I recently wrote about 4 simple, yet strong predictions, that for many are already underway, but for others perhaps only starting and needs to be highlighted.

“Several trends – and the way companies react to them – will create challenges for IT, as organizations attempt to exercise some control over devices that are not necessarily designed to be secure and manageable. With careful planning and an understanding of best practices and mobile device management (MDM) options, IT can go a long way toward meeting those challenges.”

2012 Mobile Prediction #1: The era of BYOD begins
2012 Mobile Prediction #2: The media tablet gains prominence
2012 Mobile Prediction #3: The array of mobile device applications grows more diverse
2012 Mobile Prediction #4: Mobile devices and MDM evolve

Read the whole article here and my thoughts for each one of these: http://esj.com/Articles/2012/01/16/Mobile-Device-Management-Challenges-Opportunities.aspx

What are your opinions about what is occurring in enterprise mobility today and what should companies do to meet the challenges of the coming year?

Marco..

As a service to our customers Enterprise Mobile routinely issues Technical Services Bulletins on important topics.

How iOS 5 Could Affect Your Devices

On October 4th Apple announced plans to release the iOS 5 update on October 12th, 2011 at midnight PST.

As with previous OS updates, Enterprise Mobile expects that new devices procured shortly after the release will soon be pre-installed with iOS 5 instead of iOS 4.3.2.

For legal, not technical reasons, Enterprise Mobile will not be able to downgrade newly procured devices from iOS 5 back to iOS 4.3.2. This may also impact old devices that are sent to Apple repair, which may return upgraded.

This may impact applications, automated MDM rules, and end-user support.

Testing iOS 5

Enterprise Mobile urges all iOS customers to quickly and thoroughly test and validate that all their business applications run on iOS 5, with functionality retained.

Most ISVs have been testing iOS 5 during the beta cycle and have updated the Apple AppStore with the updated software versions. After the final iOS 5 release is obtained and validated, they may need to update their applications in the AppStore. Third-party application development firms that build custom applications may also need to go through a similar process and customers may need to obtain updated application binaries.

A high-level overview of new features provided in iOS 5 can be found here: http://www.apple.com/ios/features.html

Enterprise Mobile can provide assistance for customers that need help with detailed testing.

Upgrading

To install iOS 5 on compatible iPhone, iPod and iPads hardware, tether the device to a Mac or PC that is running iTunes and follow the upgrade prompts.

Please note that some of your end-users will perform this on upgrade on their own, on the first day the software is available.

Enterprise Mobile can assist if a large scale upgrade of devices is required, and can work with your internal support personnel to speed the process.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Many MDM vendors are preparing new versions of their products to add additional functionality and validated iOS 5 support.

Until iOS 5 is released on October 12, MDM vendors cannot publically disclose what new MDM features it provides or what they will support. This is mandated by a separate NDA they have signed.

Because you may not be able to update your MDM solution before the iOS 5 release, Enterprise Mobile strongly recommends that you have any iOS access version controls verified and possibly disabled if necessary to permit new iOS 5 upgraded devices to connect and access business critical functions.

Enterprise Mobile will release another Technical Bulletin once additional information on the iOS 5 MDM features is made public.

iCloud

Apple iCloud is a new feature that will enable syncing of photos, music, and documents between multiple devices. Applications present on the AppStore will not be backed up, but instead they will automatically become re-downloaded from the AppStore if your device is restored from your iCloud backup. Every Apple ID will receive 5 Gb of storage free of charge. iCloud does not support multiple Apple IDs if used on the device for personal and corporate applications.

We do not know yet whether it will be possible to manage the iCloud features or settings from an iOS 5 supported MDM solution.

Over-the-Air Updates

The iOS 5 release is the first iOS version that can provide over-the-air (OTA) updating of the OS itself. This will be advantageous to most enterprise customers as it eliminates the need to keep devices tethered to a Mac or PC to retrieve updates.

Apple has not announced whether there will be any future MDM settings to control the OTA update functionality. Some enterprise customer may want to control the flow of updates and ensure production support.

The iPad certainly has been a game changer for the enterprise. At Enterprise Mobile, we’ve seen significant interest among our customers, who are finding compelling reasons to adopt the tablet for their business. They come to us for help deploying the iPad to their employees and for user support and device management services.

Now, we expect business users to explore even more ways to use the tablet, as the much-anticipated iPad 2 arrives on the market. It’s thinner, lighter and faster than the original, and sports front- and rear-facing cameras, which will appeal to users across industries.

Enterprise Mobile has been busy helping companies bring the Apple tablet into their environments in a way that enriches the user experience without jeopardizing corporate computing policies.  We’re working with companies that don’t have the internal expertise to achieve that balance alone – and lack the time needed to understand the full range of requirements for an iPad project.

As a result, companies are turning to our mobility architects, who have spent considerable time gaining experience with the iOS platform and the different mobile device management (MDM) solutions that allow enterprises to manage iOS devices (the iPad,  iPhone and iPod touch) with confidence.

For organizations in diverse industries, including airlines, media, pharmaceuticals, and the food and beverage market, we deploy iPads to employees. We also handle end user support, as well as ongoing device management for the iPad (installing and administering the MDM solution that’s right for a company’s particular business and technical needs). Since most companies have little experience with the tablet, they rely on our expertise to address everything that’s needed for a speedy iPad deployment and successful ongoing initiative.  

Read our iPad case study to learn more about how we’re helping companies take advantage of the elegance and versatility of the iPad.  It describes how Enterprise Mobile deployed more than 1300 iPads to an airline’s pilots and how we provide end user support and replacement services to ensure that the pilots can productively use the iPad in place of the huge technical manuals they would otherwise lug into the cockpit.

This week Google announced Android 3.0, code-named Honeycomb, the much-anticipated version of the OS that delivers a range of capabilities designed to support tablets. With this new release, Google aims to help Android-based tablets successfully compete with the iPad, the tablet that has captured the imagination of users worldwide.

The pace of change in the mobility space is truly remarkable, like nothing we’ve seen before. By my calculations, we can expect to see 7 to 10 new versions of the major platforms each year. That’s likely 2 or 3 each from Google and Apple and a couple for Windows Phone. And as for mobile devices – nearly every month new ones appear on the market.

Enhancements to mobile device platforms give consumers a constantly growing range of choices when they compare smartphones and tablets. Whether they are looking for a device for personal or business use – or both – they definitely have a broad selection from which to choose.

But, as the pace of change provides an increasingly rich and more satisfying experience for users, it creates serious challenges for IT.  Keeping up with constantly changing platforms, devices and device management solutions (not to mention fickle mobile users and their unpredictable preferences) can be overwhelming. The diversity among mobile platforms and devices means IT must struggle to track mobile management and security capabilities and keep up with the solutions and best practices for implementing them.

Enterprise Mobile, providing corporate mobility services across industries, provides a way for organizations to tap mobility expertise and avoid the effort and expense of acquiring that expertise internally. We’ve taken on the challenge of tracking updates to the major mobile platforms, devices, and device management solutions. Armed with that knowledge, we’re helping our customers deploy devices like the iPad to employees and providing support and management services to help the mobile workforce perform more effectively.

According to a recent article in Computerworld, help desk calls have been increasing, while help desk budgets were being trimmed. The piece summarizes research by HDI (formerly the Help Desk Institute) that found that 67% of all help desk operations saw jumps in the number of incidents reported in 2010. The article also reports that a recent survey by Computer Economics revealed that IT organizations have cut help desk staffs, from an average of 6.9% of total IT staff to 6%.

At a time when companies are supporting two, three, or even four mobile platforms, the need for help desk support couldn’t be greater. Users of mobile devices, not surprisingly, are often out on the road, where they depend on their smartphones and other devices to stay in touch with customers and colleagues and maintain access to critical data and documents. For these users, support is critical.

As companies add newer mobile platforms like Android and Apple iOS to their environments, user needs and the amount of technical savvy required to address them become increasingly complex. As a result, at Enterprise Mobile we’re fielding more requests for our mobility support services. Many IT groups either cannot find people with the expertise needed to support multiple mobile platforms or do not want to hire additional help desk personnel.  With our services, companies can define the SLAs they need to keep their users productive and pay predictable fees to meet their needs. 

I’m not surprised to read that the number of help desk incidents has been on the upswing. Our people are on the receiving end of many of the calls users are placing. They’re fielding user questions about the different types of smartphones used in the enterprise, as well as the iPad and iPod touch and rugged handheld devices that run on Windows Embedded. They also answer questions about mobile apps, OS upgrades, and carrier service. As mobile devices take on a greater role across industries, Enterprise Mobile will buck the trend. Our mobility support services and help desk staff will grow to keep pace with the demand and effectively support the major smartphone platforms.

The iPad’s popularity is undeniable.  If you don’t already have your hands on one, it’s likely that the tablet is on your Christmas wish list. 

Beyond personal use, the iPad is also proving to be a compelling device in a wide variety of business verticals, including healthcare and finance, and sales and education. Industry analysts are advising their enterprises to start planning now for how they will use and support the tablet as enthusiasm for the device in the workplace continues to grow.  

At Enterprise Mobile we are seeing a tremendous amount of interest in the iPad among our enterprise customers and are happy to be able to respond to their needs.  Our new iPad Mobility Services  address all of the requirements of a successful iPad rollout.  They include assessment, procurement, provisioning and configuration with customer-specified applications, ongoing user support and device depot and management.

Here are just some scenarios in which customers are relying on our services:

• A global pharmaceutical company is equipping some of its sales force with iPads for sharing information about medication and other data to hospital-based providers
• A leading multimedia company is providing executives and other personnel with iPads for accessing corporate information
• A large financial firm is distributing iPads and about 30 Apple App Store applications to employees to allow them to access and process corporate information.

 You can read more about these services on our website.

The arrival of Windows Phone 7 devices in the U.S. means consumers have even more choices to consider when they compare smart phones – whether they want them for business use or personal use or both. After a disappointing experience with the unsuccessful Kin family of phones, it’s exciting to see that Microsoft has built a compelling next-generation mobility platform. As a result, the first wave of Windows Phone devices offers consumers a new type of smartphone experience.

It also means that enterprise IT will need to prepare to manage and support a new mobile platform because several aspects of WP7 are critical to enterprise mobility. For instance, the platform provides device management capability that allows smart phones to comply with corporate policies. Version 1 is not perfect (there’s no encryption, for example), but it does provide for a basic ActiveSync compliant device. By allowing users to transition easily between their work and personal lives, Windows Phone 7 will enable employees to carry one device around the clock. In addition, by making it easy to develop cloud-based enterprise-specific apps for this platform, Microsoft has taken steps to appeal to consumers who have grown accustomed to having a wide array of smartphone apps to choose from. Based on these and other characteristics, I believe Windows Phone 7 will make it onto many approved lists very quickly.

The advancements that Windows Phone 7 brings to the smartphone market will further spur innovation in a market that shows no signs of standing still and make the ever-evolving and increasingly diverse mobility market even more interesting. Really.

We all know the importance of having access to information right at our fingertips. It’s become second nature to grab your phone to access email or search for that song you can’t think of to save your life. The ability to get answers quickly and accurately makes our personal lives easier. In the business world, it can make a huge difference – helping companies gain and maintain competitive advantage.

One industry that is reaping mobility’s benefits is retail. Instead of printing and lugging around paperwork, retail and merchandising employees can use mobile devices to collect valuable data and easily feed it to centralized databases. Managers can then access the most up-to-date information to monitor store performance and streamline the reporting process. Just as consumers use their phones to get things done, mobile technologies allow retailers to boost productivity and get more out of their workforce.

Why then aren’t all retailers making a mad dash for mobility? Learn more about the obstacles to adoption retail faces and how those obstacles can be overcome in this article in Chain Store Age magazine by Mike Anderson, Enterprise Mobile VP, Operations.

Increasingly, companies are deciding that an Individual Liable approach to mobile devices makes sense and that appears to be a trend that’s here to stay. Compelling, exciting choices in platforms and devices drive companies to allow the use of employee-owned mobile devices on the job.  Today, more and more people are using the same device for business and personal activities.

As employees gain greater freedom in their choice of mobile devices for business use, they experience a range of benefits, while IT faces some real challenges. The situation is a combination of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good is that the broad range of smart phones and the innovation they provide are truly empowering users. Platforms are increasingly enterprise-aware, providing ways to meet corporate security and manageability standards. Yet these same choices lead to a lack of standardization, which is the Bad. And it all leads to the Ugly – what happens when choice gets ahead of the company’s ability to handle it.  What results is a mess.

To learn more about how to deal with the Ugly and embrace the diversity among mobile platforms and devices, check out this article I recently wrote for Mobile Enterprise magazine.

Our customers are telling us that they want to look at Android and they’re doing so more frequently than ever before. It’s no surprise as consumers continue to snatch up Android devices in order to take advantage of the seemingly ever-expanding number of apps in the Google Apps Marketplace, new operating system capabilities and the availability of Android devices across networks.

But the question is: are Android devices “good corporate citizens”? Top of mind for IT is security and ease of management. Up to now, Android has not enabled most ActiveSync policies, which is the cost of entry into enterprise-readiness. Additionally, OEMs have enabled different capabilities in their devices, which has led to some fragmentation.

With Froyo (Android 2.2) things change. Many ActiveSync policies have been enabled, though not all. I would say that what Android 2.2 provides is pretty close to the capabilities of iPhone 3.0 over a year ago, which got the iPhone on many enterprise lists of approved devices. That said, Android 2.2 is not available yet, so it remains to be seen how the OEMs will choose to implement its capabilities. Clearly Android will get there – we just have to wait to see when and how!

You can read more on Android and its potential for entering the enterprise, in this CIO Update story.