The world of enterprise mobility has already undergone significant change in the last few years. With so many devices in the workplace today, assuming control over all employee devices with an MDM approach would be nigh impossible. Instead, many companies have moved to MAM, which focuses on securing and managing applications rather than assuming full control of smartphones and laptops.
In a new article for ComputerWorld, writer Peter Fretty suggests that more change may soon be underway in enterprise mobility. Except this time, it won’t be due to more smartphones. He thinks it will be due to a huge influx of IoT devices.
“The biggest disruption,” says Fretty, “may involve how organizations utilize the intelligence gathered by mobile devices.” From the time and resources required to manage these devices, to the apps needed to make those devices useful, to security measures needed to counteract growing threats, Fretty believes that the Internet of Things is poised to have a significant impact on enterprise mobility.
As the introduction of smart devices into the workplace has shown, it doesn’t take long for change to take off. Even if you aren’t making direct investments into IoT devices and infrastructure for your business, chances are good that you’re already starting to feel some of their effects. Already, businesses that are building IoT into their enterprise mobility programs are seeing results. Though it’s not clear what all the use cases for IoT devices are, we do think that it’s only a matter of time before their use is widespread.
Regardless of what you think the true impact of IoT will be, one thing we can definitely agree with Fretty on is that the time to start planning is now. Even if IoT isn’t currently on your radar, spending time now to think about how it may fit into your mobility strategy can only serve to benefit you down the road.
So, what do you think: will IoT change the face of enterprise mobility?
