Is your business playing to win (or not to lose) with mobility?
PUBLISHED ONMarch 27, 2014 9:46 AM
Mobile technology first took off in the consumer market, and it wasn't too long before IT managers were being asked to handle an influx of personal devices in the workplace. Mobile strategies often focused only on BYOD (or "bring your own device"), and this meant supporting employee-owned smartphones and other personal devices.
Flash forward to today, as some innovative companies understand that mobility isn't just about rolling out devices en masse; it's about allowing mobile devices to disrupt and - ultimately - transform their businesses with new revenue models, new ways of communicating with customers and new ways of inspiring employees.
Mobility 2.0
To start down the road of transformation, companies need to first secure the devices and data they're putting in the hands of employees. Security threats are real and growing, morphing from viruses to social engineering schemes to serious data loss. Imagine a health employee losing her tablet when her car gets broken into, potentially putting customer medical records at risk. Or imagine a government employee unwittingly downloading a malicious app from an online store, infecting his agency's entire network.
Policies and management are critical when deploying mobile solutions company-wide. Companies need to be able to wipe devices clean remotely if they are lost, ensure that hard drives can't be decrypted easily and keep security patches are up-to-date. Businesses have been so busy working to avoid these threats that many have ignored the ways mobile computing can make their businesses run better and create new revenue streams.
As mobility continues its long march into businesses, what will your company do to ensure it's playing to win? Meinhardt Group, Ryobi Kiso and ADEKA Singapore are using mobility to transform how they go to market, serve customers and collaborate between employees. And in doing so, they are distancing themselves from their competitors in ways that will pay off for many years to come.