Mobilising the corporate workforce

Once upon a time, a large, plush office, telephone and desktop PC were seen as mission control for a corporate executive. Long hours were spent tied to the desk overseeing their department or on the phone hammering out deals. When they left the office for lunch or to meet with clients, the communication tools they took for granted were stuck on the eleventh floor. Indeed, the office was a CXO’s static hub – but this has slowly changed. The arrival of high-speed broadband, Wi-Fi hotspots, 3G phones, PDAs and mobile applications have enabled executives to take their work anywhere they go. This freedom and portability is allowing people to work while at home or travelling – resulting in increased productivity and a lot less time wasted during the working day.

In fact, being cocooned in an office from nine-to-five is becoming an antiquated work ethic. Organisations are embracing the fact that your desk and PC are just part of the jigsaw – your work can reach you in a variety of locations and on different devices. “There is no question that working out of the office and flexible hours are becoming more and more prevalent,” suggests Rakesh Mahajan, Director of Mobility at BT Global Services. “The UK is probably the leader at embracing and adopting flexible working because we have really pushed the boundaries , and not just because of broadband – culturally we have embraced wireless and Wi-Fi access points.”

Today, we can access e-mail almost anywhere, and no matter where we are in the world we are no more than a phone call away. Mobile e-mail too has proved a lifeline between a mobile executive and the office, due in no small part to the rise to dominance of the now ubiquitous Blackberry. Suited businessmen can be found tapping away on their handheld device to close deals, arrange meetings or tell the wife they’ll be late home for dinner. It is this ability to receive e-mails at previously unreachable places such airports, during a board meeting or on the golf course that has proved an invaluable bonus that many can’t live without. “The Blackberry is a very good device,” says Mahajan. “However, the perception that many have is that Blackberrys enable senior executives to be more informed but not necessarily to make decisions any quicker. Does the fact that you can send e-mail faster, quicker, better make you more productive? Until you enable mobile processes you are not really leveraging the power of mobility.”

Picking up the tab

Of course, being able to gauge how productive a device like a Blackberry is for a company is not always easy. The finance department may appreciate the need for staff to be mobile, but does the expense translate into profits on the balance sheet? Will shelling out a wheelbarrow-load of corporate cash on mobile devices and infrastructure see a handsome ROI? Indeed, cost is one of the primary reasons company’s report as the main stumbling block to going mobile. As well as the start-up costs, companies face the headache of complex billing with executives racking-up voice and data usage, SMS messaging, downloads and web browsing, to name a few. Despite this, executives are demanding mobility in the same way that they sought a chunky PC for their desk back in the 1980s.

These costs are exacerbated if an executive conducts a lot of overseas business and this is where a company really begins to feel it in the pocket. “The number one issue when I see my customers is roaming,” says Mahajan. “It ranges with some companies between 30 and 50 percent of their total communications bill. However, it is probably less than 10 percent of their users that generate that 30-50 percent roaming bill.” He adds: “When you look at your costs, yes you should focus on at the access costs but you need to look at all the holistic costs that your organisation bears from mobile-enabling your workforce.”

Paresh Modi is Managing Director of iPass UK and Ireland – a mobility solutions provider. He suggests the costs of roaming, and remote working in general, has been a concern of senior executives for a while now. “I think IT organisations and the CEOs and CFOs care about the costs, especially when it comes to roaming and when that 3G data card goes abroad. Typically, a five megabyte file downloaded overseas could cost more than UK£20. That is easily achievable with a large e-mail attachment and a real concern for business.” Modi adds: ”They are beginning to really recognise that there is a hidden cost in the organisation that is not really captured centrally where people are procuring their own 3G mobile data cards or buying vouchers for Wi-Fi access. Those costs are individually expensed and hidden from the wider IT organisation because people are demanding access and will get access, regardless of whether there is a company standard or not.”

Under lock and key

Once the CFO has recovered from the expense of mobilising the executive management, the CIO and IT department have to tackle that lingering bugbear – security. Being outside of the company’s physical premises poses threats to confidential data being accessed by an executive working remotely. Today, companies hold masses of sensitive information and protecting this information from being intercepted by hackers and criminal gangs is of the highest priority. Even a small PDA could be storing important contact numbers and e-mail addresses, customer records, spreadsheets, word documents and endless other sensitive information. IT teams need to ensure that devices have firewalls and up-to-date antivirus software installed to ward off attacks as well as spyware, Trojans and worms. Malicious viruses have been with us for more than 20 years but with staff connecting wirelessly to their company’s intranet, they expose the firm to a whole host of threats. Smartphone viruses are still in the embryonic stage but as these devices and PDAs grow in popularity, so will the attacks. It appears that burying your head in the sand is out of the question when it comes to security.

“Device security for corporates is probably the biggest issue that they are facing,” asserts Mahajan. “As a result of the US regulations around Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the multinationals need to be able to be able to clear any device of any content at any time. If it is lost, all client data needs to be wiped from it straight away and the device needs to be disabled. Most people don’t have that in place and don’t understand the implications down to that layer of granularity.” The threat of people eavesdropping on voice and data communications is another growing worry. This was highlighted when a British tabloid journalist was charged recently with allegedly intercepting mobile phone messages belonging to staff of the Royal Family. Increasingly, bosses know that industrial espionage is out there – phones can be tapped or bugged, allowing an unscrupulous rival to snoop on CEOs’ most intimate business conversations.

On top of this, Modi says computer hackers are getting smarter due to the proliferation of wireless opportunities. “We believe there are an increasing number of threats from, for example, people spoofing a wireless hotspot to be deliberately malicious and gain access to a laptop. When a user goes into a café they can just connect and put in their credit card details and off they go. Ensuring that a hotspot is absolutely secure is a very concerning aspect of the whole evolution of wireless working.” Much of protection comes down to the user being aware of the potential threat, as Mahajan explains. “I have been sitting around in a crowded area and someone was trying to buy goods on their mobile phone, giving someone their credit card number over the phone. If I was devious I could have written it down and gone shopping. There is an element of security only being as good as the user.”

Frank Hanzlik, Managing Director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, has this advice: “Individual users should take appropriate steps to make sure they are working within a secure network. This includes being aware of the level of security available at your hotspot and contacting the hotspot provider to determine the level of encryption available at the airport or in your hotel. The Wi-Fi Alliance recommends that users of wireless networks exercise the same level of caution they have learned to use to avoid scams in the wired world. End-users should change their passwords regularly, not respond to questionable e-mails and look for secure connections.”

‘Turn it off!’

Although the convenience and satisfaction of being connected with work on the go has its obvious plus points, there is a dark side too. With mobile working comes the temptation to overstretch yourself and become almost addicted to your mobile devices. Being able to access your work e-mail on the move may be a godsend but it will soon send your spouse into a rage if you are tapping away on your smartphone at the dinner table. The need to strike a positive work/life balance is crucial. However, we live in 24-hour world and business often crosses a multitude of time zones. This can sometimes put pressure on an executive to be working at home just because his peers are still in the office in New York.

“When these new technologies come out – such as when mobile phones first appeared – there is an element of ‘oh my god, I can’t ever switch off’’,” says Modi. “I think people do learn how to cope with these devices and adjust their lives accordingly. Some people prefer it because it makes them more productive and relaxed if they can quickly sync their e-mails in the evening, especially if they are working in a different time zone with other organisations. We are a US-headquartered company and I personally love to check e-mails in the evening just to make sure there is nothing urgent. That way, I can get into the office the next morning and I know there are no fires that I have to put out.”

For some people this way works, for others it doesn’t. There are those that can’t seem to let go of their mobile phones and PDAs in case they miss something important. Others just switch off all mobile devices when they are at home or on holiday and forget about it. Mahajan says the fact that you have access to work e-mail 24 hours a day makes it hard for some to switch off. “It is very tempting to always feel like you are in contact. Being able to do e-mail ping-pong back and forth on mobile devices has become a way of life. We need to empower our people to turn off and the organisation needs to recognise that people need to turn off. Even though I am ‘Mr Mobile’ here, when I go on leave everything stays behind. I think people need to understand that the organisation will survive.”

Edinburgh-based Murray International Holdings has equipped its management with Blackberrys as part of its mobility drive. James Hamilton, Group IT Manager, says it is up to the individual whether they want to be contacted out of office hours. “It is down to personal choice, there is no pressure on people to respond to e-mails while at home or on holiday. It has to be down to the company’s own policies. We certainly don’t expect people to be using devices when they are at home.” Hamilton is of the opinion that mobility can have positive benefits other than the convenience of being able to reach people who are away from the office. “I think these devices aid communication because you are not tied to your desk, which means you can go and see people face-to-face. We have certainly found that it aids people’s communication because they are not hurrying back to check things and habitually logging in.”

Around the corner

While the idea of enterprise mobility sounds liberating on paper, you still have to lug around your gadgets – a laptop, mobile phone and perhaps a PDA. Converging these hardware devices into one mobile device is the Holy Grail that has yet to be uncovered when it comes enterprise mobility. Fitting all of an executive’s requirements into one pocket-sized device would be fantastic, but how do you overcome the small matter of screen size, tiny buttons and insufficient battery life? In fact, a PDA or smartphone’s limited screen, lack of a mouse and fiddly QWERTY keyboard leaves many business applications redundant.

Convergence is the buzzword in mobile working, it seems. You only have to look at how the humble mobile phone has advanced over the past five years or so to see it in action. They now have integrated MP3 players, high-resolution cameras, radios and can access the internet and connect with other devices using Bluetooth – and it is going much the same way for the executive customer. However, there are still some people who use a smartphone for their needs, while others will use a mobile phone and a PDA. By the same token, some might just need to send and receive e-mails, while others need to run complex mobile applications and so require a laptop. It really all comes down to what your hardware and software needs are. “There is never going to be one device that fits all and certain devices will work for certain situations,” suggests Modi. “This will always be a feature of way we work.”

Making remote working as seamless as doing the same job at your desk is a big challenge for mobile solutions providers and the device manufacturers. For now, executives will have to continue to pick and choose the devices from the shelf to suit their needs. The business world is embracing mobility with gusto for fear that they will be left behind by the competitors as much as anything else. It’s just that mobility is still in its infancy with many benefits and just as many flaws. And will we see the all-in-one device with the bells and whistles take the executive world by storm? Watch this space, but it could be a while yet.

Charmaine Eggberry, VP and Managing Director of RIM (EMEA), says taking on board what Blackberry users want from mobility has been, and remains, key. “They want something that is small, light, with a battery that lasts. They need to be able to use it on the move and want to be able to access all of their information from one space. We keep close contact with our customers and when we architect a product we architect it around what our customers are asking us for. They want us to focus on security, size of the device and ease-of-use, for example.” With its ‘always on, always connected’ functionality Eggberry says RIM are focused on ensuring watertight security on its devices. “Whether you are an executive or an individual, you should be incredibly focused on security. These devices are on 24/7 and they have access to all of your information on the move. If you are not focused on security or you look at it as just some kind of add-on or additional benefit, you are making some very wrong decisions.”

While the main selling point for many company executives is the mobile e-mail capabilities, the device offers much more. Over 60 percent of Blackberry customers are using their device for much more than just e-mail. In fact, RIM has 500 software partners focused on developing applications for Blackberry.

“People started off looking at mobile e-mail but I actually believe that the revolution that has arrived is the ability to access all your information. That is the real revolution – it’s not just about e-mail.” As well as this, Eggberry says mobility is giving executives freedom to organise their workload around their home life. “You are in control of the information and where and how you want to work. When I talk to people they tell me that Blackberry has liberated them so they are able to leave the office and pick the kids up from school and they never feel they have to be in the office. Blackerry is a liberating technology that puts you in control.” And what about the nickname ‘Crackberry’? “I have heard that,” laughs Eggberry. “I think people are trying to say that it is compelling to be in control and have that access. The ability to do all of that in one device is, frankly, addictive.”