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DILEMMA OF MULTIPLE DEVICES
Typically, in an organization, many employees use their own personal mobile phones for work. Under IT guidance, standardization on specific devices can result in significant cost savings for the organization. IT involvement can have a big impact on successful device management, resulting in a decrease in workload for the support team. For example, an organization that is standardized on specific devices can apply security and application updates remotely over the air quickly and efficiently and effectively extending their existing IT infrastructure to include the mobile workforce.
The management and integration of mobile devices into an organization's overall IT infrastructure is simple and straight. There are a variety of solutions available, which leverage investments already made in the network. Mobile e-mail can be enabled with the addition of a server that sits behind the firewall, keeping data safely in the organization. There is no 'one-device' technology that can be called as single leader. There is no dominant device standard that exists today. The device multiplicity exists in terms of the processing capability, device operating systems, Interface technologies, support for peripherals, ruggedness and so on.
Also there exists a wide range of options for integrating these devices with enterprise systems. The multiplicity will continue to exist and one can't wait for things to mature. Organizations need to find a solution to the existing business problem and make use of the best-fit devices at this stage. Gartner recommends adopting a more tactical approach than strategic approach at this stage.
SECURITY RISKS
Probably the number one IT issue facing all enterprises today is the problem of security, and in particular, the problem of how to secure remote access links into the company. Security of corporate data has become a key concern for many enterprises. Enterprises today look at a secure, reliable connection from many mobile devices and control access to enterprise networks to ensure the integrity of the network and the content that flows in and out of it. Security continues to remain the key element and consideration in all mobility implementations. Large corporations have strong security implementations but at the same time, have to review these to cater for the more demanding needs of business mobility.
Many IT managers still regard remote users as a major threat to the integrity of the corporate network, and believe that allowing workforce-wide access to enterprise data resources from outside of the office is more trouble than it's worth. And with e-mail borne viruses and spam still on the increase, as well as the problems of data theft through hacking, it's no wonder that IT managers are concerned that embracing mobile data will only increase their corporate security headache.
But the situation is changing. Previous barriers of expensive technologies, lack of standards and consequential low return on investment (RoI) are being demolished as relevant technologies become more affordable and the necessary support services to combine full e-mail and secure remote access capabilities on fixed or mobile devices become widely available.
It is important that appropriate security infrastructure be in built into mobile data services, which to name a few are achieved using various encryption technology like IPSec, 3DES and AES and secure VPN/ secure tokens (strong authentication) clients supplemented by a security architecture on the service provider core
When proper measures are taken, mobile devices offer a safe, secure and reliable means of communicating sensitive information and provide businesses with a mobile infrastructure that is as secure as any organization's “traditional” IT infrastructure.
The security measures available on traditional IT infrastructure are available on mobile devices too-The CIO needs to consider the following before rolling out the solution:
Remote management of devices
Anti-virus software for devices
Data encryption
ROI MODEL
Though there could be direct benefits and few indirect benefits such as increased employee satisfaction, improved customer satisfaction, which can lead to better business in future. Also there are many different technology choices available. One can always choose a solution, which will provide a balance between the operational efficiency and the costs. TCO can be very small or very large, depending on the capabilities of the hardware, middleware and type of architecture and deployment. The choice of the right mix needs to be decided strategically and not purely on traditional TCO and RoI model.
QOS ISSUES
Real-time services, eg interpersonal communications using voice or video, as well as critical enterprise applications (eg ERP or CRM) demand a certain level of network performance to provide enterprise-grade service quality. Critical transport parameters include latency, delay jitter and data rate, which can be controlled in managed packet-networks by various QoS mechanisms, which operate on different network layers
Apart from the standard QoS issues such as bandwidth optimization and traffic conditioning the mobile network relate issues include the network availability and coverage, over-the-air QoS, network contention issues, load balancing among access points, issues while interfacing with IP networks etc.
End-to-end QoS across network boundaries requires the co-operation of QoS management functions and defined network-to-network interfaces. Within the network of a single operator, this can be more readily realized, but across networks of different operators this is currently hard to achieve due to the lack of open standards. Access network is in many cases the weakest part of the transport chain in terms of network performance, QoS management is most required for this network.
Most of the large enterprises today have their own ERP systems. The key is to integrate the mobile devices with such applications for true enterprise mobility. Today, the challenge is both on the variety of mobile devices as well as the cost. Also, there are very few integrators available in India who can understand and develop such applications to run on mobile devices. Lots of the enterprise mobility applications are spectrum dependent (such as video streaming and live TV) and abundant availability of spectrum will play a key role.
Source: Voice&Data
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