When the first mobile phones were commercially introduced in the 1980s, they were only used in certain fixed locations outside the office, such as the car, on vacation or in emergency cases.
Today, it is almost impossible to find a business person who does not carry a mobile phone, moreover the phones have personal computer attributes like supporting email and web access.
Dynamic Business Environment
This expanded technology is giving firms a hard time controlling the company’s data and information as it is on nearly every 
employee’s mobile device. The main problem for today´s firms is to find the balance between keeping up with global distribution and securely managing the growing mobility. This is right where Enterprise Mobility Solutions come in. There are many providers such as AT&T, Vodafone or SAP that are offering platforms as a help for firms to better control its mobile devices. With todays movement to mobile and virtual workforces, proper communication tools are inevitable to simplify enterprise mobility. Enterprise Mobility Solutions mission is to bring progression to the mobile worker and also deliver key enrichment to the broader business process. User efficiency in business operations is the major factor for businesses that utilize industry-specific and customized applications. Enterprise Mobility solution providers comprehend the challenges and complexity involved in mobilizing employees and follow industry’s best practices to offer a strategic approach to mobility. The Enterprise Mobility Solutions can run on various mobile platforms including iPhones, iPads, Android, Symbian, BlackBerries and Windows.
“The debate is no longer around whether to enable a mobile workforce. It’s more about deciding which devices to support, who gets access to what, and how to develop the infrastructure that is needed to support these devices,” said Venu Reddy, Research Director, IDC India.
Tasks of an Enterprise Mobility Solution platform:
- enforcing corporate security
- complying with corporate policies
- Strategic approach to mobility
- Provides the complete visibility and constant enterprise access
More and more software firms try to jump on this bandwagon and offer mobile enterprise solutions. So does Wipro, the #1 leader in green electronics, which attracts it´s clients with solutions for various industries including health care, warehouse, retail, energy, natural resources, manufacturing, transportation and logistics.
Potential Pitfalls
This mobilization also presents inherent risks. In his blog “Device Advice”, written by chairman Spencer Green, he pointed out the security problem:
“Mobile technologies certainly raise different security challenges – wireless networks have different vulnerabilities than fixed networks, and mobile devices are more prone to loss and theft.”
Providing workers with sensitive data and apps running on a cloud-based infrastructure, anytime and anywhere, contains a high risk to lose those information to competitors. So, it is absolutely necessary to possess a good firewall. Enterprise Mobility Solution providers also face the challenges of regaining control of their telecommunication cost, and manage mobile flexible working in the first place.
But how does a provider create the optimal customized application platform for its client?
First off, they are defining the enterprise`s mobile strategy with their client and trying to identify applications and systems that can be mobile enabled, the scope of mobilizing them and the business benefits that can be achieved. The next question is to clarify the mobile device strategy, which means to select the platform of choice for the Enterprise Mobility client. Last but not least, they must implement the mobile application, intergrating them smoothly with existing backend systems (exisiting corporate infrastructure systems that are used to run a company such as systems to manage orders, inventory and supply chains). Enabling backend features will be the most important challenge in the coming development of enterprise mobile applications according to Jose Rodriguez. If you want to read more about this topic check out his wonderful article “Democratizing Enterprise Mobility”!
Next week´s blog will introduce a new business model which seems to change companies operating methods, so stay tuned!
The BlogBuster 