The rise of truly secure mobile communications

The e-mail market is growing at a phenomenal rate, with an ever-increasing number of businesses naturally keen to take advantage of the productivity gains of delivering e-mail to their workforce any time, and any place.

With research from Ovum(1) showing that the typical mobile professional loses an average of 53 minutes a day by not having e-mail connectivity during downtime, such as while travelling, waiting for meetings, sitting at the airport, etc, and a Gartner(2) study showing that employees are 30% more productive with a mobile e-mail solution, it`s easy to understand why 50% of the enterprises interviewed in February of this year by Data Monitor (3) had already deployed, or were planning to deploy, mobile e-mail solutions.

In today`s fast-paced, competitive world, time really is money.

"The explosion in mobile connectivity solutions has been driven by a number of key factors," explains Ari Backholm, Vice-President, Marketing and Product Management for SEVEN.

SEVEN, a global provider of software that enables mobile operators, Internet e-mail providers and service providers to offer their subscribers secure, low-cost, real-time access to business and personal e-mail applications, is a partner in the Condyn Security Framework.

"The first is that, until recently, IT managers had to build their own solution from the wide choice of devices, configurations and software available. Once built, they had to support it themselves. There was no `out of the box` solution. Today, however, partnerships like the one SEVEN has with Condyn mean that IT managers can take advantage of a pre-prepared and configured solution, and benefit from the support and accumulated knowledge of both parties.

Trek to the summit

00Days

:

00Hrs

:

00Min

:

00Sec

"Usability has also been another key influence," says Backholm. "Where previously the technology was seen as gadgetry for the tecchie, the arrival of more user-friendly devices such as the BlackBerry, and new device manufacturers like Nokia, Sony, Motorola and Ericsson - all of which are e-mail-centric - have opened up the technology`s usability to a much wider audience. Add to this that the connection between solutions is now much more transparent - although users don`t need to know how the solutions synchronise, just that they can and do - and you have a mobile capability that enables the user to really take charge of when and how they work. They don`t themselves need to be in the office to call colleagues, or manage their inbox or calendars - it is all there at the touch of a button, wherever they are. The resulting better, faster communication for managers, professional services people, salesmen and other field-based staff means an increase in productivity that any competitive company can`t afford to be without.

"Of course, for these mobile solutions to deliver maximum effectiveness, immediacy of information is absolutely essential. At SEVEN, our Always-On Mail solution provides true `Push` functionality. End-users enjoy real-time access to corporate and personal data on applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes without the need for cable or cradle synchronisation - and without the need to request it. As soon as they turn on their device, the information that is on their desktop is immediately available and vice versa. As soon as a user writes, deletes or sends messages, their actions are simultaneously reflected back at the office.

"And because our mobile e-mail solution can be installed on dozens of mobile phones and PDAs based on Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Smartphone and Symbian platforms in devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and many more, Always-On Mail can benefit the widest possible range of large enterprises, SMEs and consumer companies."

As with any mobile offering, however, the issue of security is one that requires careful consideration. While it may not yet be uppermost in the mind of all potential users - a recent survey from Data Monitor showed that only 26% of companies interviewed had actually assessed the security risks associated with smartphones, compared with 81% of enterprises conducting security assessments for laptops - its importance should not be underestimated. South African businesses, in particular, are at the forefront of attacks within Africa, being predominantly English speaking.

"Security will always be a key factor to the success of any mobile solution," says Jorina van Rensburg, CEO of Condyn, "but there also needs to be a reasonable balance between security and usability. In the past, some IT managers have been so concerned about security and the possible loss of confidential company information that they have over-restricted access; have insisted on a single device for all; or have been exercised about the potential loss of devices. SEVEN has addressed these issues. For example, Always-On Mail is not installed on the company e-mail server, so your corporate network can never be breached through it. Enterprise-class security, including AES 128 encryption of all communication, and secure user authentication is standard on every version of SEVEN`s solution. There is inbuilt security for all of the devices Always-On Mail supports, and the capability to erase information remotely should the device be lost or stolen.

"So," says Van Rensburg, "whereas in the past IT managers have been totally focused on locking down their system - often to the point that they became unusable - today, the issues have changed. The need now is to open up the flow of information so that their companies can reap the increased productivity mobile e-mail solutions can bring. Success in this area is going to require not only an understanding of the security issues, and how the landscape has changed, but of the diverse demands of individual internal customer groups. Because, it is clear that, going forward, there is going to be no convergence of devices, platforms and operating systems and there will be an on-going need to support these different devices."

Backholm agrees. "With mobile e-mail going more mainstream, the most successful companies will be those that consider well the usability and user experience that each solution offers. Increasingly they must provide the most cost-effective solution available: one that requires a minimum of IT resources; is easy to provide, manage and personalise; and that makes the user want to use continue to use it because its benefits in making life easier are self-evident."

1. Ovum 2002, Mobile Intranets : Towards the Wireless Enterprise: Ipsos-Reid study of Internet users
2. Gartner
3. Data Monitor: Mobile Email : The Quest for Differentiation, February 2006