When it comes to providing technology platforms for mobility solutions “being agnostic is the new religion”, was the advice offered to both vendors and channel organisations by Alan Shields, Strategy & Architecture Manager for IT Services, BYOD Project Lead, Cambridgeshire County Council in his keynote address at the CRN Conference on London.
In terms of end-user requirements, what is needed is “multi-platform or true browser-based solutions” he claimed, stating that “solutions locked down to a specific platform or technology” will no longer “cut the mustard” in meeting the needs of either public or private sector organisations.
Other criteria end-users should use in selecting appropriate reseller partners he suggested included “a clear understanding of mobile working” and of the cultural shifts required to introduce and operate such technologies effectively. The patchy connectivity that is an unfortunate fact of life in the UK also makes the ability to offer an effective off-line capability a prerequisite and last but not least he stressed the need for “sensible pricing” to encourage the take–up of mobile technologies.
In his address, Borjas Rosales, Managing Director, Europe, Druva also stressed the value of platform agnosticism but argued that in terms of security BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) often translated into “bring your own problem.”
With as many as 70% of edge devices unencrypted and as much as 28% of data held exclusively on endpoint devices, he indicated that security was a major issue for any organisation adopting mobile technologies, in terms of loss of data and the loss of productivity associated with such losses, data breaches, litigation and compliance exposure.
He went on to cite recent IDC research indicating that the mobile workforce would exceed 600 million by 2015 to indicate that securing mobility was going to become an increasingly important issue. The opportunity to add value for the channel he said was for them to use their knowledge of the customer and their concerns to support customers in identifying and implementing mobility solutions that solve their problems.
The role of the channel in managing the provision of mobility solutions is an issue IT Europa will be examining further over the coming months. To follow developments in key technologies and evolving business models register at www.iteuropa.com