EMM, BYOD & Cloud – How the Cloud Improves Enterprise Mobility Management

Cloud computing and enterprise mobility management (EMM) are a perfect combination. A VPS Hosting option can enable easier deployment, security, and control of EMM scenarios, particularly bring-your-own-device (BYOD).

• Why BYOD?
• EMM Via the BYOD Cloud for Security
• Cloud-Delivered EMM Prevents Time-Wasting
• Cloud BYOD Optimizes Efficiency
• Strong Cloud Partner for BYOD

Cloud computing and the gradual transition to a work environment without walls are related trends that create opportunities for businesses. Using cloud, companies can develop a stronger competitive edge and streamline their businesses with mobile, as long as they adopt strong and secure management of their employees’ devices.

Why BYOD?

BYOD gives your organization immediate access to cloud systems while empowering each individual member of your staff to log in through their own smartphones and tablets. This type of policy has become popular globally. One indication is a poll of United Kingdom CIOs asking if the workers could access their system remotely using mobile devices and laptops.

“Over 500 CIOs were questioned for recent research about their attitudes to remote and flexible working,” explains tech writer Antony Savvas, “which found that 48 percent of office workers can now work from home and on the go.” The study also found that 7 in 10 companies believe creating broader IT options increases customer satisfaction and minimizes lost workdays.

Research from the United States on the rise of BYOD through the cloud is similarly compelling. Already back in 2013, 3 out of 5 firms had a bring-your-own-device system in place, with 54% using the cloud in some manner. We all know that both of those technological approaches have grown massively over the last two years.

EMM Via the BYOD Cloud for Security

Cloud essentially enables strong security of BYOD. What if someone steals an employee’s cell phone? If that happens, the thief could get access to all sorts of company information.

Actually, theft is only one of your concerns: 46% of people say that they sometimes allow others to use their work devices, says Miles Young of CloudTweaks. “With [cloud computing] services, all storage and data processing occurs outside the mobile devices,” he explains. “As information isn’t stored on any employee’s device, corporate documents enjoy greater security.”

Furthermore, enterprise mobility management systems can make sure that all your BYOD-connected devices are free of malware and viruses. Another capability of EMM is to allow you to clear out all the data on a device if it goes missing. That’s critical because one out of every three people say that work data on their smart phones and tablets is unencrypted. It’s important to also remember that criminal hackers typically consider phones and tablets as prime locations for entry into a system.

Still, be careful with the element of security. “To best protect end users and the enterprise, mobile security must go beyond the device,” says Fernanda Aspe on TechTarget. “It is imperative for IT to ensure that the cloud provider offers centralized security in the cloud when end users use mobile-based applications to access corporate data.”

Cloud-Delivered EMM Prevents Time-Wasting

BYOD is essentially about access, and that access is both positive and negative. Just as your employees have access to the workplace from anywhere, they also will have many distractions on that BYOD-enabled personal device as well.

Through cloud enterprise mobility management, you will better be able to see what employees are doing. Obviously that can quickly get invasive, but if you have cloud web traffic filters set up, you can see what your workers are doing while they are on the job – information that is clearly reasonable for you to know.

Do you want to preserve your employees’ privacy? That’s noble, but consider workers may be taking advantage of the business. An example is provided by a case recently brought to a trade union’s legal team. Members of labor unions often have access to attorneys to avoid employer abuses, but sometimes people who contact those lawyers are clearly in the wrong. In 2015, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers complained that he was wrongly fired. As a result, the IBEW state office opened an investigation. In its defense, the company sent GPS records to the lawyers showing that the electrician’s work vehicle spent about an hour a day at his home address when he was supposed to be working.

The same basic principle applies online: do you really want to be paying someone to check their Instagram and play solitaire? By blending cloud with BYOD, you can minimize distraction among your employees.

Cloud BYOD Optimizes Efficiency

If the business picks out every device that’s used, that situation is obviously simpler to manage. You know that the computer is right there at their workstation, where it will always be. BYOD is more challenging to manage, but cloud systems make it much easier and less disruptive.

“Should a worker’s preferred device become lost, stolen, or inoperable, they can simply start working on another machine,” explains Savvas. “With all vital data stored on the cloud, this process is seamless.”

Strong Cloud Partner for BYOD

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By Moazzam Adnan