Thursday, June 14, 2012
We’ve helped over 100 companies to implement MDM, and here are the most common challenges that we’ve seen. Policies that don’t balance all stakeholder needs Security is important to the company, but so is user experience. Is it possible to be too secure? The answer is yes, if you don’t take into consideration end users and their desire for ease of use with their devices. You could implement policies that make using a mobile device so onerous that people actually become less productive. On the flip side, you could give up too much control to your end users. Balance is the key. Viewing MDM software as commodity Because there are limitations on MDM functionality that are imposed by operating systems, … Continue reading »
Tags: android, mdm, mdm vendors, mobile device management, mobile security
Thursday, June 14, 2012
With summer upon us and vacation season starting, your company might see higher roaming costs than usual. Roaming has always been one of the biggest mobile cost control headaches. We’ve seen individual users spend $30,000 in one month! Here are a few things that you can do to avoid “bill shock”: Do employees know how much they cost? Many employees just aren’t aware of how much roaming can cost. Some people may not think it costs much to “just watch one movie.” One of Avema’s Fortune 500 clients had monthly roaming costs of $15,000, and when we started emailing reports to users and managers, this immediately decreased to $5,000/month. Employees could now understand how their usage affects costs, and became accountable. … Continue reading »
Tags: cost savings, roaming
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
“The trend toward employee-owned devices isn’t saving IBM any money, says Jeanette Horan, who is IBM’s chief information officer and oversees all the company’s internal use of IT. Instead, she says, it has created new challenges for her department of 5,000 people, because employees’ devices are full of software that IBM doesn’t control.” http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40324/?p1=BI IBM has had a BYOD program since 2010, and out of about 400,000 employees, they’re using 40,000 Blackberrys, and 80,000 other smartphones and tablets, some of them employee owned. Some advantages that IBM has that you (probably) don’t: Technology as core competency of the company Internal tools – they sell their own MDM software and have their own cloud storage application, MyMobileHub Scale IBM is one … Continue reading »
Tags: byod, cost savings, mobile device management, mobile security
Monday, March 12, 2012
Article published in CIO Update: Businesses of all shapes and sizes are struggling with the bring your own device (BYOD) phenomena. On one hand, BYOD is a boon. Employees get the devices they like. Often they pay for them out of their own pockets, and productivity goes up. On the other hand, support costs can also go up, bandwidth may become saturated and, if policies aren’t crafted well, employees can end up feeling cheated by their employers. Creating a workable BYOD policy isn’t rocket science, but it is a delicate balancing act. Get it right, and you’ll boost both productivity and employee morale. Get it wrong, and you’ll need to start worrying about both security risks and increasingly disgruntled workers. … Continue reading »
Monday, February 27, 2012
Originally published at No Jitter. By Robert Lee Harris I spent a lot of last summer working with a large enterprise IT department transition from company-owned Blackberries to employee-owned devices. Here’s what I took away from the experience. This was a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) project much like many companies are now considering. Being involved in the real-life execution of the strategy is, to say the least, a learning experience. This article is titled “Lessons Learned,” but it does not include every lesson learned. That would be too much reading! Instead, I have listed some key points that are likely to apply to most enterprises considering a BYOD plan. 1. Not Everyone Wants to Bring Their Own DeviceIt is probably hard … Continue reading »
Friday, February 24, 2012
There’s a lot of buzz around BYOD in an increasingly mobile workforce, but little consensus around rules and guidelines to be incorporated in a policy. Whether you’ve just started planning your BYOD policy, or have already implemented one, we’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences. You can learn more about what other companies are doing in their policies by participating in this survey, being conducted by Software Advice. The results will be published in March, so come back to this blog for the results! Click here for the survey.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Computerworld recently published this article, Chief Mobile Officer: A job title now timely? “…as enterprises scramble these days to establish mobile strategies, having a CMO could be a key to success, according to a new Forrester Research report. Smartphones and tablets are “the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement… [with] customers, partners and employees,” Forrester said in the 30-page report. “To remain vital in this business technology reformation, CIOs must step up and work with other executives to establish an office of the chief mobility officer to implement an enterprisewide mobile strategy.” One of the report’s authors, Forrester analyst Ted Schadler, said in an interview that one of purposes of the report is to get … Continue reading »
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Philippe Winthrop wrote an article, and proposed the term COPE (yes, another acronym) to describe another way to manage consumerization of IT: Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled. “The IT department would provide you ANY mobile device you want…that’s because they have embraced the Consumerization of IT. However, as opposed to trying to find a way to secure the corporate data that will reside on the employees’ personal devices, why not instead provide the employees a means to put some personal content on their work devices? The device (and the corporate data that resides on it) is fully managed and controlled, but also allows for employees to install the apps they like for their personal use. We already see this in many organizations … Continue reading »
Tags: byod
Friday, January 20, 2012
There are two separate issues involved with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies that seem to get constantly mixed up: Who pays for the device Choice of device Who pays for the device With the proliferation of smartphones in the general population, many employees who did not previously have a corporate paid device, and who didn’t necessarily require mobile access to do their jobs, are now asking to be able to use their own devices at work. Since these devices belong to the employees, this is truly a BYOD phenomenon. Companies may benefit from increased productivity amongst users who are keen to check email more frequently on their shiny new toys business productivity tools. Employees may also be happier, … Continue reading »
Tags: byod, cost savings
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Here’s an interesting take on carriers managing mobile devices: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/uh-oh-the-carriers-want-manage-your-smartphones-181055?page=0,1 “There’s a whole industry called telecom expense management (TEM) that exists solely because carrier bills cannot be trusted to be accurate. Despite years of claimed work by carriers on their billing systems, the bills remain untrustworthy, and (surprise!) they tend to overcharge. This is a provider you’d want to give more business and trust?” It’s true, as a TEM company, we keep adding on more customers who recognize that they’re paying more to carriers than they need to. “Have you ever called a carrier for support on your device? Or brought one in to a retail store? If so, you know the experience is almost always poor. Would any business … Continue reading »
Tags: cost savings
