Companies have much to consider for enterprise mobility management policies

With many companies supporting a fleet of mobile employees, it is important to have a policy to manage company wireless devices in place as part of the overall enterprise mobility management platform. But there is a lot for these companies to consider to ensure a policy covers all the necessary bases.

Planning ahead is the key to drafting, implementing and maintaining any enterprise mobility policy. According to a recent Network World report, all policies should determine ways to control corporate wireless spend and methods for taking advantage of emerging technologies to boost business.

"Having a mobility strategy is critical to the success of one’s mobility initiative. More importantly, IT professionals should take the time to think through their strategies – because decisions that seem clear and easy often aren’t," according to Network World.

According to the Enterprise Mobility Policies Guidebook, companies that clearly define mobile strategies and policies experience higher returns on investment with "as well revenues and profitability that can be attributed to their mobility investments."

Companies should start by determining which employees need what capabilities. That will segue the process into determining what platforms and devices will be supported.

As recently as last year, figuring out what platforms and devices a company would deploy was simple. Back then, the answers to those questions were BlackBerry and BlackBerry. But now, with the consumerization of enterprise mobility, employees have a choice between BlackBerry, Apple's iPhone and iPad and devices that run Google's Android operating system, among others.

It is important for the company to select a platform and devices which best fit its needs.

Of course with smartphones and tablets come mobile applications. Developers are constantly releasing mobile apps that handle all sorts of business tasks. According to a recent survey from Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services, enterprise mobility is no longer just for email. Employees use mobile apps to monitor financial performance, budgets and costs and to track customer order statuses.

By governing their use through mobility policies, companies can control the costs of downloading apps and ensure they are being utilized correctly.

The Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services report revealed how enterprise mobility will expand during the next two years. While 84 percent of mobile employees currently access company email from a mobile device, the figure will balloon to 100 percent in 2012. App use for many business processes will also see substantial expansion over the same time, according to the survey.