According to you what is the current trend amongst
enterprises when it comes to acceptance of ‘mobility in
workplace’?
Mobility in the workplace often gets wrapped up in the term
“Consumerization of IT” but that only begins to
describe the sweeping changes that mobile is driving in business.
Users expect same level of mobility in their workplace that they
have in their consumer world – and it’s incumbent upon
the CIO to deliver. Mobile no longer lends itself to a one size
fits all approach. Once upon a time, you joined a company and were
handed a laptop and a BlackBerry. Now, the thinking is: “I
have hired the best and the brightest and I want to give users the
tools they prefer so they can be most productive.”
How have security concerns changed for the IT team of an
enterprise vis-à-vis the era where employees used to work
tethered to their desktops?
Mobile is challenging because IT doesn’t have the level of
control over mobile devices that it has over laptops and PCs. IT
cannot force the installation of an app or upgrade of the operating
system on a mobile device because consumer OSes, such as iOS and
Android, do not permit IT to do anything without the user’s
agreement. The old command and control approach dies when it comes
to mobile.
Mobile security only works if users and IT share the
responsibility so CIOs have to consider a new model of visibility
and consequences. In this model, IT can see if a device falls out
of compliance and block its access to the corporate network. Then
IT notifies the user so they can fix the problem. When the device
is compliant, access is restored. What’s new here is that
users play a direct role in the security of their device. Mobile
security becomes a co-operative effort between users and IT. That
never happened in the PC era.
What is the concept of Enterprise App Portal and what
factors would drive the adoption of this?
A private Enterprise App Storefront lets businesses privately
deliver in-house apps –this can be for iPhone, iPad, and
Android – to their employees without posting them to public
app stores. No one who is not an employee will ever see those apps.
However, an enterprise app storefront only works if people use it.
When it comes to mobile, user experience is the most critical
component. Apple’s App Store has been incredibly successful
because it is easy for people to use. They can easily find and
install apps. They get clear alerts when there is a new upgrade.
MobileIron’s Enterprise App Storefront feels as
straightforward and as intuitive to use.
Enterprise users would be dealing with sensitive
corporate data while accessing enterprise apps through their mobile
devices. How important is it then to tie an enterprise app
storefront with a mobile device management and security
solutions?
Imagine a scenario where an employee wants to maliciously
distribute corporate apps outside the company. An enterprise app
storefront integrated with management and security can identify
unauthorized devices and users and deny them access. A stand-alone
corporate app storefront has no way of identifying the device or
the user so someone outside the company can download a corporate
app using the credentials of a legitimate employee. For most
companies that’s a terrifying situation. An enterprise app
storefront that is integrated with mobile device management and
security ensures that corporate apps only get to the people who
should have them.
The key to running a secure Enterprise App Storefront -- you
must figure out who should get a particular app and you need to
know if a device is secure. Some apps access sensitive corporate
data that should only be seen by certain people and groups. IT
needs to be able to authenticate the device and the user. IT must
also know the state of the device’s security. Is it running a
recent OS or an older one? Does it have encryption? Has it been
compromised by the user hacking into the file system? IT must be
able to block the user from downloading apps with sensitive data
onto a device that is not guaranteed to be secure. Enterprise
mobile apps need to be secured and managed. The bottom line: Any
Enterprise App Storefront that is not tied to mobile device
management and enterprise security is completely insecure.
What are some of the major trends that you see as
developing around enterprise mobility?
The Birth of Mobile IT: In addition to Bring
Your Own Device and mobile apps, the other big trend is the birth
of Mobile IT. This was the year the IT industry figured out mobile,
and the mobile industry figured out IT. Mobile devices and apps are
the most exciting technology to hit the enterprise in years. Every
small, medium and large enterprise around the world will deploy
smartphones and tablets at a large scale in the next 12 to 18
months. Mobile is one of the top 5 priorities for CIOs, and in some
cases, for CEOs. We see some of our customers forming mobile IT
teams. New Mobile IT vendors and services companies, purpose-built
to address enterprise mobility, are springing up to service them
and industry analysts and consultants are shifting to cover this
new category. Mobile IT expertise is in short supply. The mobile IT
pioneers of today will be in high demand and they will be the
leaders of tomorrow.
The Rise of Enterprise App Storm: The same
explosion of apps that happened in the consumer world is now
igniting the enterprise world. These mobile apps are getting built
everywhere, not just under IT’s purview. It’s easy to
call these rogue apps, but there is something more profound at
work. Apps are relatively easy and inexpensive to build on the new
mobile platforms. It’s unleashing a wave of innovation. Some
are big apps, some are small apps. Some are built by IT; some are
built by a team, or even a person who wanted to make something
better. We call this the Enterprise App Storm. It is both a
challenge and an opportunity for IT. IT is taking lessons from the
consumer world by combining mechanisms to enable discovery and
distribution of innovative apps, while also ensuring the management
and security of the enterprise world. This usually turns into
something like a private enterprise app storefront.