According to The International Telecommunication Union, there were six billion mobile subscriptions at the end of 2011 – enough subscriptions for 87 percent of the earth’s population to have cell service. The Associated Press reported on Feb 9, 2011, for the first time ever, smartphones out sold PCs. Morgan Stanley asserts that this year, over half of network devices will ship without a wired port.

Mobile adoption has transformed how society plays, communicates and accesses information. The impacts of mobility extend beyond consumers right into the workplace. Employees don’t want to abandon phones and apps at the doors of the office.

Businesses are racing to mobile enable enterprise applications. Enabling employees to access the information and services they need anytime, anywhere and on any device has significant productivity benefits.

However, many companies are struggling to manage technology consumerization and are struggling to adjust to the reality that soon employees will access networks from traditional computers, smart phone, tablets and a growing list of other devices. Providing basic connectivity, support for one or two types of devices and a limited set of applications is not enough. Mobile users frequently need and expect access to same tools, information and quality of service they have from their desktop.

source: Forrester

Getting Ready for Mobile

Just because a company is ready to go mobile, doesn’t mean its infrastructure is. Technology leaders must ensure the infrastructure supports current and future mobile demands, which can be challenging for even modest mobility requirements. Just getting started is often a multi-step, multi-person process that’s made even more difficult by mobile technology’s rapid rate of change. The specific activities required to make an infrastructure “mobile ready” can vary based on business needs and other factors. However, there are few steps no business with mobile aspirations should ignore.

Secure all devices

The good thing about mobile devices is they aren’t tethered to specific location. The bad thing about mobile devices is they aren’t tethered to specific location. Smart phones, tablets and other devices are much easier to misplace or steal than a desktop computer tower and a monitor. Given the storage capacity of modern devices, this can mean exposing a significant amount of sensitive information, even when it’s not connected.

Because of this enormous risk, any company that allows mobile devices on its network should have practices, policies and solutions for securing the end-point. Businesses have options ranging from physical security like locking cables and tracking devices to anti-malware and mobile data protection platforms to protect their data, and one size does not fit all. It’s important that organizations first understand exactly what they need to secure and select the least intrusive option that meets the goals.

Implement wireless network security

The impact of a network breach due to a compromised mobile device can be enormous – lost productivity, revenue, trust and even trade secrets. This makes it extremely important to secure connections by mobile clients. Consider requiring authentication, establishing common security profiles for wireless devices and encrypting communication. In addition, implementing host intrusion prevention to address risks associated with ad hoc wireless networks, SSID broadcasts and VPN connections at public hotspots. Luckily, companies have a long list mobile management solution options to can help simplify managing mobile access, devices and applications.

Make Information Mobile, Ensure It’s Right

When discussing mobile infrastructure, most technology leaders think about concerns like devices, security and physical connectivity, but overlook an equally important component of mobile infrastructure – information. Information may exist as unstructured content, documents, records in an enterprise application, relational data or even multimedia. Businesses must consider how they will make information available to mobile users because it is the key to achieving the productivity gains mobility promises.

Businesses cannot maximize productivity if they relegate mobile users to desktop versions of company web applications, offline versions of content, managing documents via shared file folders or a subset of the information needed to make decisions. Customers and leads are even more likely than employees to become disgruntled by a bad mobile experience due to incomplete, inconsistent or poorly structured content. If an organization is embracing mobile, developing a mobile information management strategy should definitely be high on the list of things to do.

Bandwidth Matters

Organizations should always keep in mind bandwidth is not some a magic, limitless pool. The constant demand for connectivity is on the path to making bandwidth a scarce commodity. A March 2012 report on global mobile workforce trends suggests,

“Cellular bandwidth congestion is becoming the limiting factor in the evolutionary path of the mobile Internet. The expected bandwidth crunch is predicted to reach a head somewhere between 2012 and 2014.”

The report also reveals,

“Over the last year, we’ve seen a decline in satisfaction among mobile employees with their mobile network service – from 87 percent in 2011, to 62 percent in 2012. This is primarily attributed to dissatisfaction with data coverage and cellular network speed. At the same time, monthly data consumption on smartphones has risen from 21 percent of respondents that used 1 GB of data or more a month in 2011, to 26 percent in 2012.”

Businesses should design applications to minimize the amount of data applications transfer to mobile end points. Organizations should also take the possibility for intermittent connectivity into account when designing applications. Techniques like caching and offline data synchronization can minimize user impact if a connection becomes unstable. In addition, for internal employees companies can create a private WAN (wireless WiFi) to reduce the amount of bandwidth/data employees use on carriers’ networks. Utilizing a WAN can result in lower costs for cell services and connection reliability and speed.

Mobile isn’t going away and neither or the challenges it poses for business infrastructure. Organizations should be proactive as possible and plan for the impacts for the best chance at success.