Time for CIOs to give gift of mobile device management

 

Smartphones and tablets topped the wish lists of many people this holiday season, as they asked loved ones for the latest and greatest in mobile technology. Now, it's up to chief information officers to begin dealing with what is almost certain to be a flood of new consumer devices.

With the spread of bring-your-own-device mobility programs, employees are encouraged to leverage their personally owned smartphones and tablets at work. Following the particularly tech-heavy holiday season, companies will now begin to see if their mobile device management strategies are up to the task, according to a recent Forbes report.

"Coming back to work after the holidays means one thing for Chief Information Officers: connecting to the corporate network all those iPads, iPhones and Android smartphones and tablets that employees received as cool presents," David Merrill wrote in a guest blog post for the news provider.

In order to help CIOs accomplish this, Merrill also identified several areas that he believes requires the most attention if MDM is to be effective in a BYOD environment.

Respect policies

In order for devices - of any sort - to be managed effectively, the company is going to have to get a little help from end-users, Merrill noted. That's especially true in terms of following the guidelines and restrictions in a mobile security policy. In doing so, it's more likely that security and other threats will be avoided.

Think about control

A loss of control is what companies fear most when employees start bringing devices from home. But working with end-users to find a common ground can usually allow the organization to retain governance over certain areas, with security the most common and necessary, the report said.

Watch for the cloud

According to Merrill, "mobile and the cloud were made for each other." Some companies have begun the process of integrating the cloud into their enterprise mobility programs. And if they haven't already, perhaps now is the time to do so. The cloud can help a company with the data storage needs of mobile devices and improve security, by forcing users to access data from a central location rather than download it.

According to research from Flurry, a company that tracks app stores and downloads, there were 6.8 million iOS and Android devices activated on Christmas Day alone. Chances are that at least some of those devices will make their way into the workplace.