The future of businesses and IT organisations is highly dependent on an organisation's ability to empower its mobile workforce. Corporate resources must be securely and reliably accessible by every device employed to perform business tasks, regardless of whether it is owned by the business or by an employee.
This is according to Mareike Fondufe, senior product marketing manager at FrontRange, a service management software solutions company.
According to market analyst Enterprise Management Associates, 58% of business smartphones are purchased by the user, not the employer and this number is expected to grow to 85% in 2016.
Because the workforce is now mobile and is using multiple end-points to get their job done in the office and remotely, Fondufe believes EMM solutions can help IT organisations with the challenges and security concerns that arise with the bring your own device movement.
Fondufe points out that nearly 42% of organisations believe an EMM strategy is important to the future of their business and yet, despite this need, many companies and IT organisations do not have an integrated mobile management solution.
She believes that an EMM solution enables companies to manage the plethora of devices that are used in the business. Users have anytime, anywhere access to their applications and devices while IT can maintain the necessary level of security and compliance.
Users can be empowered through self-service to secure their device, order a replacement and initiate deployment of applications, which significantly reduces manual involvement, eliminating steps, time and reducing overall exposure, says Fondufe.
In her view, many organisations are still trying to get a handle of all the technology changes and do not have the time and resources to investigate processes and technologies that will make their operations more efficient.
By not having an EMM integrated solution, businesses are not benefiting from increased automation, maximised efficiencies and better service quality that an EMM solution brings to an organisation, says Fondufe.
"When companies use manual or semi-automated solutions that are siloed, they have to deal with a lot of inefficiencies, limited integration and limited automation. A lot of time and money is wasted in the process while users are unproductive and data can be compromised if workflow processes are broken."
With devices, data and applications growing exponentially it's vital to have a solution that holistically manages these growing end-points and efficiently supports users so they can work anytime, anywhere with access to the information they need, says Fondufe.
She notes that while giving users flexibility and empowering them with EMM tools and self-service is important, organisations should choose a solution that enforces corporate standards, compliance and security guidelines - ensuring that corporate data is protected and the endpoints are not subject to any security vulnerabilities, but are updated and maintained in a timely and efficient manner.
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