Category: Mobilize

Mobilize covers the range of issues facing IT leaders and team members in their efforts to support the business activities of an increasingly mobile workforce.

The Race for Mobile Data Security

by , posted in Mobilize
A. Braunberg
A. Braunberg

Summary Bullets:

  • Regardless of device, data protection is critical.
  • Current product/service choices are diverse to the point of being a bit daunting.

I have blogged a good bit lately about our recent mobility survey data.  One of the takeaways, as I have noted, is that enterprises are resigned to (and perhaps beginning to embrace) the consumerization of IT and the need to provide a degree of choice in mobile device support.  What this tends to mean is that Apple and Android smartphones and tablets are increasingly accessing resources from corporate networks.  However, while enterprise IT/security teams might have lost the battle, they still plan on winning the war; and the war has always really been about data protection. Continue reading “The Race for Mobile Data Security” →

Mobile Application Development and Delivery: Service Providers Offer Unique Benefits, but Does IT Need Them?

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:         

  • Mobile application development and delivery has become a big focus for service providers, which offer a range of different approaches, including platform-enabled development, delivery of third-party apps, and enterprise app stores.
  • These solutions may complement internal capabilities from IT; what can they do that IT cannot?

The mobile application has become the new frontier for service providers adding to their managed mobility services portfolios.  As hundreds of thousands of mobile apps are now available for download from app stores, at the very least, IT may need help in sorting through, vetting, and establishing workflow procedures to approve or disapprove applications for specific users or departments.  However, service providers want to do more than provide a way to manage third-party applications.  Many of them are hoping to monetize application development and delivery.  For example, a number of operators and IT service providers (such as AT&T, Verizon, and Accenture) are hosting mobile enterprise application platforms (MEAPs) that are used to develop custom mobile applications, or they can deliver third-party enterprise apps as a service for horizontal business processes, for a specific vertical application, or to empower B2B2C applications such as mobile marketing campaigns.  Many large IT service providers such as CSC and IBM are more likely to develop custom applications for a particular customer, but can optionally host them and deliver them as a service.  There are also hybrid approaches; service providers such as T-Systems have developed a set of business applications with broad appeal and are offering them to a variety of customers across different industries.

Continue reading “Mobile Application Development and Delivery: Service Providers Offer Unique Benefits, but Does IT Need Them?” →

Extending Corporate Video Conferencing to Mobile Devices

by , posted in Mobilize
Brian Riggs - Research Director, Enterprise Software and Communications

Summary Bullets:

  • Mobility to be the next big product trend for enterprise video conferencing technology
  • There are a number of ways to extend corporate video conferencing solutions to mobile devices

The increasing adoption of video conferencing systems in the enterprise combined with the increasing adoption of video-capable mobile devices is set to both challenge and annoy IT departments. One of the problems is that the software and systems that deliver business-class video conferencing (from Cisco, IBM LifeSize, Magor, Microsoft, Polycom, Vidyo etc.) are completely different from the software that runs on the mobile devices wheedling their way into the enterprise as part of the BYOD phenomenon (from Apple, Google, Fuze, Skype, Tango, etc.). It’s unlikely that the two will learn to coexist peacefully anytime soon. Enterprise IT departments will continue to deploy on-premise or cloud-based video conferencing solutions that meet security and compliance requirements. And end users will separately use separate consumer-friendly video conferencing technology on their mobile devices with or without IT’s formal blessing. Continue reading “Extending Corporate Video Conferencing to Mobile Devices” →

Operators and TEM: Is the Argument About the Fox Guarding the Henhouse Going Away?

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • Nearly all Tier 1 US and global mobile operators offer multi-carrier telecom expense management (TEM), providing voice and data usage information, billing reconciliation, and cost allocation, as well as advice on service/spend optimization.
  • But independent TEM software vendors and IT service providers claim operators can’t be objective about mobile spend and shouldn’t be trusted to advise customers on how to optimize mobile expenses.

TEM is important because it is often the first step taken by enterprises to take control over their mobility environments. Before plunging into more extensive deployments of mobile applications or investing in more devices and service plans, they need to take a granular snapshot of what devices and services they already have, and see if they are spending wisely across all their carriers. At first glance it would seem unlikely that they would go to one of their primary carriers to get advice on where to spend (or not to spend) their telecom budgets. However, nearly all global carriers are now offering this as a managed service, often using platforms from leading TEM software vendors. Vodafone Global Enterprise has taken this a step further by acquiring two TEM vendors (Quickcomm and TnT Expense Management) and setting up a separate TEM practice with add-on professional services. Continue reading “Operators and TEM: Is the Argument About the Fox Guarding the Henhouse Going Away?” →

Network Equipment Vendors Well Positioned in Mobility Deals

by , posted in Mobilize
A. Braunberg
A. Braunberg

Summary Bullets

  • Network equipment vendors are well positioned to be preferred providers of enterprise mobility solutions.
  • These vendors should not ignore a place on mobile endpoints, however and should deliver secure connectivity, management and security.

I introduced a few data points from Current Analysis’ recent Mobility Survey in my last mobility blog post post (see “Addressing the Adoption of Tablets and Smartphones in the Enterprise,” October 27, 2011). The takeaway from that post was that enterprises are strongly inclined to purchase tablets and smartphones for employees to use at work and that these organizations want to manage those devices. That data leads to an obvious follow up: what vendors benefit from enterprise purchase of these devices? Continue reading “Network Equipment Vendors Well Positioned in Mobility Deals” →

Systems Integrators vs. Mobile Operators: Which Are Best Suited for Enterprise Mobility Requirements?

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • IT service providers have long-established relationships with large enterprises, offering a range of advisory and managed IT services that now includes managed mobility services.
  • Operators may provide managed wireline services to large enterprises, including  managed, secure VPNs, as well as a wealth of fixed and mobile access options.  They may also provide managed mobility.  How does an enterprise decide where to go for their mobility requirements?

Recent research conducted by Current Analysis shows that a relatively small percentage (25-35%) of businesses currently utilize external service providers for mobility management and security, but this is changing.

Continue reading “Systems Integrators vs. Mobile Operators: Which Are Best Suited for Enterprise Mobility Requirements?” →

Addressing the Adoption of Tablets and Smartphones in the Enterprise

by , posted in Mobilize
A. Braunberg
A. Braunberg

Summary Bullets:

  • At a high level, U.S. businesses are taking similar strategic approaches to the introduction of both tablets and smartphones into the enterprise.
  • Not surprisingly, the majority of survey respondents want to buy these devices and manage them.

Current Analysis recently completed a survey of enterprises in the U.S. to determine strategic direction for the adoption of tablets and smartphones in enterprise networks. While it is often assumed that enterprises will approach the adoption of tablets and smartphones differently (with tablets treated as simple laptop replacements), our research suggests this is not the case. Continue reading “Addressing the Adoption of Tablets and Smartphones in the Enterprise” →

New Developments in BYOD: How to Keep IT and Employees Happy at the Same Time

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • The current generation of solutions for dealing with use of personal mobile devices in the enterprise have been an unsatisfactory compromise between IT control and employee flexibility
  • A new generation of technologies is poised to solve the problem of dual personas with less complexity and more flexibility for both the business and the employee

Enterprises are changing their minds about allowing employees to bring in their own mobile devices to work, because it’s actually a huge money-saver. Why shell out scarce dollars for new corporate-owned cell phones when employees are already buying the latest devices? Corporate-liable ownership is starting to go the way of company cars and even company-owned laptops. The problem is that smartphones are now frighteningly capable computers that can access internal corporate information behind the firewall, can store confidential emails, documents and customer data, surf the internet, become virus-ridden, and are much more likely than laptops to be left in a taxicab (or a bar). Continue reading “New Developments in BYOD: How to Keep IT and Employees Happy at the Same Time” →

Step One in Mobilizing Your Contact Center: Send Your Agents Home

by , posted in Mobilize
K. Landoline
K. Landoline

Summary Bullets:

  • Initiating a remote agent program is an effective way to get started in mobilizing your contact center.
  • The economic and human resource benefits of a remote agent program to the enterprise and the agents are too important and substantial to ignore in contact center planning efforts.

The mobility revolution is affecting every aspect of the business world today as workers are expected to be available from anywhere at any time, and customers demand 24×7 corporate access from the device of their choice. In the long term the shift to mobility will affect all stakeholders in the customer care environment including the agents, the contact center managers and the customers. In this initial blog on the topic I will focus on the agents.

Continue reading “Step One in Mobilizing Your Contact Center: Send Your Agents Home” →

Benefits (and Challenges) of M2M Deployments

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • M2M is starting to provide many benefits to enterprises across diverse industries
  • Challenges remain that require solid operational, financial, and resource planning

What is so exciting about M2M technology is that the use cases are expanding so rapidly. Enterprises start out with one application – using low-speed, sporadic data connections – and then think of a half-dozen other aspects of their business that can benefit. The most tangible benefits are the productivity gains from automating processes that have been done manually. By collecting data on the performance and status of remote assets, such as industrial equipment, vehicles, people, inventory, containers, and cargo, businesses can prevent problems and save substantially on onsite service calls. By optimizing routes, companies can save on gas, mechanical wear and tear, and the time it takes for a technician to get to and complete a call. By remotely checking on the status of equipment and setting alerts if a device is out of compliance, companies see reductions in problems, service calls, and the need for routine maintenance, as well as less customer frustration due to out-of-order equipment or low inventory. Benefits relating to productivity gains, resource optimization, and problem and cost avoidance are often the starting point for M2M deployments, as they represent almost guaranteed and rapid ROI.
Continue reading “Benefits (and Challenges) of M2M Deployments” →