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Top 6 Things CIOs must know in the Age of Mobile Workforce
CIO Applications| Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Assets are a vital part of an enterprise’s balance sheet. With effective asset management, businesses are gaining the insights necessary to reduce equipment downtime, decrease labor costs, and lower inventory needs.
FREEMONT, CA: In a world of mobility, the flexibility of working in a multitude of environments, including office, home, remote location, and on-site is not just a perk, but much more. It is emerging as a vital method for the companies to remain competitive and innovative with a flexible workspace. Smart devices are great for profitability, and the movement of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has become the norm across many offices giving way to activity-based office design. But how are CIOs protecting data and IT infrastructure when multiple devices are accessing a company network? The answer is Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system. It requires a coordinated effort of labor resources and inventory to keep enterprise asset in good working condition. In today’s world of mobile technology, asset tracking and management is more critical than ever as a part of managed mobility services.
But it has been noticed that some organizations are unable to keep pace with the ongoing demands, thereby finding it difficult to reap the maximum benefit of the system. To make sure that enterprises utilize the full abilities of EAM systems and reap the highest ROI, CIOs can implement these best practices.
· Business Process Reviews
CIOs should entrust the IT teams to observe a business process review to identify the technical and functional requirement of a system, which should be in line with the specific process. Organizations must keep an eye on this from time to time, primarily if the initial plans adhering to the implementation process did not involve the end-user team. Customizing workflow makes aids enterprises with automation right from the initial stage. It also ensures seamless process flow specifically aligned with the requirement of employees.
Determining the corporate policy for each type of device and how to initially track and manage the asset is crucial for initial provisioning of BYOD. Once employees place an order for a given device that the company pays for, the asset belongs to the company; so it must set clear expectations regarding the proper use and data policies. At this point, having access to asset tracking features and the device memory wiping should be critical discussions of CIOs for the corporate strategy. Since mobile devices can store company data and employee personal data, remote wiping should include erasing the stored company data. This can be done via apps and programs that partition the phone’s memory. Also, misplaced devices should have tracking ability to recover them.
· Device Selection
Some enterprises access their asset management tools only in a desktop environment, which will not bring the full benefit of going digital and mobile. The environment that employees work in will determine whether a rugged tablet or device is best. The features to look for in a mobile device that increases employee productivity are a long-lasting battery as the device may be frequently used in the field or away, a glove mode that allows workers to write while wearing protection, and biometric authentication including facial recognition which makes it easier to log into the device hands-free.
· Warranty and Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)
Managing the device through its entire lifecycle requires support. From a management perspective, this will be through the cost in usage and the warranty support for impaired devices. Using an asset management tool that tracks the devices IMEI and serial number will ensure a much faster turnaround when the enterprise reach out to the provider for services. Also, tracking the RMA process and the vendor response time will allow CIOs to evaluate the vendor’s performance and service level.
· Replacement and Upgrade
Naturally, every mobile employee should want the latest and greatest device. Asset lifecycle tracking and a clear replacement policy ensure the company only updates devices when necessary, and at scheduled intervals. The replacement policy should replace a lost, stolen, or damaged equipment with one of the equivalent capabilities and possibly charge a replacement fee.
· Device Management and Security
To ease device management and security concerns, CIOs should ensure devices built on a secure platform and pair them with enterprise mobility management tools. This means that the IT team can have peace of mind that asset management data on the device is encrypted and protected form from cyber attackers. Being able to configure several numbers of devices at a time quickly can mobilize asset management with minimal time and resources. Managing devices securely and effectively will also help IT admins to blocklist apps and websites. Escalation procedures are vital in ensuring all the compliance and service agreements, and preventive management operations are performed at regular intervals to keep the functionality of the devices unaffected.
The widespread adoption of mobile technologies and the rise of BYOD are driving rapid change in enterprise IT. So it is more important than ever for enterprise asset management solutions to support the latest mobile capabilities. To manage the full asset lifecycle and better address business asset imperatives, organizations need to derive significant value by implementing the EAM solution. Establishing and maintaining a ripe EAM program that truly optimizes enterprise assets and consistently delivers benefits in the age of mobility can require significant time, money, and attention. The above best practices ensure an enhanced return on investments.
Derek Fisher, Vice President of Application Security
Jorge Balestra, Global Head Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) and Platforms
Lan Tran, Director of Learning Design and Technology
Keiron Holyome, Vice President – UKI, Middle East and Africa
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