Voice and data communications are taking up an increasing amount of organisations' budgets as more information is shared between and across more businesses. Person to person contact now includes richer media, more participants and is becoming increasingly mobile. Historically telecoms expense management has focused on the mechanistic processing of bills, payment and costs of individual items. It is too simplistic to make blanket cuts or restrict use and opting for cheap alternatives may lead to a loss of business value. A better approach is needed for managing telecoms expense, so what best practices should companies adopt to meet their total communications needs and avoid unnecessary costs ...
11/04/2008 | Total telecoms expense management_optimised.pdf | VIEW
Avoiding user aggravations is key to mobile productivity. Low cost hardware and a plethora of options for connectivity should make it easier for employees to be more productive and take IT access to their point of need. However, outside the perimeter of the business location, additional controls need to be applied to ensure the security and integrity of data on the mobile device and network access. Balancing the need for control with the flexibility given to the user requires care and attention to both mobile strategy and implementation. Mobile users have many challenges facing them as they try to work outside of a managed and familiar working environment. Too many constraints and challenges can distract and divert users from the task in hand, meaning that productivity gains hoped for by deployment of the technology will be lost. ...
19/01/2007 | mobile_pitfalls.pdf | VIEW
Managing the challenges of mobile communications. In the competitive global marketplace, businesses are placed under increasing pressure to have a flexible and efficient workforce that is as productive as possible and reacts to customer demands and changing conditions. The mobile phone, laptop and other small smart devices for mobile connection to corporate data all support these needs, allowing access wherever required to fit business processes. This brings its own risks, but businesses depend upon the flexibility delivered by their increasingly mobile and dispersed workforce, so must adopt a positive approach to securing their intellectual and physical assets as well as their employees. There are many aspects which are explored in this paper in greater detail, but the following list provides a mobile security action plan for an organisation of any size that is aware of existing use of, or has plans to deploy and take advantage of, mobile technologies ...
29/09/2006 | Security_White_Paper.pdf | VIEW
Taking the Right Attitude to Secure Mobile Technology. When companies extend their business IT operations to mobile employees, their risks are increased as valuable software, data and devices are taken out of the protected perimeter of the office, and placed in the pockets, pouches and briefcases of users. Business processes may run more efficiently, and employer and employee have more flexibility in how they conduct the working practices, but do both parties gives sufficient attention to their responsibilities. There is a tendency to believe that where there are challenges with a particular use of technology, the solution is to apply yet more technology, but this is of little benefit if the attitudes to its use are complacent or irresponsible. ...
01/02/2006 | Mobile_Security_&_Responsibility_-_Jan_'06.pdf | VIEW
Working with technology outside the office brings many challenges. Use of laptops has grown from limited user communities to widespread desktop replacement and broad deployment. The complexity of managing these devices outside the walls of the office is something IT departments have learned to address. Remote connection has extended from fixed location dial-in to wireless on the move, and smart handheld devices such as PDAs have become networked, converging with mobile phones. This larger and more diverse community of mobile users and their devices increases the demands on the IT function which has to secure the device, data and connection to the network, keeping control of corporate assets, while at the same time supporting mobile user productivity. ...
01/06/2005 | Mobile devices and users.pdf | VIEW
With all the talk of mobilising the enterprise, you might think that companies were taking a strategic view of how mobility might change and enhance their business, right? Not really. According to Quocirca research over recent years, (first noted in 2005), less than one in six companies seem to have sorted out some form of mobile strategy, and the majority are just working on ad hoc or ‘retrofit' approaches. ...
20/08/2009 | Setting mobile strategy.pdf | VIEW
