Enterprise IT: Mobility’s Broad Impact

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Clik here to view.Evolution in mobility has resulted in a number of mobile devices with diverse capabilities. To exploit the full benefits of this technological revolution, organizations have to recognize mobile devices as a separate channel for driving business. The rapid evolution and adoption of devices means that enterprises can no longer control and mandate a device or platform. Organizations should consider the options for enterprise applications to run on a variety of mobile devices. All of this will have an impact on the organization’s existing IT systems.

IT systems consist of applications, data, and information technology infrastructure. The impact that mobility will have on each of these areas is as diverse as the mobile devices themselves. Therefore, a roadmap to leverage mobility requirements should be drafted only after considering the unique impact of mobility’s adoption on each of these three areas.

Accept Diversity

Every form of human interaction is unique to the actors involved; heterogeneity is what defines us as humans. For years, tools were developed to support every kind of interaction, be it collaboration, transactions, information exchange, or a simple form of communication. As technology progresses, these tools started to evolve into standalone devices that could support more forms of interaction—hence the emergence of the mobile smartphone, a small computer that allows us to stay connected and interact with people and computers in a variety of ways.

Today, the mobile device is an essential extension of the user. Organizations know this and accept the device as a tool that supports stakeholder interactions to stay connected. These interactions can range from simple synchronous voice communication to more exotic asynchronous collaborations over social networks and from simple information exchange to more complex transaction processing such as workflows.

The evolution of mobile devices has resulted in smartphones as diverse as they are capable. Each class of device has its own strengths and weaknesses. Though these devices are powerful enough to handle most kinds of interactions, other characteristics such as usage comfort, form factor, and interface ultimately influence how the user interacts with the device.

Mobile solutions will be used by vendors, suppliers, outsourced contractors, and others. All these groups cannot be expected to use the same devices. The choice of features should be left to employees and other stakeholders. Users prefer their own mobile devices and don’t want to carry more than one. They use the same devices for their personal and professional lives.

In other words, IT can no longer mandate or ban particular devices. Importantly, if an organization mandates a particular device for its employees, it will not experience the full benefits of mobility. It makes more sense to allow employees to choose what they are most comfortable with and build an IT strategy around that.

The IT systems of an organization should be such that, regardless of the device, all interactions with enterprise applications are the same. The question is, why should the use of multiple devices affect IT in the first place? The answer to this question lies in the organization’s need to allow use of enterprise applications on mobile devices.

Enterprise Application Options for Mobile Devices

When Malcolm Forbes defined diversity, he said it is “the art of thinking independently together.” Of course, the founder of Forbes magazine may not have envisioned that quote being applied to mobile applications. One good mobile application strategy is to keep applications independent of mobile operating systems. To create such a strategy, the organization must assume a mix of certain mobile application options (Figure 2). Figure 2 lists some of the popular mobile application options available; there may be others that are specific to a particular organization.

Thick client apps reside completely on the mobile devices. Also known as native applications, they run only when the code and the data reside on the device. Although these types of apps can be rich in features, they are very expensive to create and test, with the length of test cycles being directly proportional to the richness of features.

Since the data required by the app resides in the device, misplacing the device can be catastrophic from a data security standpoint. Remote wipe must be enabled to help alleviate this threat. From a device perspective, these apps can be resource-intensive because both data and code reside locally. The other challenge these types of apps pose is that a separate version has to exist for each OS. Some mobile OSs do not support backward compatibility, so a separate version has to be made for different releases of the same OS. In spite of these shortcomings, the biggest advantage thick client apps have is that they work with or without network connectivity. This is the deciding factor for deploying this type of application. Mobile barcode readers are a good example of an app that can decipher barcodes and store information locally, even when there is no network. When the device detects a network, it automatically transmits this information to the centralized database.

Rich client apps do not have all of the features of thick client apps but they have other advantages. For starters, rich client apps store code locally but data comes from a server. Although this reduces the richness of features requiring network connectivity, it ensures that the device’s storage resources are not overburdened. This has another benefit; from a security standpoint, no sensitive data is stored locally. This reduces the threat of organizational data loss if the device is lost. Although cheaper to create compared with thick client apps, rich client apps may still require different versions for various mobile operating systems. As a result, these apps are best suited for use cases where safety of critical data is the paramount consideration, such as CRM applications with access to sensitive customer data.

Thin client apps are the least resource-intensive of the lot. With thin client apps, both code and data come from a server. They may utilize the web browser that comes preinstalled on a device. Connectivity is of utmost importance if all the features of the application are to be accessed. These apps do not work well in areas of low or no connectivity, something the organization should be wary of, specifically in the case of mobile workers sent to remote locations. Although the only security provided during data transfer is HTTPS, the fact that thin client apps do not store data locally ensures that they are safe from data leakage. Most mobile devices are able to support these apps, since the on-device browser suffices in most cases. Since a single version can meet the needs of all or most devices, development costs are relatively low. A good example here is Ajax-enabled web applications. The only thing that needs to be ensured is a strong backend system that provides seamless integration.

In the future, a new category of apps may come to the fore: cloud-based apps. These applications would be entirely platform agnostic and allow access from any device. The biggest advantage, as with thin client apps, is security. Enterprises can outsource management of these apps to specialized cloud providers. To unleash their true potential, these applications need two things: Web 2.0 technologies such as Rich Internet Applications and high-throughput, next-generation networks. When these types of apps become context aware, one can only guess their level of sophistication; imagine smart applications that anticipate and initiate actions without any user input.

As organizations use a mix of app types to provide mobile access to enterprise applications, they must understand the impact mobility will have on the applications portfolio (see Figure 3). The diversity of mobile devices poses a challenge: that of multiple mobile OSs. The simplicity of feature phones has been replaced with rich mobile OSs. How do we support apps for this large variety of OSs, given that each OS is unique?

Devices also need to have the ability to run both line-of-business and staff organization applications. The mix of apps depends on the unique mobility needs of each. Staff organizations such as HR may not have a great need for mobility, except for managerial workflows on mobile devices that appeal to employees on the move.

Line-of-business applications, on the other hand, are a whole different matter. Here the impact of mobility will be felt significantly. Most of these applications would benefit from mobile access. Mobile devices that serve as extensions of the Point of Sale (POS) terminal and are dynamically connected to ERP could be a boon to retail employees. Desktops and laptops easily handle access to ERP, but when the same thing is attempted via a mobile device, it is too resource intensive. Although a simplified view can be presented using a thin client, such an app will need the network to access all the features of the application. The best option here may be a rich client app that allows access to some features even when the network is unavailable. Some of these apps could be context aware, with certain features activated only under certain circumstances. Consider the possibilities of incorporating location awareness using GPS. The opposing force here is the cost of creating such rich client apps for multiple mobile OSs.

Seamless integration fails if middleware is not smart enough to allow mobile applications to talk to backend systems. The impact here is considerable because these middleware applications have to ensure that mobile applications are integrated with the backend using techniques such as wrappers. Mobile Device Management is essential in order to ensure that the latest versions of all apps are incorporated on the devices. It also helps users immensely if the organization maintains an “Enterprise App Store” where all the latest certified apps reside. This could be directly accessed from the device and the user could download the necessary apps (or permit them to automatically update without user intervention).

Mobility Impact on Data and IT Infrastructure

IT systems consist of applications, data, and information technology infrastructure. We have already looked at the impact of mobility adoption on applications, but in order to understand the full impact of mobility, we must consider the impact on data and information technology infrastructure. Figure 4 depicts these impacts and enumerates likely IT interventions.

As mobility forces organizations to shed their brick-and-mortar outlook, one thing is certain; much of the company’s data will not remain on-premise. The biggest impact of mobility is probably on the way an organization’s data is created and managed. Once an enterprise embraces mobility for most of its functions, it has to accept the inherent risk this poses to critical data. This kind of risk can come from multiple quarters, ranging from device theft to mobile malware to user impersonation to risks from third-party applications that the user downloads. Though such avenues of data loss have been around for some time, mobility has brought them into renewed focus. To combat them, proactive measures such as newer encryption techniques must be deployed. Other methods such as isolating suspicious applications and not granting them access to critical data could also be used. If the device is stolen, reactive methods such as remote wipe also need to be in place. Data is not actually lost because it is maintained in a parallel database. Of course, the more critical data the organization decides to make available on a mobile device, the greater the level of data protection needed.

For small- and medium-sized businesses that have a substantial mobile workforce, such considerations are vital to survival. These aspects of organizational data protection are covered in detail in a separate article in Perspectives vol. 4.

Let’s look at the impact of mobility on IT infrastructure (Figure 5). IT’s efficacy can be gauged by the infrastructure’s ability to adapt to new technology. It is essential to have a fresh look at the impact mobility has on IT infrastructure before framing an effective change strategy. A good IT strategy should consider mobility at the lowest level and then assess the cumulative effect. Typically, in this context, IT Infrastructure consists of three parts: hardware, the network, and the facilities that house them. Figure 5 depicts the effect mobility has on these elements. Analysts state that assessing the impact and then formulating mobile strategy is something that 25% of the top global companies are already doing.

Consider the impact mobility is likely to have on each of the aspects of the IT Infrastructure. Figure 5 includes typical aspects of mobility that will have a direct impact. However, there may be other aspects unique to an organization or its industry. On the hardware front, peripheral devices such as printers, UPSs, and scanners that support older computing devices will be minimally impacted for at least two reasons. Printers are not impacted because mobility may lead to a reduction in printing; after all, data is available at the user’s fingertips. UPSs aren’t needed because mobile devices have their own power source; scanners are not needed because users can scan documents using their built-in cameras. Next generation printers and scanners have the capability to connect to smartphones using Personal Area Network technologies such as Bluetooth. However, for the most part, hardware peripherals will probably not see a substantial impact from mobility.

Perhaps the area most impacted by mobility is the network. This impact will be both constructive—creation of newer network infrastructures—and destructive—obsolescence of older technologies. The essence of mobility lies with the operating network. It can either be a network within the organization’s control such as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or outside its control, such as Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs) belonging to Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). Since TSP networks are outside the control of the organization, they may not form a part of the change strategy. WLAN however is a whole different matter. Today, most mobile devices are Wi-Fi enabled, so it would be economical for the organization to have hotspots that cater to the networking needs of not just mobile devices such as smartphones, but also Wi-Fi enabled laptops and desktops. Newer and faster network standards such as IEEE 802.11n are excellent from the point of view of very high throughput using Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems, in the range of over 100 Mbps. Voice over LAN over such networks could allow mobile devices to function cost-effectively as VoIP units within the confines of the organization. These dual-mode devices could have smart applications that access the WLAN network on the organization’s premises and switch to the TSP network when the device leaves the premises. One very important factor to consider is the security and coverage of the network. If the organization feels that its available options are limited on both of these counts, it can always approach a TSP. Here, next generation network options such as WiMAX, based on the 802.16 standard and existing 3G standards can be considered. WiMAX promises a much higher throughput compared to High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). In the light of these wireless network options, existing wired networks will slowly become obsolete. The enterprise must design a phase-out plan for its wired infrastructure, keeping wireless network adoption and implementation cost in mind.

When it comes to IT facilities, there will be a considerable impact on the IT workplace itself. Mobility will change the way employees operate. Contemporary smartphones have the capability to collaborate with multiple people using built-in features such as videochat. Workplaces will actually shrink to the size of a small mobile device while the coverage of the work itself will go beyond the confines of brick and mortar establishments. This impact of mobility on the workforce and network is described in greater detail in separate articles in Perspectives Vol. 4.

Formulating the Right IT Strategy

Considering the impact of mobility on IT systems at all levels, CIOs can decide on a change strategy by considering various solutions. These solutions are covered in greater detail in separate articles in Perspectives Vol. 4.

All components of the IT system are important, and a well-thought out change strategy will consider the unique impact mobility has on each one. Once the solutions are identified, a cost/benefit analysis can help streamline the choices. Only then will IT ensure that the organization not only embraces mobility, but also utilizes its strengths to add more business value.

After formulating an IT strategy, to ensure its continued effectiveness, it is important that the plans are agile enough to embrace new technology as it arrives on the scene. After all, the only thing constant about the evolution of technology is the certainty of change.

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