10:19 AM
Why Mobility Managers Deserve A Seat At The Table
Few changes in business have been more significant in recent years than the mobile technology revolution. We've moved from an office-bound workforce to one that can work just as productively from the road, a plane, or a cafe. This shift has taken place so quickly that it's almost easy to ignore.
Smart technology managers, of course, know better. Corporate mobility is exponentially more complex today, replete with devices, platforms, data plans, rules, and job titles that didn't exist even five years ago. That complexity -- combined with wildly different employee expectations -- has made mobile technology management as critical to business success today as marketing, finance, and sales.
Much has changed since the days of clunky first-generation smartphones. Company mobility programs are no longer limited to a handful of executives, all using the same phone, covered by one of three voice plans on the same carrier. Today, employees use multiple mobile platforms (iOS, Windows, and Android), device types (smartphones, tablets, and air cards, among others) and a variety of data and voice plans. Companies on average now juggle more than 1.5 devices per employee. At the same time, the explosion of mobile data and business apps have turned smartphones into productivity workhorses, syncing people with their calendars, contacts, apps, and the information they need to get work done from anywhere.