Centralizing device, network and application management is an IT imperative
Mobile technology is delivering real business benefits, but the growing complexity and the manner in which the technology is acquired and managed can stretch IT thin.
These are the main findings of a survey of 531 mobility decision-makers at North American businesses by Forrester Research, in association with Network World, which set out to examine the current mobile environment and the organizational structure needed to push mobility forward.
While challenges lie ahead, the survey revealed broad agreement that mobility is already paying dividends. Specifically, respondents said mobile devices improve user flexibility (43% of respondents), response time to internal issues (42% of respondents), and response time to customer, partner and other external party issues (38% of respondents).
The trick will be to gain even greater benefits as the technology matures and changes, which will require more centralized strategy and control than are common today.
Change is coming whether you’re ready for it or not. The shift from desktops to laptops continues, with half of the survey respondents reporting they expect to issue mobile PCs to up to three-quarters of their employees in 2013. But the biggest change will come with handhelds.
User’s mobile device preferences – traditional mobile phones, PDAs and smartphones included – are shifting from voice-centric devices to data-centric devices. Today, 41% of respondents use smartphones, but this will double over the next five years. This shift will result in more data and more business-critical applications to manage and secure.
What mobile operating systems are these shops supporting? It’s a mixed bag and won’t get better any time soon: 74% support Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, 53% support various flavors of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and 40% run Palm OS-powered Treos or Centros. Apple’s Mac OS X-powered iPhone has also established a critical beachhead, with 12% of the respondents saying they support iPhones today.
Looking five years out, respondents are predicting an equally diverse landscape. Almost three-quarters say they are “very likely” or “likely” to support BlackBerry, followed by 66% planning to support Windows Mobile. Apple’s Mac OS X and Linux (upon which Google’s Android mobile OS is based) will very likely or likely be supported by 22% of respondents.
This mixed environment, coupled with increasing device sophistication, adds up to trouble for IT, which is losing insight into device capabilities, levels of security, and the ability to manage and sync mobile and corporate resources. Supporting this model will become too cumbersome for IT shops already spread thin by cost cutting.
And it gets even worse when you consider the network diversity IT must contend with. Some 51% of the survey respondents say they have a range of 802.11 Wi-Fi technologies, and 75% support access to external wireless networks for connectivity to business applications outside of the office. The future points to even more WAN options, as carriers investigate everything from WiMAX to 4G wireless technologies.
So what’s the good news? Adoption of mobile technology — still in its early phases in many companies — is showing impressive returns. Pairing the ROI of mobility with a strong plan for ownership and management of the infrastructure will help organizations get the most out of mobility.
Central control key to returns
Central control is a critical factor in benefiting from investments in mobile devices, networks and applications. While device preference and use of internal and external wireless networks was relatively homogenous across organizations surveyed, the manner in which companies procure and support mobility was more company-specific.
Three-quarters of organizations are supplying both devices and service to employees which IT is chartered to support. While this is the simplest means to gain jurisdiction over the devices and services users adopt, there are always exceptions to the rule. The most common distinction determining who gets a device is job title, used by two-thirds of respondents. Breaking down titles, the complexity of device provision is even more apparent.
In short, it’s unclear if many companies have a consistent approach to device procurement, management and security. Anecdotally, Forrester sees a trend among organizations where service procurement – the process by which contracts with cellular carriers are managed – is owned by a separate department. This separation creates a natural dissonance between devices and services and can manifest itself as a mismatched set of capabilities as business-critical applications are rolled out to users.
Mobile Operations, a new IT role
To get the most out of your mobility investments, Forrester recommends the creation of a new IT role, that of Mobile Operations. Forrester defines a Mobile Operations professional as “a single coordinator for managing mobile networks internal and external to the organization, device choice within the organization, and ensures those devices are properly secured and managed.”
The formation of this role should not represent a major departure from existing practices. The survey found that three-quarters of organizations currently place management of PCs and mobile devices within the same group, and another 14% expect to consolidate the groups within five years. The key consideration in the formation of a Mobile Operations role is including and aligning all critical elements that ensure mobility continues to yield a benefit within your organization.
Mobile Operations professionals should manage: PC and handheld device configuration. The increasing capabilities of mobile device management tools will ultimately move IT closer to a future where device choice is in the hands of the user. But we’re not there yet. Device configuration – ensuring the ability to be secured and managed – is a critical and central component of IT operations. Trends such as client virtualization will reshape PC selection, while major consumer-oriented operating systems initiatives will shake up handheld devices, even in businesses.• Device management and security. Inclusion of the most popular device platforms is key to the device selection process. As a result, the individuals playing a central role in device selection should be the same individuals using the tools to manage and secure the devices. In addition to acting as a central clearinghouse for more advanced device support issues, centralized management authority provides device remediation and security, which are useful for audit and compliance processes.• Carrier relationships. This is perhaps the one area within IT that has not been taken into account when selecting devices. In many businesses, this function is completely separate from IT, a structure that won’t work moving forward. Mobile Operations becomes even more critical with the arrival of new dual mode devices that can access both an internal IP PBX a carrier network.
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In addition to leading the activities above, Mobile Operations professionals should remain actively involved in managing: Mobile application development. The Mobile Operations role should be consulted and kept apprised of development initiatives that are likely to affect the selection of handhelds and mobile PCs. Developers should rely on the Mobile Operations role to provide capability benchmarks of systems in use, insight into future capabilities and guidance on refresh cycles. This sharing of responsibilities should aid developers in creating applications that take advantage of platform capabilities or specific elements of the devices and should aid Mobile Operations by having some control and insight into the applications they’re pushing to mobile devices.• Internal mobile network deployments. In addition to selecting the external networks and leading the configuration of devices, Mobile Operations should play a lead role in the timing and rollout of next-generation technology (e.g., 802.11n Wi-Fi networks). That will make it possible to rollout devices supporting faster throughput but not before all security and management challenges have been solved.
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Consolidate siloed roles
Developing internal resources to fill this position should be a gradual process that ends with the centralization of all things mobile. If it hasn’t been done already, begin by pairing device decision-making around PCs and mobile devices. This will help ensure duplicate capabilities are not being funded by your company.
As mobile usage expands, tracking the usage of mobile devices and applications will allow for ongoing trend analysis and help you prepare for what’s ahead. A central function for supporting mobile devices will also allow IT to better support users.
The IEEE has created the Wireless Communication Engineering Technologies Certification program to develop and certify IT professionals around the wireless technologies that form the basis of mobility networks, and will serve as a good baseline of capabilities for future Mobile Operations candidates. But this effort was just launched, so don’t expect to see certified professionals circulating in the workforce any time soon. You’ll be better off marching ahead with your own Mobile Operations strategy in the near term, and leverage WCET as you look to grow the function in the future.
Silva can be reached at csilva@forrester.com and Gray at bgray@forrester.com.
