The View from Here: Mobile Questions

June 10, 2008

The big news of the week on the tech front is the introduction of the iPhone 2.0, which offers new features, a software developers’ kit and operates on fast 3G networks.

This is a great time for IT and the CEO and CFO’s offices to talk about mobility. There are two realities with which organizations must deal: The line between consumer and business mobility is fuzzy and fading, and mobility has seeped into many organizations with inadequate planning and oversight.

What’s done is done: Mobility is here to stay. But corporations that don’t think seriously about mobility are courting trouble.

Mobility—traditional cells, smartphones, laptops, tablets, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), ultramobile PCs (UMPCs) and others—has the ability to transform an enterprise. There also is negative pressure, since companies that don’t take advantage of these tools will in be comparatively weaker positions compared to those that do.

The integration of mobility into an organization is a very tricky thing, and managers must work through several overlapping but distinct issues.

Security, of course, always is a concern. Mobile devices are threats in two ways. Better and more robust devices are used for more things. They have more memory carry more sensitive data. If a phone or laptop falls into the wrong hands, the company is at risk. The other security issue is that devices that are deeply hooked into backend applications and databases are welcome mats for criminals looking to steal information, distribute malware or create some other form of mischief.

A second and, again, related issue is compliance. Companies requirements under HIPAA and SOX is just as great for their mobilized data as for data sitting cozily in the datacenter. A salesman for a pharmaceutical firm sitting in a Starbucks with a laptop loaded with regulated information on his or her machine—or with inadequately protected channels back to the data center—is a potential legal and public relations disaster for the firm.

A third mobility issue is management. An organization must adequately plan how mobility will be managed. For instance, if a company expects employees to use their own cellphoneshow will it control what happens to the business data it carries when that employee quits or, worse, is terminated (and may be angry)? Asking employees to pay upfront for subscriptions may reduce cash outlay, but it may keep the firm from working out the best deal with carriers. There are many similar issues to work through.

The challenges will grow in the coming years as 4G networks roll out and workforces become even more dispersed. It’s up to IT and the financial side of the business to make sure mobility is integrated in a responsible and secure manner.

–Carl Weinschenk

Posted by Carl · Filed Under Uncategorized