Nov 7
2012
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Managing the Safety of Mobile Devices
Mobile device management is vitally important. Mobile devices are not going away and they continue to affect the professional setting, and managing the safety of mobile devices is important to organizations.
As a business leader with an enterprise to protect, one of the most important, and possibly easiest, steps to take is managing the safety of mobile devices. There is no way to avoid, or ignore, employee’s personal use of mobile devices in your “public” setting.
I’ll continue to harp on this issue. To help me make my point, I’ve decided to bring in backup. In a new piece posted to Small Biz Technology by Miguel Leiva-Gomez, owner of The Tech Guy, points to a CDW Corporation business mobility study that says (I’m quoting):
- 75 percent of mobile users believe it’s critical to their jobs to use a mobile device. Employees feel that using mobile devices makes their jobs easier, and they feel more productive. Employers also feel that allowing their employees to use the devices means their employees are always connected and always on.
- 85 percent of IT managers believe that the introduction of a mobile ecosystem has made the companies they manage more productive. With the exception of having to implement policies to monitor, protect and mange employee’s personal devices, mobile devices also help save companies money and create efficiencies.
Smartphones and laptops are the obvious front runner as the device most used in the workplace, but personal tablets are increasingly becoming more common in the professional setting.
According to CDW, 25 percent of mobile device users use tablets at work; 69 percent of tablet users use their own tablet at work.
The trend is expected to rise by 117 percent in the next two years. No surprise here. If you are surprised by this point then you might be wondering why this is so important.
Why? I’ll let Leiva-Gomez sum it up, as it does so aptly: “The CDW report concludes that 67 percent of IT managers aren’t even familiar with the concept of Mobile Device Management. Are you?”
MDM is much too important to ignore. Not taking an active role in its implementation or its management could put you and your practice’s health information in jeopardy. If swiped, stolen or ripped off, there’s also a pretty good chance you’ll face violations and fines for your HIPAA breeches.
If for no other reason, let this be a motivation for you. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or so I’m told.
Consider yourself warned, I guess – again.