Mobile devices drive efficiency through information access

In years past, the main issue with working from the road was a lack of access to the information needed to complete a job or close out a sale. Employees were in essence working blind, with payphones serving as their only means of communicating with the office.

Of course remote work is nothing like that today thanks to the advent of enterprise mobility. With the help of smartphones and tablets, as well as applications and wireless networks, employees can enjoy the same work experience from a coffee shop or customer headquarters as they do while sitting at their desk.

According to a recent eWeek report, it's this enhanced access to information that makes enterprise mobility such a beneficial practice for so many organizations. Never before have employees had so much data at their fingertips at all times.

"It's all about productivity," Craig Mathias, an analyst with the Farpoint Group, told eWeek. "Being able to get to anything, anywhere goes a long way in increasing efficiency."

The news provider also acknowledged that mobility can benefit workers who rarely leave the office, such as IT professionals. With a device in hand, an IT pro can execute real-time updating, real-time management and problem management, which allows for speedier response time and reduced overhead, eWeek noted.

What's more, devices can help IT pros fix problems while on the go even in a group environment, which avoids the delay of an entire project.

Given the rise of mobility during the past several year, it's become mission-critical for many organizations.

"To a large extent, there are a lot of companies that couldn't function if they didn't have mobile," Jack Gold, principal analyst of J. Gold Associates, said, according to eWeek. "They include companies that do deliveries, retailers who rely on portable terminals or people checking in goods."

However, smartphones and tablets also present their fair share of risks and require close oversight on the part of the company through mobile device management. This year alone, questions of consumerization, security and cost have all received attention among companies as areas that must be addressed when supporting a mobile program.

Moving forward, according to a recent InfoWorld report, consumerization and bring-your-own-device programs will become especially disruptive. It's important that organizations customize their MDM programs to account for the variety of platforms and devices used by employees.