Report reveals companies' mobility struggles

Despite all the good that comes from enterprise mobility - increased access to information among employees and a higher level of productivity - maintaining a successful program can be a major challenge for some companies. A recent whitepaper authored by independent industry analyst Kevin Benedict highlighted several areas where companies especially struggle.

Sponsored by Netcentric Strategies, the whitepaper touched on various aspects of enterprise mobility and how companies prioritize and manage their use of smartphones and tablets. One question asked by Benedict had companies rate the most difficult challenges when it came to enterprise mobility.

Considerations for mobile application management and mobile device management topped the list as there was a tie for the No. 1 spot. Respondents ranked "integrating mobile applications with backend systems" and "developing an enterprise mobility strategy" as the top challenges.

Selecting an enterprise mobility management solution was ranked No. 5 on the list, according to report.

It was somewhat surprising that companies are struggling with mobile application integration. Other report results showed that more than 70 percent of respondents said their company has already deployed mobile applications. Of these, 20 percent said their apps have been in place for the past seven to 12 months.

During the next year, 53.9 percent of respondents said their company plans to deploy one to five apps. More than 10 percent said their company will add 30 or more applications.

"Companies that will be involved in large numbers of mobile applications will most
certainly need to implement mobile platforms, architectures and infrastructures to efficiently
manage and secure all of these while keeping the [total cost of ownership] controlled," Benedict wrote.

In terms of selecting a device management solution, consumerization may have a hand in such struggles. More than 71 percent of respondent said their IT department supports and allows employees to bring their personally owned smartphones and tablets to work. Some organizations may be reluctant to do so considering the perceived data security risk of allowing employees to access the enterprise network through these devices.

According to a recent Computerworld report, computing giant IBM is among the companies that has embraced the consumerization of enterprise mobility. The firm recently said that 100,000 employees will be allowed to access its networks through personally owned devices, while another 100,000 will gain such access next year, according to the news provider.