Key factors for building a long-term enterprise mobility strategy
Mobile working brings many new opportunities for employees and companies. In 2020, fast action was required due to the Corona pandemic, and so entire IT environments were converted in a rush and opened up for remote working. However, what usually fell by the wayside was the definition and implementation of a mobility strategy; without this, companies run the risk of suppressing the benefits of mobile working through a lack of functional and security concepts.
In this blog post, we summarize the most important key factors for building a long-term enterprise mobility strategy.
Lack of mobility strategies leads to security gaps and opens the door to external access
Mobile working models require a strategy and the use of security and management solutions. If these are not observed, unintentional access or data theft by employees can cause immense damage. With an enterprise mobility strategy, companies regain control over their devices, data and access and position themselves strategically and organizationally well for the future.
Key factors for building a long-term enterprise mobility strategy
1. Involve employees
When building a strategy, the first step should be to involve all relevant employees. This ensures that your strategy meets the needs of the people who work with it on a daily basis. It also ensures that your strategy meets both the financial capabilities of your company and the security requirements of your IT or a regulator. In this way, you create acceptance and increase employee satisfaction.
2. Define intended use of mobile devices
Determine the purpose of your mobile devices. This can be completely different depending on the industry, department or function. We recommend that you work with case studies, especially since this will give you clarity about which needs can be met with which solutions.
3. Check ownership models
After defining the intended use, taking into account different case studies, it is necessary to examine the different ownership models and define the appropriate model. Whether BYOD (Bring your own device) or COPE (Corporate owned personal enabled), COBO (Corporate owned business only) or CYOD (Choose your own device); for all models the different advantages and disadvantages have to be weighed up.
4. Devices / OS
Define which devices should effectively be allowed in your organization. This is important because depending on the device or OS, the desired applications, management options or functions may not be available.
5. determine integration depth, functions and applications of mobile devices
Decide which internal data and tools mobile work tools should be able to access. You’ll find that some of this decision may conflict with other key factors. If your HR department wants to access payroll data remotely, and at the same time you’re going for a BYOD model and you don’t want devices to be managed, another iteration in the ownership model review will be necessary.
6. Sensitize employees
In our experience, people often forget to sensitize their own employees to the issue of mobile security. Provide clear guidelines and train your employees on usage and security.
Conclusion
Mobile working holds immense potential for increasing efficiency and productivity in companies. Those who use mobile working in a targeted manner benefit from cost savings and are better able to meet the diverse needs. With a comprehensive strategy, you can meet the challenges ahead of time and develop solutions that will enable you to enter the world of mobile working in a structured and prepared manner.
