Many businesses are still in the process of adopting to remote work or work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new norms are here to stay, and businesses need to incorporate mobile solutions to survive this uncertain period. Employers are concerned about productivity and security, whereas employees are more concerned about equipping themselves with sufficient technology to maintain work consistency. How is work-from-home working?

The Need for Mobile Solutions

An average employee uses three devices every day at work, and they own at least one of these devices. In the last decade, application usage has also increased on these devices, changing the modern workforce. Recent findings from research conducted on the mobile workforce indicated one important thing. IT departments must support employees working remotely while social distancing by equipping them with adequate hardware, software, and support. Having this support will allow them to work efficiently.

Here are the findings which led to this conclusion:

1. Device Popularity Is Split

On average, 40 percent of organizations use the iPhone as their primary smartphone, while others use Android mobile devices suitable for business use. When it comes to tablets, the iPad is the number one choice, with 90 percent popularity.

2. Applications are Diverse

Most companies use Windows apps, web apps, Software as a Service (SaaS) apps, and mobile apps. With remote work rising, the need for mobile solutions will increase, causing diversity to increase in tow. Windows app usage will decrease due to a lack of uniform platforms among the workforce, i.e., most workers will use different devices that do not give the same performance level. SaaS and mobile apps will increase by 25 percent by 2021, and for a good reason. The need for instant communication during operations has given rise to instant messaging apps and text messaging. With inconsistent infrastructure, SaaS apps will grow since they have minimum requirements in terms of hardware, monthly subscription, and great backup.

3. Application Overload

Organizations manage several apps every day, and the number goes up with company size. With the change in apps inevitable, workforce management will have to adapt to new communication channels, platforms, security protocols, and hardware changes.

4. Security Concerns

Network security is one of the biggest concerns for companies. Most information is stored on personal devices, including emails, clientele, financial documents, inventory, etc. Corporate data employees use personal cloud or desktop storage, and these are under constant potential threats from hackers and cybercriminals.

IT Mobile Solutions

There are several ways IT departments at an organization can help the mobile workforce adapt to these changing norms. However, they need to have clear objectives of what they aim to achieve. The ideal goal should be to securely manage organization data on all devices, simplify applications, and improve control over data and applications. There are common elements of a smart approach to mobility that any organization can adopt. We have designed five mobile solutions you can add to your mobility strategy and optimize your dynamic IT environment:

1.  Cloud App Unification

With Cloud App unification, users can access using a single sign-on for superior management across different applications. The key is to manage access to the company’s Intranet, web, Windows desktop applications, and SaaS. This way, employees have equal access to data and applications on different devices without compromising on performance.

2.  Local Content Security

IT departments find a better approach to move access and security away from mobile devices and gain control through application and data management. For instance, they can encrypt the data files on mobile devices for Cloud data using a ‘follow-me’ access protocol. This way, they can monitor a user’s activity on the Intranet. For mobile apps, they can ‘wrap’ applications for native execution and improve the flexibility of HTML5 apps for cross-platform development.

3.  Identification-Based Control Access

The mobile workforce consists of different employees with different job descriptions and access to information. As a result, a major issue is mapping apps according to different job functions. Mobile solutions here include role mapping, different authentication types, and a directory system. These solutions will map the appropriate applications and data stores for authorized personnel and provide single sign-on and access to resources.

4.  Policy-Based Control Access

IT policies should include “contextual” mobile information access. While on the job, organizations should know their mobile workforce’s location, the devices they are using, network, and authentication requirements. These policies should apply only to specific applications or files to allow or disable access.

5. Bring All Mobile Solutions Together

Once you have implemented all the solutions above, the next key objective is to ensure they are convenient for the mobile workforce and organization in general. The new system should include a unified store for all applications and data, relevant policy, identification-based access, self-service subscriptions, and ‘follow-me’ access to information across devices. Complementing these mobile solutions will make remote work convenient and allow employees to choose their devices, access their work-related data, and work from anywhere. Simultaneously, the IT department has control over all the applications and data in use by workers.

Final Verdict

Social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has impacted all businesses, making mobility and remote work a necessity. More employees are working remotely and require access to data from their workplace while at home. No matter its location, your IT infrastructure should be efficient in connecting your employees to data and applications without compromising security. Percento Technologies can fulfill the needs of the modern mobile workforce, such as virtual private networks and access to cloud services, to provide flexibility to your mobile workforce.