Do enterprises need help managing BYOD?
The bring-your-own device (BYOD) trend is changing the enterprise technology landscape, and IT decision-makers need the tools to manage this without restricting the end-user experience.
That's the view of research group Analysys Mason, who says mobile device management (MDM) is one such tool, but other services should be considered alongside MDM that will provide significant additional functionality, such as mobile application management or content management.
The company's Connected Consumer Survey showed that 52% of respondents used their personal mobile phone for work, but when asked what they use their device for, a more interesting picture emerged.
Findings claim 59% of BYOD activity was centred on incoming and outgoing calls, with a further 21% is attributable to SMS.
In essence, the survey revealed that most BYOD activity is centred around voice and SMS.
Analysys says these services do not require connection to the corporate network, either for connectivity or to access corporate data, with email accounting for 14% of BYOD activity and accessing business applications 4%.
Other uses accounted for 2%, which may include accessing documents or a calendar, or using instant messaging (IM) or maps.
"Enterprises that accept BYOD and intend to benefit from it should put in place a BYOD framework," says Patrick Rusby, report author analyst, Analysys Mason.
"They need to be ready to manage and support a large range of devices, and to enable employees to access the applications that they require in order to be productive.
"MDM provides one element of this, but it is increasingly important to have application and content management alongside this."
SMEs
Rusby says small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly adopting MDM solutions, particularly as cloud-based solutions become more widely available.
As a consequence, Analysys forecasts that cloud-based MDM revenue worldwide will increase from US$574.8m in 2013 to $1.5bn in 2018m, representing a CAGR of 27.3%.
"In light of the increase in enterprise mobility and BYOD, as well as increasing adoption of MDM, communications service providers (CSPs) and vendors are looking to add services to their MDM products," Rusby says.
"This is to ensure that SMEs and larger enterprises have access to the tools that they need to secure their data and IP and manage the proliferation of mobile devices that are accessing this data."
