Enterprise Mobility Matters: Hi Ahmed.  It's great speaking with you again.  Enterprise Mobility has changed a lot in the last few years. What would you say is the greatest recent advancement?

Ahmed Datoo: Hi Philippe, it's good chatting with you.  I'd say the greatest recent advancement is the ability for businesses to place controls around mobile environments – just as they have done with their desktop and data center environments. This is critical for today’s organizations, as employees are requesting support for multiple flavors of smartphones. In many cases, smartphones have access to sensitive corporate data, making it imperative that mobile devices are proactively monitored and managed.

EMM: Are companies looking at mobility differently today as compared to a few years ago?

AD: Today, smartphones have replaced desktops and laptops as the communication platform of choice. Improved bandwidth and usability on these devices have opened up new markets for interesting enterprise applications, particularly ones that can improve business productivity.

As an example, a healthcare organization I know of has deployed over 1500 BlackBerries to their field technicians. These technicians rely on their mobile devices to ensure that the company meets an aggressive 10-minute service level agreement for life-saving medical devices. Field service technicians receive routing requests and service requests directly on their BlackBerry device. They can use their handheld to connect directly into SAP to view critical customer information. These devices literally have replaced the laptop in the field.

EMM: How do you see the economy impacting mobility in the enterprise? When are we going to see an upturn in the (our) market?

AD: Today’s economy means IT is under pressure to cut costs, all while supporting an increasing number of mobile devices. In the last few months alone, Apple, RIM and Palm have all introduced new smartphones into the market. The slumping economy has also led many corporations to discontinue the practice of providing company-issued smartphones. As a result, consumers are bringing their personal smartphones inside the enterprise. This means enterprise IT must support even more types of mobile devices on a reduced budget.

EMM: What do you think is the greatest current opportunity for enterprise mobility?

AD: The greatest opportunity for enterprise mobility lies within a comprehensive strategy of mobile management, specifically around expense management, device management, service management and security.

Expense Management: This capability lets the IT or Telecom group save hundreds of thousands of dollars on wasted spending. For example, how many business-issued cell phones are lying dormant in a desk drawer? Is the road warrior equipped with an international plan for overseas travel?

Device Management: The average user spends 1.53 hours per year on the phone with IT support. What if you had real time information about a smartphone device and the ability to cut support related calls by 80 percent? Automated device management capabilities enable IT to drill down and diagnose potential issues before they occur.

Service Management: In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s imperative to have a full end-to-end view of your mobile infrastructure. This capability lets IT automatically monitor and troubleshoot across multiple smartphone platforms, before problems arise.

Security: Today’s employee expects to bring their personal smartphone into the workplace and access the corporate network. Therefore, it is imperative to audit devices for rogue third-party applications, and control which corporate applications mobile devices can access. By understanding which applications are installed and running, enterprise IT can avoid potential security and compliance risks. .

EMM: What do you think is the greatest risk for organizations right now?

AD: With shrinking budgets, many organizations do not have the proper resources to keep pace with the wide variety of smartphones rapidly entering the workplace. If they can’t properly manage these devices, organizations will open themselves up to a host of security threats.

EMM: What steps should executives take to ensure the success of their mobility implementations?

AD: To ensure the success of enterprise mobility implementations, organizations must have a way to proactively monitor and quickly resolve smartphone-related issues. To achieve this, IT and help desk professionals must have an end-to-end view of the entire mobile service – from servers and network devices deep in the data center, to carrier networks and devices outside the data center. IT organizations that can proactively identify problems and rapidly resolve issues will earn the trust of their users and ensure their company’s mobile workforce remains productive.

EMM: One last question. There has been a fair bit of consolidation recently in the enterprise mobility market, with Visto buying Good (and then the rebranded Good buying Intercasting) and Antenna buying Dexterra. Is this an emerging trend or just something that’s happening in passing?

AD: Customers are demanding a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of mobile management across all device types. Companies in this space can decide to either build out this solution on their own, or acquire these capabilities. I suspect you’ll see companies with deep mobile expertise build out these capabilities, and companies with deep financial reserves and limited expertise enter this market through acquisition.

Thank you Ahmed for taking the time to chat with me about your views on Enterprise Mobility.  It's always a pleasure speaking with you and I am sure the readers of this blog appreciate hearing your thoughts.

So there you go.  Do you know anyone who should be a guest here on Inside Looking Out?  Drop me a line.