The interconnection between mobile liberty and technological advancement.
Laid-Back Analysis: The No-Nonsense Guide to Modern Workplace Mobility
Here's the lowdown on enterprise mobility strategy — a topic that may seem straightforward at first glance, but can quickly become a tangled mess when you dig deeper.
Mobility affects every IT department's fair share of existential crises. Users hold the power to their own devices and data, and it's baffling for IT to determine its role in all this. The obvious gain here is increased productivity — but how do you prove it?
The traditional IT management approach is taking a hit when face-to-face with the mobility challenge. It seems like an outdated plan to lock down the mobile environment and limit information flow. Instead, we need openness and user freedom to thrive in today's fast-paced business climate.
To get a new spin on things, I chatted with Stowe Boyd, a tech writer and researcher for GigaOm. He's more of an anthropologist than a techie.
In his opinion, trying to lock down the mobile space and restrict information flow is the complete opposite of what's needed right now. Openness and user freedom should be the norm.
"I think what's going to happen is there will be fewer and fewer domains inside the business where people will believe that you're benefiting from the attitude of making everything confidential," he shared with me.
"In fact, in the fast and loose model of business operations that is necessary today, you need to operate on the opposite presumption: that to the greatest degree possible it's better to make information available to people so that unexpected, unanticipated applications of that information become possible."
"Otherwise, you're just stifling innovation and new opportunities," he added.
He pointed to research that shows ideas travel more effectively through an organization when there are more connections between its members, apart from implausible ideas, which tend to get discarded by the crowd's collective wisdom.
"If you want to have a free flow of ideas and you want people to be exposed to new thinking, the simplest thing is to get more people connected."
Security gurus may jump on the bandwagon and talk about risks organizations could be exposing themselves to with a carefree attitude towards mobile devices. These risks are indeed a reality and must be addressed.
But security should not be the primary objective of a mobility strategy. User empowerment, innovation, and organizational openness should be the ultimate goals.
My upcoming feature on enterprise mobility strategy, including an inside look at Standard Chartered's creative approach to mobile, will appear in the next issue of our platform magazine. Click here to subscribe in print or a variety of digital options.
Pros and Cons of an Open Enterprise Mobility Strategy:
- Advantages: Increased productivity, employee flexibility, improved customer experience, simplified device management, and support for compliance.
- Disadvantages: Data security concerns, device management complexity, balancing user empowerment and security.
To strike the perfect balance between security and user empowerment, follow these best practices:
- Implement a robust Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) system.
- Adopt Zero Trust security models that continuously verify user identities.
- Use containerization and app wrapping to separate corporate data from personal data.
- Establish clear device usage policies for BYOD.
- Continuously educate and train users on security best practices.
- Tailor your mobility strategy to support unique business needs and foster innovation.
In the rapidly evolving business landscape, it's essential to reconsider traditional strategies in light of modern technology. This may involve rethinking the role of finance in acquiring gadgets such as smartphones for business use, ensuring that such investments drive productivity and innovation.
Moreover, in formulating an enterprise mobility strategy, the focus should not solely be on security, but also on fostering openness and user freedom. By doing so, we can encourage the free flow of ideas and new opportunities, ultimately leading to improved customer experiences and organizational growth.
