In the face of the tremendous benefits offered by enterprise mobility, CIOs must spearhead its adoption with their organization. These essentials will help them ensure the success of their undertaking.