Enterprise Mobility: Common Security Challenges

We live in a wildly modern age, doing things a lot differently than we used to do. Take work, for example; who would have thought a decade or two ago that we would ever be able to do it anywhere else besides our offices? And yet, here we are — working from, well, pretty much all over the world. And this rise of enterprise mobility has been further accelerated. It is thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc all across the globe. But wait for a second, precisely what is enterprise mobility, you ask? Enterprise mobility refers to when a company makes use of a variety of modern technologies and solutions. It is across cloud technologies, mobile and web apps to set up an IT infrastructure that enables the organization’s employees to access the company’s data, their work-related documents, etc. And this, in turn, allows the staff to work from home or wherever else they choose to operate from.

The research supports it too, i.e., that there is much to be gained with enterprise mobility. However, there is another troubling aspect that studies have put the spotlight on — various factors that hold back a more integral and widespread adoption of the concept. Some of the most prominent challenges enterprise mobility faces include the inability to access requisite tools and apps due to security-related restrictions, loss of devices, and more. Listed below are some of the critical issues standing in the way of proper enterprise mobility and how to deal with them.

1. App development: The creation of apps, in general, is an inherently complex endeavor. It is further complicated when it comes to enterprise mobility owing to a laundry list of requirements by the organization. Thus, it can be dealt with via a proactive approach, which includes informing the decision-makers of all possible constraints and limitations before the development work even starts.
2. Fragmentation: As more and more companies are now embracing bring your device policies, it has led to a high level of diversity in the context of mobile phones, laptops, and other such devices. It can be challenging to keep up with, but one way to do so is to ensure that all enterprise mobility apps are tested across a wide range of devices.
3. Budgeting: The funny thing about budgets is that there seems to be no end to the costs. There’s the app development, devices, security, and it goes on and on. This particular challenge can be alleviated by first establishing a well thought out strategy and then ardently sticking to it.
4. Security: Enterprise mobility solutions are fraught with risk, primarily owing to the involvement of many, many mobile devices. It can be leveraged by hackers to worm their way to the company’s sensitive data. To deal with this challenge, companies can consider solutions like unified endpoint management.

It is a new concept, yes, but business leaders who take an informed and strategized leap of faith. It will soon realize that enterprise mobility solutions have a world of benefits to offer to their organization.