What’s Really “Mobile?” Modeling Mobility Within the Boundary-free Enterprise

Saugatuck clients will be interested in a new Strategic Perspective which looks at the evolution of multiple device usage, and explains why the treatment and management of mobile devices must stretch well beyond our traditional frame of reference.

The mobile device environment is changing as increasingly powerful devices become available to supplement, rather than substitute for, traditional PC use. This is an important part of the Boundary Free Enterprise™, framed by the notion that IT usage is changing to embrace multiple devices with data shared through and within the Cloud.

As mobile devices continue to enter the enterprise through the BYOD movement, a new range of possibilities is emerging. While these devices offer a challenge to the conventional role of the PC, a more realistic assessment is that they will provide components of an overall solution as complementary supplements rather than replacements. Already, we can see different users establishing different usage patterns. These patterns entail considerations of infrastructure, access, security, and support that need to be taken into account, and optimized to ensure cost effective usage

Profiles will differ according to industry sector and organizational characteristics, but key usage possibilities include:

1. Stationary Remote. User are in a fixed location, such as a branch office or external department
2. Road Warrior. Users are salesmen or professionals, always on the go, requiring data in easily accessible form consumed remotely
3. Office Device User. User takes advantage of multiple devices, such as a laptop, tablet, and phone, to perform a range of functions and provide a range of alerts.
4. Office Roamer. This user moves relatively infrequently (less than once per week) between offices, as a part of a workgroup or project team.
5. Home/Office Worker. These users share time between home and central office and include a variety of professionals and teleworkers.
6. Occasional Device User. These users work mainly in the office and require only occasional alerts and calendar updates on smartphone or iPad.

As devices proliferate, they are introducing new ways of performing tasks, and creating solutions that have not previously been seen. In the next wave of deployment, devices are emerging as components of a multiple platform solution. Different types of users are employing devices differently and devices are being employed together in different ways. This has continuing implications for management. As this part of the Boundary Free Enterprise continues to emerge, we can see greater opportunities for device usage, and emergence of different patterns of consumption.

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