The South African market is still dominated by the Symbian and BlackBerry operating systems, but this is changing on a daily basis, as individuals and employees migrate to iOS and/or Android devices.
So says William Hardie, executive head of Enterprise Mobility, a division of Vox Telecom, who notes that SA is probably about a year behind Europe and the US, but that the iOS and Android hype has already started.
“As BlackBerry's market share dwindles and Symbian is phased out, being replaced by iOS, Android and Windows phones, SA will catch up with the rest of the world,” Hardie states.
Gartner has flagged three operating systems that will dominate over the next five years - iOS, Android and Webos (Nokia/Microsoft).
No choice
Thus, Hardie is of the view that, going forward, CIOs and IT executives do not have a choice when it comes to adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy.
As an example, he explains, Samsung has a dedicated enterprise division in SA, which focuses solely on this opportunity.
“So the advantages are primarily for the end-user or employee, in that they have the ability to choose what they want, as opposed to having it prescribed. This makes user experiences a lot better from a choice perspective, not to mention other softer aspects like employee satisfaction and loyalty to one's company,” he adds.
Corporate nightmare
Nonetheless, Hardie says the BYOD environment is a nightmare for the corporate IT managers charged with protecting the integrity of company systems and data.
For example, he points out, as devices get smaller and easier to carry around, they are also easier to lose.
“And when a director leaves his iPad with its copy of the latest board pack on a plane, the data might as well be posted directly on the company's Web site. A recent study found that 96% of people who picked up 'lost' smartphones tried to access personal or business data, and 45% tried to access corporate e-mail clients.”
He therefore notes that mobile data security and device management need to be front-and-centre of corporate IT strategies.
According to Hardie, the first challenge is to integrate the wide variety of mobile operating systems - iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile - into corporate environments, despite the fact that all are proprietary and very different.
“Authentication policies need to establish trusted devices and trusted users, and clear guidelines need to be established and enforced around what a user can do with company resources. Clear boundaries between private and corporate information, and protecting the company, is just the start. It should also be possible to remotely access and wipe the device if it is lost or stolen.”
Natural development
Barry Gill, Mimecast's enterprise director, says, naturally, corporate employees are beginning to request access to enterprise services on the devices they feel will help them carry out their jobs more effectively.
In response, Gill adds, many high-level executives are juggling with the benefits and drawbacks related to allowing employees access to internal networks and applications using technology that exists outside of approved risk policies and security models.
“The reality is that the concept of BYOD has been present for some time already. Tablet PCs and smartphones are as equally disruptive as Lazlo Biro's ballpoint pen was to the corporate environment in the early 20th century; the only significant dissimilarity is the volume of requests and the technology associated with them.”
He suggests that instead of choosing to ignore the workforce's desire to use new and intuitive devices to drive process efficiency, CIOs should instead focus on updating internal security profiles and corporate governance to accommodate the demand.
“Key to this is basic understanding. Any organisation considering the empowerment of its staff through an open hardware policy should take the time to understand these new innovations and the hazards they may carry.”
Furthermore, Gill explains, executives should ensure that this strategy allows for the education of staff with regards to the risks they could potentially be exposed to when using a mobile device to access corporate information. This includes scheduling regular user feedback sessions, during which employees are able to communicate their concerns and desires.
“Disruptive innovations are far less unsettling when organisations adopt a flexible attitude towards technology,” he concludes.
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