Organizations Say Cloud Simplifies Device Management
One of the biggest drivers into cloud computing is the growing need for businesses to provide a realistic mobile device management policy. Large organizations are finding that the traditional laptop, plus VPN token, encryption and requiring users to implement what resembles a bicycle lock to lock their laptops to a desk is increasingly cumbersome and troublesome for many employees. The fact that most employees have a smart phone or personal tablet that they carry anyways has forced IT departments to rethink the way that they deploy enterprise apps.
ComputerWeekly interviewed several decision makers within large organizations to get their take on what cloud means for their device management policy. The increasing desire for organizations to implement a Bring Your Own Device policy (BYOD) has meant that IT organizations must rethink the way they deploy their applications.
Brenden Petsch from GritIt mentions, “I think the cloud is key to managing different types of devices, and for people bringing in their own devices to ensure security and simplicity. For us, the cloud is essential and allows us to roll out updates automatically; if we had an on-premise solution I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Petsch goes on to say, “Before the introduction of a cloud management for devices, if there was a problem, we had half-a-dozen handheld devices in reserve, but a driver would have to pick one up and swap his device, which was inefficient.”
Stephen Hind, an analyst for DrPete, was quoted in Computer Weekly’s interview saying, “There are fewer barriers as to why you shouldn’t use cloud to manage devices. It is very secure and scalable, but there are some scenarios where an organisation might choose an onsite solution.”
The research available today shows us that large organizations are finally getting serious about implementing a realistic mobile device management policy. What about the future of device management? Roy Illsley, an analyst at Ovum says, “I think you may see device management as a separate discipline within an IT function, becoming less significant and pushed to either managed server providers or combined with other teams and using more automated approaches.”
