Will Business End IT’s Hold Over Mobiles in 2012?
“Mobile devices are already out of IT’s bucket of responsibilities. This is a trend that’s been in the making for sometime.”
Arun Gupta
Shoppers Stop, CCA and Group CTO
“Mobile devices will always be a part of the IT department’s responsibilities, and a part of the business organization’s architecture.”
Farhan Khan
Radico Khaitan, AVP-IT
In my opinion, mobile devices are already out of IT’s bucket of responsibilities.
This is a trend that’s been in the making for sometime. In the past, enterprise use of mobiles was restricted, mostly, to BlackBerry phones. And IT governed every aspect of mobile use, including the type, the model, and the kind of applications which could be used on mobile devices. Mobile policies, too, for the most part, were dictated by IT.
But today, enterprises have a more mobile-agnostic approach; they are willing to embrace any type of mobile phone users bring. In fact, some enterprises are willing to look beyond—at other types of devices.
That represents a considerable shift in IT perspective: From control to enablement.
We’ve allowed employees to bring personal devices within the enterprise over 12 months ago, while carefully controlling information access and processes. Currently, our IT usage policy allows devices to be used interchangeably: Official devices can be used for limited personal use, and personal devices can connect to enterprise applications with some boundaries.
I believe IT needs to adopt a progressive approach—rather than a restrictive stance—regarding how information assets should be used. The truth is mobile devices have been more helpful in moving information quicker—and to a larger set of users—than any other end-user device. This has created the ability to act expeditiously; an ability some enterprises have begun exploiting. Importantly, the policy of those enterprises allows the use of diverse mobile devices, even those not deployed by IT.
Security shouldn’t be a barrier. If the security stance of an enterprise is well-documented and understood by users, a workable solution can be crafted.
I believe mobile devices will always be a part of the IT department’s responsibilities, and a part of the business organization’s architecture.
At Radico, we buy mobile devices for our employees. In the future, we plan to equip our employees with iPads. For us, it’s not a headache to provide software or hardware maintenance services because that’s taken care of by the manufacturer. We don’t need specialized skill-sets to maintain these devices; it is easy to use since support is available.
But proper workflow management needs to be devised if such devices are to be allowed. And that’s only possible under IT’s control. The reason is information security. This will always remain IT’s biggest concern given the proliferation of mobile devices. In my opinion, if you allow employees to access critical business applications on personal devices, security will be compromised.
Organizations can benefit from a policy that allows users to take advantage of the increased productivity that mobiles offer in a safe manner. In general, a good bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy acknowledges that the enterprise doesn’t own a device but does own the data. It is reasonable to require that this data be protected effectively.
A BYOD policy should include terms and conditions that cover data when an employee leaves the company, for lost or stolen devices, for a device configured to receive and transmit corporate data, for password authentication, encryption standards and technology framework, and also a list of devices to be allowed. Enterprises need to focus on adding value to core business capabilities through the tactical use of mobile solutions—but only where it makes sense. Blindly implementing a new trend will only put information at stake.
Therefore, it is a good idea for IT to take responsibility of BYOD and encourage staffers to use an organization’s devices in order to keep an organization secure.
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