Mobile devices are increasingly becoming a way of life for workforces. A steady stream of cool applications is making work a breeze and the productivity benefits outweigh the risk to security. Enterprise data managers see the point and are no longer obsessively wary of the data loss and management issues of integrating wireless applications, the growth of smart phones by employees expanded in 69% of North American companies in 2008. The fact remains that mobile devices and applications pose unique challenges. They are not updated as often as on-site applications and are, as a result, vulnerable to viruses. Equally, mobile devices are more likely to be stolen or lost and valuable data could fall into the wrong hands. Mobile devices are not quite free birds and need remote technical and application support management. These concerns can be addressed by an inventory of mobile assets on the backend and data on the interdependencies between hardware and software assets.
Most security breaches happen when software is not updated regularly with patches. For in-house assets, automatic patch management is enabled when datacenters prepare an inventory of the hardware assets the status of their software updates. Upgrades to the software are downloaded as soon as they are available and an asset is known to need it. For mobile devices, the data center can keep track of updates and prompt upgrades when needed.
While on the road, sales people carry valuable information such as customer lists, network log-on information or product launch plans. Smart phones these days can store a lot with those flash devices. They could easily lose their devices while dosing at airports or while moving in and out of hotels. To safeguard against such risks, the devices and their applications could be disabled remotely. This would be possible if the data center has an asset inventory with the lost mobile device listed; the salesperson could use drag and drop commands from any computer to disable the device.
Remote technical support for mobile devices is a challenge given their diversity and that of their operating systems and applications. The datacenter would be able to help if they have ready access to an inventory of data on the configuration of each of the devices and their software, the knowledge resources for diagnosis and remedies and the technical staff skilled able to provide support.
Enterprises have so far chosen to use special systems to manage mobile devices instead of using existing data centers. The cost of doing so is prohibitive at $2,500 for each mobile phone. As the number of devices in use increases, the cumulative cost will balloon. They have to begin implementing processes in their existing datacenters to keep the cost manageable and to leverage the entire stock of assets they have to ensure efficiency and security for their mobile assets as well.