Internet Exchange Between IT and Business Requirements

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1 Mobile Content Becomes a Key Chris Marsh, Principal Analyst, cmarsh@yankeegroup.com Highlights Mobility has reached a critical mass in the workplace. Fifty- seven percent of all employees are using a smartphone for work, and 39 percent of all employees are working away from their primary workspaces for significant parts of their week. Employees resort to non- IT- compliant consumer tools. In the absence of an IT- managed alternative, employees are resorting to vulnerable consumer cloud- based productivity services that infringe on companies compliance policies and potentially regulatory responsibilities. Cloud- based mobile content (MCM) services are emerging. These services enable employees to access, back up, sync, edit, collaborate and share files across multiple devices and platforms. Companies should regain control over their content strategy, increase employee productivity and secure their data by utilizing a cloud- based MCM offering. TABLE OF CONTENTS October 2013 A Dangerous Mismatch Exists Between IT and Business Requirements 1 Methodology 2 Traditional Enterprise IT Struggles To Support More Mobile Workers 2 Companies Turn to Mobile Content for Productivity and Security 3 Conclusions and Recommendations 5 The carrier channel offers additional capabilities. MCM solutions offered by communication service providers offer additional capabilities to enhance collaborative workflows, data security and data plan optimization. A Dangerous Mismatch Exists Between IT and Business Requirements Companies today are faced with a dangerous mismatch between their existing IT services and their need for innovation. The fusion of mobile, social and cloud technologies at an increasingly rapid and disruptive rate is creating a growing number of mobile workers who need to access documents and data on the go. Solutions enabling these mobile workers to collaborate, synchronize, share and store data using any device and in any location are becoming key requirements. To keep data from residing insecurely on consumer storage applications, IT managers need to expand their mobility capabilities. A range of options are available, from pure- play vendors and corporate software providers to mobility platforms and communication service providers (CSPs). This custom publication has been sponsored by Synchronoss.

2 Methodology This report utilizes data from Yankee Group s quarterly US Enterprise Mobility: Employee and IT Decision- Maker surveys. Together these surveys give both employees and IT departments perspectives on the utility, adoption and future plans around the usage of a variety of mobile technologies, including mobile voice, data, broadband, applications and managed services. It also draws on extensive research Yankee Group has carried out exploring enterprise requirements for and vendor capabilities in mobility. Traditional Enterprise IT Struggles To Support More Mobile Workers Exhibit 1: The Breakdown of the Mobile Workforce Source: Yankee Group s 2013 US Enterprise Mobility: IT Decision- Maker Survey, September Total workforce Mobile & remote 38% Professionals 52% of mobile & remote workforce 20% of total workforce Mobility Reaches Critical Mass in the Workplace The level of mobility in the workplace is reaching a critical mass among employees. Yankee Group s recent IT Decision- Maker and Employee surveys reveal the following statistics: 57 percent of all employees use a smartphone for work purposes; 79 percent of these are individually owned by the employee. 31 percent of all employees are using a tablet, 75 percent of which are individually owned. Among employees using more than one device in the course of their job, 24 percent say that their smartphone is their most important device, with 21 percent saying their laptop computer. Many employers are struggling to keep pace with this technology shift, unclear about which employees to support and which technologies to use. In the meantime, employees are pushing on regardless and resorting to using a variety of mobile- enabled consumer tools for work: Fifty- six percent of employees use or would be interested in using consumer productivity apps for work, 20 percent of all employees use consumer instant messaging services on their smartphone and 8 percent use consumer Web- based productivity tools. All considered, 38 percent of all employees can be categorized as mobile workers, where they are working away from their primary workspace for more than 20 percent of their time (see Exhibit 1). Field Force 30% of mobile & remote workforce 11% of total workforce Other 18% of mobile & remote workforce 7% of total workforce With this high and rising level of mobility cascading across all employee groups, consumerization is outpacing traditional enterprise IT, highlighting how ill- suited legacy business systems are for a mobile world. Traditional on- premises customer relationship (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise content (ECM) systems typically cater to transactional and highly structured processes between employees in the same location. They do not easily support more distributed and collaborative mobile workflows between employees in different locations on multiple devices using different OSs. Page 2

3 Employees Resort to Vulnerable Consumer Tools This mismatch is made all the more stark by the growing level of content in spreadsheets, documents and presentations that employees want to access through their mobile devices. Companies need ways to raise the productivity of their workforce by making this content accessible on different devices and more easily leveraged in granular workflows. However, many employees are using consumer cloud services or the consumer equivalent of services such as Google Drive, SkyDrive, icloud or Dropbox, which were not designed with enterprise- grade security in mind. And they are using these tools with or without IT s consent. In fact, 16 percent of employees use consumer applications and tools in the full knowledge that their IT department s policy strictly prohibits such activity. Our surveys show that the main reasons for this are employees familiarity with consumer tools, the better experience they receive using them and the fact that IT does not offer an alternative. This lack of standardization and oversight over the tools employees are using can have a number of adverse effects: Jeopardizes workforce productivity through diverse tools with different functionality. Increases vulnerability of the intellectual property of that data through potential loss or theft. Fragments where the data resides, weakening compliance and regulatory oversight. Complicates user access and user around that data. Creates a shadow- IT estate of tools not integrated with or leveraging existing investments in IT infrastructure. Risks infringing on companies compliance policies and potentially their regulatory responsibilities. Companies Turn to Mobile Content for Productivity and Security Enterprise-Grade and Cloud-Based Mobile Content Takes Off As a response to these concerns, companies are looking at IT- managed solutions that allow project teams to synchronize, share and store content types across their devices to increase their productivity while allowing IT to maintain the security of the company s data. The market for solutions is large and varied, with particular recent growth in cloud- based models. While for many companies allowing their content to reside in public clouds is a step too far, they are nevertheless looking across private and on- premise models to provide the greatest combination of cost- effectiveness and operational flexibility in their content strategies. These MCM solutions typically have the features shown in Exhibit 2 on the next page. In addition to the above capabilities, MCM solutions provided through CSPs may offer other important features. Operator- branded solutions, such as the Synchronoss Personal and Business Cloud platforms, can leverage network intelligence to provide location- based and other contextual information useful in collaborative workflows. They may also integrate with corporate data and mobile share plans where employers are providing them, provide work and personal partitions in the same MCM service and include additional network security. Page 3

4 Exhibit 2: Typical Features of Mobile Content Services Source: Yankee Group, 2013 Support for multiple platforms and devices Access for multiple networks such as Wi-Fi and WWAN Sync and share Synchronize with specific devices, specific worker groups, any kind of content in files or folders resident both in internal systems of record and external applications Upload and synchronize content straight from applications regardless of the device Upload and synchronize content from other device applications, such as the camera Support for large file sizes Apply access and annotation permissions to content being shared with others Annotation and editing Annotate and edit documents and apply permissions View, edit and synchronize content types offline Backup and version Back up content on devices in real time and manage the versioning of that content Restore content versions that have been deleted Content storage Flexibility in where different content types can be stored and managed from on-premises or in public, private or hybrid cloud environments Ability for the same content to be stored in multiple locations to cater to enterprises content strategy needs Integrated search File name Content Metadata Enterprise integration Integration with corporate directories Integration with existing policy tools and administrative consoles Security and reporting Applying data encryption, data expiration and remote wipe for individual content Reporting and auditing capabilities so that IT can locate and record content in real time for user and compliance Mobile-enabled Intuitive experience optimized for mobile devices Interoperable with other mobility solutions Access through the mobile device existing content systems, such as SharePoint MCM Is High in the Mobility Value Chain Productivity solutions enabling file synchronization, share and storage are rising high up the mobility value chain. As the utility of mobile devices passes from simple applications such as mobile voice and e- mail to more complicated B2B, B2E and B2C transactional and collaborative processes and increasingly on employees own devices, strategies focusing on the device are waning. As such, the relative utility of services such as mobile device (MDM) is lessening and the value of mobile application (MAM) and MCM services is growing strongly. The productivity solutions described above offering content, collaboration, synchronization, sharing and storage in particular are becoming indispensible tools for enterprises. However, as companies look to make mobility more strategic, addressing the wider workforce rather than siloed subsets of mobile workers, they need to ensure that they have an integrated ability to apply policies, security and compliance across their mobile assets (see Exhibit 3 on the next page). Page 4

5 Exhibit 3: The Enterprise Mobility Value Chain Source: Yankee Group, 2013 Telecom Expense Connectivity Mobile Device Mobile Mobile Development Mobile Content Fulfillment/ provisioning Invoice Inventory Reporting and analytics Bill auditing Rate plan optimization Remote access across 3G/4G, Wi-Fi and fixed broadband Single sign-in Policy Quality of service (QoS) Secure access, including VPN, private APN and static IP Remote configuration and provisioning Device firmware and OT updates Backup and restore Troubleshooting and diagnostics Policy Software installation Password enforcement access via single sign-in Remote wipe/lock Data encryption (including removable storage) Dual-persona -level permissions and security discovery, catalogs and stores Remote and OTA deployment updating and removal development platforms and tools integration Search and edit corporate documents Content delivery in multiple formats File and document sharing Offline storage Encryption of files and documents User access around file editing, sharing and administration Remote document and data wipe Policy, Security, Compliance Support, Administration, Systems Conclusions and Recommendations Mobility in the workplace is here to stay, and it is spreading strongly beyond dedicatedly mobile and remote workers. As this happens, workers and project teams need access to all their data on any device and anywhere they happen to be working. While many employees have turned to consumer cloud- based tools, companies are realizing the dangers and looking at enterprise- grade MCM solutions to raise worker productivity and protect their data. With these productivity tools gaining ground, Yankee Group makes the following recommendations to enterprises: Regain control over your content. As our survey data shows, if IT doesn t provide an alternative, employees will continue to resort to using non- IT- compliant consumer tools, not only comprising security and compliance requirements, but disintermediating IT estate and reducing workforce productivity as well. Look to the growing market of enterprise- grade MCM tools to get you back on track. Look to the cloud. It may seem anathema to allow your data to reside in the cloud, but an effective content strategy, especially for larger and more distributed companies, is likely to require a combination of private cloud and on- premises options for your data storage. In your considerations, balance the need to enable the productivity of an increasingly mobile workforce with your security requirements. With new business MCM solutions, neither has to be jeopardized. Page 5

6 Establish and enforce clear policies. So much of the challenge with deploying and maintaining effective business mobility deployments is educating the workforce. There is little point in investing in a solution if your employees continue to use their consumer tools. You may face resistance if your alternative doesn t provide a similar quality of experience, so keep this in mind in procurement. IT should make the case to their workforce for a single enterprise- grade platform that ultimately enables greater productivity than fragmented and insecure tools, and they should look for a platform that provides the right kinds of capabilities, such as versioning and permissions, to allow them to enforce these policies. Look for a solution that can be integrated. While MCM is rising up the mobility value chain, it is not the only piece of the jigsaw puzzle you will need. Look for a solution that is part of a wider corporate mobility platform or one that interoperates with other device, application and network services. Choose your provider carefully. MCM solutions are available from pure- play vendors, mobility platform providers, corporate software vendors and CSPs, among others. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Companies may prefer a solution from the providers of their backend systems for tight integration with their corporate content and other business data. They may realize synergies by opting for a solution from their current CSPs as having unique advantages in providing network intelligence that other solutions simply cannot offer. About the Author Chris Marsh Principal Analyst Research group. Marsh focuses on analyzing the impact of mobile, social and cloud technologies on enterprise and service provider side managed service marketplace of services such as mobile device guidance to enterprises, vendors and service providers around HEADQUARTERS Corporate One Liberty Square 6th Floor Boston, Massachusetts phone fax European 30 Artillery Lane London E17LS United Kingdom phone fax Copyright Yankee 451 Group, LLC. Yankee Group published this content for the sole use of Yankee Group subscribers. One Liberty Square, 6 th