According to the latest study released by Aberdeen Group, there is going to be an influx of new mobile platforms and devices. More and more employees will start using their mobile devices for work related purposes. And it’s imperative that new mobile applications should be developed. Almost 98 percent of the enterprises are thinking of implementing mobility initiatives. In order to manage the ever increasing usage of smart phones, enterprises are in the process of developing a comprehensive tool.

The answer to this situation is the Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). EMM enables organizations to adapt rapidly to new mobile platforms and enforce compliance to IT standards. Controlling of access to corporate data will become a crucial task.

There are several dimensions in EMM that will help an enterprise for managing the  Enterprise Mobility. This includes right from assessing the  various requirements to providing support to the end user. The various areas under EMM are,

Requirements assessment, the most crucial aspect in any project

Business and IT policy creation, because well defined procedures are a must

Device procurement, provisioning and management, the devices needs to be evolved so that it can be handed over to the user

Application development and management, which helps Managers and executives, gain visibility into the entire development lifecycle.

Service, Security and Expense management, it is of vital importance to organizations

End-user support, technical and help desk support

The recent trend toward re-consolidation of mobility under IT management indicates the evolving maturity of enterprise mobility as core infrastructure, essential to remaining competitive in today’s global economy. EMM is evolving as the vital tool for control of entire mobile life cycle.

With the help Apples ‘n’ Berries (AnB), the Enterprise Mobility solution, you can manage the mobility of your business far more effectively

BoxTone, one of the experts in mobile user management, has predicted the state of enterprise mobility management in 2015.

1: Enterprise-connected mobile device penetration will grow from 10-15 percent today, to upwards of 60-80 percent five years from now, with employee-owned devices leading the charge.

2: Device and mobile delivery platform diversity will continue to expand, with most organizations moving from one mobile platform and a handful of approved devices, to least 2-3 mobile platforms and 15-20 different devices by 2015.

3: Enterprise mobile applications per user will extend from one critical set of applications – primarily email, PIM and calendaring today – to five critical applications per user by 2015. Already leading the mobile application wave are enterprise Instant Messaging (IM) and collaboration tools, followed by key business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Force Automation, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications tied to inventory and logistics, news feeds and corporate portals, and integrated Unified Communication (UC) clients.

4: Enterprise mobilization strategy will evolve from being focused solely on employee productivity, to one that includes customer engagement.

5: Mobile complexity will increase exponentially, placing severe pressure on IT’s ability to deliver high quality service without either a large expansion in support resources or by leveraging automated, best-practices approaches to mobility management.

Our Enterprise Mobility solution, Apples’ n ‘Berries (AnB) allows your enterprise to transform its business by allowing executives and employees to make timely decisions.  This is achieved by integrating with the back CRM, ERP and other custom systems to facilitate quick decisions in work flow approval processes.

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Most of the enterprises make this mistake of not having a clearly articulated mobility strategy and end up paying heavy price for that. Here are five steps toward an effective mobility strategy.

1. Define requirements.

First things first, define the requirements. Based on job functions and responsibilities understand how the workforce needs to be worked

2. Be selective when planning and prioritizing mobility projects.

While planning mobility projects, organizations have to be selective and need make sure that the projects are carried out in most cost effective way.

3. Establish who’s in charge.

Make sure that a professional be in charge of all the activities related to mobility related activities. He should coordinate and align various efforts related to device management, security, mobile application development, carrier relationships and mobile network deployments.

4. Commit to documenting mobility policies.

It is absolutely necessary to have a well documented mobility policy in place. The policy has to be educated to the employees also. Based on the policy the technology has to be built in place. Having a clear mobility policy help the enterprises strategically also.

5. Constantly evaluate your mobility projects.

The technology continues to evolve, often at a rapid rate, and evaluating the projects will give an idea of where the enterprise stands. Gauging success accurately at each level is essential.

Managing Enterprise Mobility initiative is a daunting task and success can be achieved only with the help of a sound strategy.

For most of the companies managing Enterprise Mobility start and end with keeping track of who is using iPhone and Blackberry.

A recent study of enterprise mobility management by Aberdeen Group, an IT consulting group found that 20% of companies interviewed have practices that help in managing their Enterprise Mobility significantly better than the industry average; the next 50% companies have industry average class practices when it comes to managing Enterprise Mobility; and the remaining 30% are companies with practices and performance that are well below the average. The annual total cost of ownership for mobile employees was $198 for companies who are in the first category. For the industry average companies, the cost was $247 and for them who are way below the industry standard it was $588. One of the reasons for these huge differences is that first set of companies use various methods to drive down the cost of supporting mobile workers. These companies are also increasing their rate of mobilizing employees when compared to the other two categories. These companies are also leaders in achieving operational efficiency and employee productivity.

In general, when it comes to managing the Enterprise Mobility of a company, so many factors have to be taken care of. Some of them being IT standards for mobile device management, secure end user and device authentication for network access and support for more than one mobile platform

Mobile technology has become a double-edged sword in the enterprise space. While smart devices and mobile applications have driven productivity within the mobile workforce, they have also created new challenges for IT infrastructure. The tips below will help you prepare your wireless environment to take advantage of the powerful devices and applications that are changing the face of Enterprise business.

Establish a group responsible for overseeing your mobile environment. They should monitor various role-based profiles to establish which job functions get which mobile device with which plans, features, applications, and accessories. The team should also update the wireless policy of the organization. Evaluation of the mobile workforce efficiency is also an important task.

Before making drastic changes it’s always advisable to evaluate the existing mobile environment of the organization. Various details on devices used, plans and accessories should be properly checked. Simplify and standardize the policies so that it can be managed efficiently. After determining the business functions that can be improved by going mobile, identify the suitable mobile application. After installation, in order to take maximum advantage, train and support the mobile workforce.