Mobile Clinic The number one question that you all seem to be losing some sleep over is, 'How do we keep mobile device management consistent with the policies and procedures applied to the other devices on my corporate network?' Once again we roll out our illustrious panel of experts to tackle it for you, to give you some pointers and hopefully steer you in the right direction.

Some of you might have already nailed this problem, of course, in which case tell us how you do it – there's comment forms at the bottom of the article. It all helps.

Ed Moore, OpenWeb product manager, Openwave Europe
www.openwave.com

Where there’s a need, there’s a vendor willing to help...

Device management can now be extended from a corporate network of laptops and desktops to include mobile devices such as smart phones. To use third-party tools an ‘open’ platform such as Windows Mobile, PalmOS, Linux or Symbian is required, but within this there are a wide range of solutions possible. We are not yet at the stage of seamless integration with existing corporate tools, but it will come in time.

When applying policies, what should be considered the most important areas to consider?

Security

The most obvious is security; do I have a password, when should it be changed, auto-locking?

Application Management

Installing applications and keeping them updated with current releases.

Removing applications if no longer needed and carrying out inventory checks for licence compliance.

Settings Updates

Updating APNs and proxy settings plus application settings. You need to be careful this does not conflict with updates being sent from your mobile operator!

Manage Functions

Controlling access to functions on the handset; for example starting Bluetooth or shutting down the camera. This function can be useful in controlling costs as well as keeping staff focused, stopping video clip downloads, for example, can save data usage while also reducing the risk of 'inappropriate' content appearing on company machines.

Data Management

Backing up software and synchronising contacts.

An advantage you will have in managing smartphones is in the capability to 'reach out' to them, using the capabilities of the mobile network as each handset is unique and addressable wherever it is in the world. Sending an SMS message can trigger a device to connect to your management server, receiving updates when you want to schedule them.

An alternative approach, if data is all that’s required, would be to look at the newly emerging ultra-portable PCs. These are far below even sub-notebooks in size but are still able to run full versions of Microsoft Windows. Any policies and procedures that you apply to your normal laptops will apply equally to this class of machine, but may give a number of your users the access device they require, with a much reduced carrying weight. It does mean that in almost all cases you’re moving to a two-device situation, as all travelling staff these days will have a simple mobile phone, too, but this should not cause problems in most cases.

A word of warning on smartphones: your mobile operator may also be interested in controlling ‘his’ customers and not necessarily in the same way you are! Be aware of the potential for downloads from the operator or changing of settings, too, these may not always be notified to you in advance.

Michael Lawrence, head of enablers, Orange Business Services UK
www.orange.co.uk

The broader deployment of mobile devices and the replacement of desktops with laptops is something most IT departments have learnt to address in recent years. The larger community of mobile users within corporates has increased demands on the IT function which has to secure the device, data and connection to the network, keeping control of corporate assets while simultaneously supporting user productivity. At the same time, the plethora of operating systems, standards, network protocols and software makes managing mobile devices and services increasingly difficult.

Orange works with a number of third parties to ease the headache and, in doing so, can share advice on how to best keep control of and manage the many new ways that corporate information is accessed. The key word is balance; ensuring a good user experience yet keeping control and this is perhaps the key challenge that IT departments face. Part of this challenge is getting the right balance between resource-hungry applications and functionality, especially when deployed to smaller devices where the impact on battery life is greater. Managing functions like the address book, virus protection, policy setting and applications deployment centrally is the way forward in most cases and balancing the controls that an organisation wants to put in place with ensuring a good experience for the user is also important. Too many policies and controls will lead to a frustrating experience that defeats the purpose of mobile enablement and drives end users to seek ways around them.

Cost control always has been and always will be a key consideration for any company, large or small. The ability to get mobile users’ own applications signed and deployed over the air causes minimum disruption and helps manage costs. End users can be set up much quicker as company-specific settings can be applied centrally very quickly to one or many devices. IT departments must also be in a position to diagnose faults quickly and centrally to ensure that users have continual access to corporate information while out of the office. The reduction in user intervention will mean less trips into offices to get the latest software/applications loaded and users will have less down time, as the device is more easily fixed while they are out of the office.

The ability to set up different groups of users also makes life a lot simpler for the IT department. For example, a sales department with a specialist application can be hosted on a particular server along with a finance department with a stocks/shares application. This enables the IT manager to support these users centrally but differentiate their device/application and settings templates.

Finally, it's easy to forget that policies and procedures are imposed by organisations on individuals. The recipients of the rules must understand why they exist and what impact any breaches may have on their organisation and themselves. The technology is there to support policies and procedures and must, therefore, be as invisible to the end user as possible. The opportunities for improving efficiencies, improving end-users' experiences and reducing total cost of ownership are there for the taking if the balance of control and autonomy can be achieved.

Freeform Dynamics, By the Freeform Dynamics Team
www.freeformdynamics.com

This is a good question, and to answer it we first need to remember the scope of the challenge. As well as considering mobile phones, smart phones and PDAs we also need to remember the mobile use of laptops. A third type of device is the “memory-only” device such as the USB stick, the iPod or even the SD card (as used in cameras, etc). It’s important to establish scope not just to make sure we have everything covered: new kinds and combinations of devices are being released every day, and the lines between device types are ever more shaky. Are the latest generations of PDAs that different from the mobile computers of five years ago, and should the USB-connected mobile phone with mass storage really be seen any differently from a memory stick? So we need to ensure we define and implement management policies that fit with both the device types, and how they are combined.

If we try to put in place management policies from the perspective of the devices being used, we will forever be running behind the problem, like a street urchin trying to catch up with a tinker’s cart. It is important to consider the basics first, and define workable management policies and procedures that fit with what the business is trying to achieve. This boils down to considering:

• What corporate systems need to be accessed remotely, why and by whom?
• What data is to be made remotely accessible, how and (again) why and by whom?
• What communications mechanisms need to be provisioned, again for what purpose?
• What needs to be done from a management perspective to assure service delivery of the above?

It may be, for example, that remote staff need access to the corporate directory or the CRM system, or that a senior manager requires to work on a particular spreadsheet while offline. Only once such a scope is understood is it possible to map this onto the very real situation of what systems and devices are out there accessing the network, what software is loaded on them, what data they hold and who is using them.

Then, policies and procedures need to be made consistent with the mobile devices in use, or more importantly, how they are to be used. Laptops for home office-based teleworkers should be subject to different criteria than PDAs issued to the sales force, and this will pose different requirements on the management mechanisms.

Funnily enough, a starting point for a cost-effective management solution may well be to implement a policy in which the devices are manageable. Our tips are:

1. Become very anal about what devices you will support. One mobile phone, one laptop etc... You/the organization is paying the bill after all...
2. Attempt to have existing management capabilities, desired policy and procedures, and device manageability meet at an achievable point, rather than having one dictate the rest, which is only a recipe for not getting to the bottom of this.
3. Without accurate basic inventory/asset data available it is very difficult to manage anything.
4. Make demands of existing mobile device/management software vendors to provide examples/proof points of existing customer solutions that mirror your specific problem.
5. Be prepared to swap out stuff that simply wont be managed.

Then, it comes down to what tools are available. There is a raft of third-party tools addressing the different issues described above. For PCs etc there is good coverage, but there’s a big issue, of course, with mobile devices as there is generally such a disparate range of devices at use within any organisation. Choose carefully.