Challenges Facing Mobility In Enterprise Systems

Running head: CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 1

Challenges Facing Mobility in Enterprise Systems

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CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 2

Challenges Facing Mobility in Enterprise Systems

Introduction

The adoption of mobility in enterprise systems exposes companies to escalated levels of

risks and numerous challenges. Organizations have adopted the use of personal devices including

tablets and smartphones as boosters of employees’ productivity and empowerment strategies. For

instance, mobile applications such as camera, cloud storage, and other third party apps, which

were useful for individual use only; have now become equally significant in the enterprise arena

(Weinberg et al., 2015). As such, in the quest for low-cost hardware and mobility by businesses,

the adoption of personal devices in the workplace has gained increased attention of many

practitioners. Despite the numerous benefits of using mobile devices in the business

environment, the challenge of security remains a huge source of discomfort for organizations and

professionals (Liu, 2015). This paper proposes several mobile security methodologies that can

enhance the effectiveness of enterprise mobility.

As organizations join the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) movement, computing is

becoming ubiquitous since access to company information is now possible anytime and

everywhere (Weinberg et al., 2015). People can access company information on their personal

devices including Smartphones and tablets as opposed to the traditional immobile office devices

such as desktops and laptops. An enormous challenge emanating from the BYOD movement is

the absence of mobile defended approaches to enhance the company’s control of those personal

devices. For instance, the enterprise confronts the challenge of managing and controlling vast

and complex sets of data. The environments under which these personal devices are utilizable is

constantly evolving and featuring new trends. This phenomenon presents inevitable worries for

organizations given that trust at the endpoint does not last.

CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 3

Second, employees have negligible education on the security threats surrounding the use

of personal mobile devices in the enterprise environment (Weinberg et al., 2015). Not all users of

personal devices are tech-savvy. For instance, a Human Resource Manager might have little or

no knowledge of information security matters. Similarly, employees may be unaware if mobile

security threats (Hui, 2014). This knowledge gap increases the risk of company information

when the employees share data via personal devices. This fact represents a critical problem that

drives the present research study.

The third problem entails the absence of proactive policies and strategies to adopt mobile

devices in the enterprise environment. Organizations must be aware of the security threats of

enterprise mobility. In this vein, they ought to devise robust strategies and guidelines to control

the use of mobile devices (Hui, 2014). Research has identified the need for businesses adopting

the BYOD initiative to formulate and revise procedures and policies with the aim of advancing

mobile security in business systems.

The advent of smartphone and tablets has not left the stone of enterprises unturned.

Today, personal and professional lives have increasingly become intertwined (Liu, 2015). In

most organizations, employees use their consumer-grade personal computers, tablets, and

smartphones to execute their official tasks and responsibilities. The emergence of the

consumerization of Information Technology (IT) is slowly obligating organizations to permit as

well as offer support to the powerful high-end mobile devices that are purchased and owned by

the human resources. Implementation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs brings

several advantages to the organization. These include enhanced worker productivity, increased

revenues, and shrinking device and data costs.

CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 4

Despite the obvious merits of technological transformation in the modern enterprise, Liu

(2015) observes that consumerization brings a plethora of challenges to these organizations.

Several issues emerge concerning the use of personal devices within the company. First, how to

support the new devices, of which users may have little knowledge. Second, ways of maximizing

visibility. Third, how to secure networks and data given their inability to control the personal

devices. Last but not least, how to distinguish between personal and corporate data on

individually-owned mobile devices.

Dijkman et al., (2015) reveals that one of the toughest challenges facing organizations

that seek increased mobility is the employee’s little knowledge on how to safeguard information

on personal devices. Recent research indicates that large enterprise data is created and consumed

on mobile devices (Liu, 2015). This phenomenon increases security risks for organizations.

Mobile security is the leading concern of enterprise security concerns in recent times. As the

consumption of data on mobile devices increases among employees, malware has become more

sophisticated to target business information. It is easy for mobile devices users to install

applications from unknown sources. Today, users can share apps amongst devices without

having to download them from the official app installer. These activities introduce new security

risks.

Additionally, the jailbreaking of iOS devices is a critical source of mobile data insecurity.

Stolen mobile devices fall into the wrong hands thereby exposing enterprise data to criminals

who can attack the organization (Liu, 2015). When employees engage in activities that expose

mobile data to the new level of risks without knowing, organizations must be more worried than

ever before. Lack of proper policies to increase the awareness of mobile security threats on these

employees is likely to limit the benefits of implementing the BYOD programs (Pang et al.,

CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 5

2015). Organizations that fail to create security culture concerning the handling of mobile data

will suffer attacks from sophisticated malware targeting such devices.

Educating employees on appropriate data handling on mobile devices will not only

prevent risks but also increase the desired benefits of enterprise mobility. As employees

anticipate greater user experience on personal devices, there is a growing need for the adoption

of enhanced security solutions so as to increase mobile productivity (Pang et al., 2015). The

organizations must strive to identify the sources of mobile device data risks. These include

malicious and risky apps. The role of the enterprise is to increase control and visibility on mobile

device data. Increasing visibility implies that the companies are vigilant on the kind of apps used

within the network and their capabilities. As such, organizations can make informed decisions on

the need to empower mobile productivity and to protect corporate data.

Conclusion

The twenty-first-century business environment exhibits a major transformation as

organizations embrace the Internet of Things to enhance worker productivity and motivation,

increased revenues and reduced device and data costs. Nonetheless, device mobility in

enterprises poses new challenges to organizations as far as information and data security are

concerned. Nevertheless, organizations can adopt various approaches to enhance a secure

mobility. For instance, providing an adequate education for employees concerning mobile

security threats can create a data-security culture, which can leverage enterprise mobility.

Enormous risks include jailbreaking of IOS, the presence of malware targeting mobile software,

and the risk of exposing data to the wrong people.

CHALLENGES FACING MOBILITY IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS 6

References

Dijkman, R., Sprenkels, B., Peeters, T., & Janssen, A. (2015). Business models for the Internet

of Things. International Journal of Information Management, 35672-678.

Hui, T. (2014). Design for Logistics Business Process Reengineering in the Context of Internet

of Things. Applied Mechanics & Materials, (543-547), 4190.

Liu, C. (2015). Feature: Securing Networks in the Internet of Things era. Computer Fraud &

Security, 201513-16.

Pang, Z., Zheng, L., Tian, J., Kao-Walter, S., Dubrova, E., & Chen, Q. (2015). The design of a

final solution for integration of in-home health care devices and services towards the

Internet-of-Things. Enterprise Information Systems, 9(1), 86-116.

Weinberg, B. D., Milne, G. R., Andonova, Y. G., & Hajjat, F. M. (2015). Internet of Things:

Convenience vs. privacy and secrecy. Business Horizons, 58(SPECIAL ISSUE: THE

MAGIC OF SECRETS), 615-624.

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