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Enterprise Mobility – Are you ready for the onslaught?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Your workforce is on the move. And your job is to make sure they are productive no matter where they are – at the office, working from home, at the local Starbucks, or en route to distant points around the globe. And I bet that one of the greatest enablers of your workforce – mobile connectivity – is actually one of your enterprise’s biggest challenges.

Managing enterprise mobility used to be simple. You provided your workforce with a limited choice of devices and negotiated corporate-wide connectivity rate plans. Your IT team could ensure security with a company VPN that kept everything safe and locked down. But before you knew it; the game changed. The options for enterprise mobility multiplied overnight.

Your employees are now demanding anytime, anywhere access to information, because that’s how they work. They don’t think about the compliance, security, or cost implications. They want the latest devices and universal access. So what factors are impact your ability to rein in costs and gain control? Here are some of the major challenges that we’ve seen:

  • Expensive employee-purchased devices. Mobile devices are often initially purchased by employees for personal use, and then used for business. Because you can’t leverage negotiated corporate rates, your company is stuck paying for more expensive devices and much higher connectivity costs.
  • Huge roaming charges. Even if the employee has a good connectivity plan at home, they may not be eligible for similar rates abroad. International usage of mobile devices can result in huge roaming charges.
  • Lock in to inflexible carrier rate plans and device types. The ability to mix and match networks based on location or policies is often restricted by long term contracts that restrict your ability to make changes quickly at the pace your business demands.
  • Paying for obsolete contracts and devices. Infrequently used or abandoned devices can continue to generate monthly service charges even after they are discarded or the employee has left the company.
  • End-user support. Even though your employees may have purchased their own devices, they will still expect your IT help desk to support them. This is a realistic demand, since these devices will be used in conjunction with your key corporate applications and email.
  • Loss of confidential data. Lost or stolen devices not only put the data on the actual devices at risk, but  they also carry corpo­rate credentials that afford full client access to mission-critical applications.
  • More exposure to viruses. It is inevitable that your workers will access personal websites from their company phones, laptops and other devices. Using a browser is a great way to catch a virus which can then capture corporate logins if security is inadequate.
  • A lack of visibility into mobility spending. Device and connectivity charges often get buried inside employees’ expense reports, limiting your ability to get accurate in­formation about the real costs of mobile computing.

Although tempting, shutting off new apps and methods of access isn’t an option, because always-on connectivity is a competitive necessity. So, how can an enterprise empower its mobile workforce in a cost effective, responsible, and professional way?

The iPass portfolio of enterprise mobility services is changing the economics of mobility by enabling carrier independence, containing expensive connectivity costs, decreasing end-user support costs, and reducing the mobility administration burden. The platform delivers a new level of insight and control to drive down expenses and maintain security in a world where employees-as-consumers drive enterprise IT.

Mobility doesn’t have to be a severe financial drain or complex management challenge for your organization. Check out the iPass portfolio of enterprise mobility solutions today at www.iPass.com or try a test drive of our Open Mobile Platform.

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