Each student will conduct a search of Campbellsville University’s online Library resources to find 2-3 recent peer reviewed articles (within the past 3 years) thatclosely relatetoImpact of Mobile Comp

However, most businesses use mobile device s in one way or another, so maximising their usefulness is a must.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the num - ber of people who regularly work from home has risen to 4.2 mil - lion in the past decade and it is expected that half of the UK’s workforce will be working remotely by 2020. Also, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ( BEIS ) show that 16.1 million people work for SMEs – 60% of all private sector employment in the UK.

Myles Leach, managing director at voice-over-IP ( VoIP ) firm Nfon UK, says it stands to reason that SMEs are, and will con - tinue to be, affected by this change in working trends. “Employees need and want to have the opportunity to work flexibly,” he says.

“But crucially, it benefits the SME. It saves on office space and costs. Operations can continue when a site is shut because of bad weather or maintenance. There will be fewer staff sick days as they can still work in school holidays and when children are ill.” Bringing moBile into sme s What works for one SME may not work for another, but before adopting a mobility strategy, it is important to look at what is already in place to see where changes are needed. According to Andres Richter, CEO at cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) specialist Priority Software, when his firm carried out a survey of 500 UK senior decision-makers, more than one-third did not F ind the right mobility strategy For your sme Small companies need a strategy to make the most of staff mobility, so what should business owners look out for? Rene Millman reports MOBILE TECHNOLOGY JESUSSANZ/GETTY Home computerweekly .com 15-21 M ay 2018 25 Home News As Brexit gets ever closer, is the UK government technologically ready?

Better understanding needed to get cyber security products to market, says NCSC Wagamama uses its noodle to satisfy diners Editor’s comment Buyer’s guide to big data Serverless computing: What it is and why it matters Find the right mobility strategy for your SME Downtime have the correct technology to support mobile working, and 43% could not perform business- critical functions on a mobile application.

“If the company already has business software applications in place, it should see if its vendors already offer mobility tools,” says Richter. “For example, many modern ERP systems now support mobile application generators, which allow users to create a range of applications from their mobiles and use them to perform core business processes no matter where they are.

These can be created in a matter of minutes, and don’t require high levels of IT expertise – perfect for SMEs looking to enhance their mobility strategy using existing technology.” Jon Wrennall, CTO at cloud software supplier Advanced, says SMEs should put employees at the heart of their mobile strategy, “empowering them to use mobile technology to streamline their tasks and minimise the chances of departments working in silos”.

cloud is a key driver Wrennall says SMEs can use the cloud to help facilitate mobile working, enabling users to work on the move and still have all the real-time information they need at their fingertips.

“The cloud is a key driver in making mobile strategies success - ful, but implementing such a strategy is often seen as a bold move as some SMEs lack confidence in adoption and don’t understand the positive role it can play,” he adds.

“SMEs should look to take incremental steps. For example, they can trial mobile technology with a select set of employees, who can share feedback with those that are not yet familiar with it. It also enables SMEs to assess areas for improvement.” Wrennall says that when it comes to devices and service choice, not everyone is familiar with mobile technology. Some will be more receptive to new working practices, while others may not. “SMEs should give more support to those that need it and educate them on the benefits of mobile and cloud,” he says. “They should work closely with staff to find out their pain points. This will determine what devices and services they choose to implement.” d ue diligence Wrennall says a move to a mobile strategy should be consid - ered with the same level of due diligence as any other signifi - cant investment within a business. Before choosing what device or service to adopt, SMEs must consider how a transition will affect their staff and customers, and choose a provider that can illustrate a clear and structured pathway for moving staff and data to mobile technology as smoothly as possible.

“Device and service providers must be able to show they are going to be a long-term value-adding partner and that they are in it for the long haul,” says Wrennall.

Organisations would be well advised to use just one type of device or at least minimise the number of unique hardware/soft - ware configurations, says Jack Zubarev, president at Parallels, a supplier of desktop and application virtualisation software . “The cost of delivering and supporting applications simply increases MOBILE TECHNOLOGY ❯Food retailer Co-op plans to introduce a smartphone self-checkout system so that customers can pay for goods without visiting a till. computerweekly .com 15-21 M ay 2018 26 Home News As Brexit gets ever closer, is the UK government technologically ready?

Better understanding needed to get cyber security products to market, says NCSC Wagamama uses its noodle to satisfy diners Editor’s comment Buyer’s guide to big data Serverless computing: What it is and why it matters Find the right mobility strategy for your SME Downtime with each unique device/software combination,” he adds. “Further device replacement and refresh will become far less expensive if one can standardise not just on device vendors, but on the spe - cific configurations.

“But then again, most organisations do not have the luxury of this standardisation as employees bring their own devices. In this case, universal remote delivery of applications to any device is likely to provide the most cost-effective solution and isolate soft - ware delivery from underlying device hardware.” m aking moBility secure SMEs are in as much danger from cyber criminals as larger enter - prises . David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, says that if SMEs overlook mobile security, they risk leaving a big gap in their security defences. He says his firm detected 5,730,916 malicious installation packages, 94,368 mobile bank - ing Trojans and 544,107 mobile ransomware Trojans in 2017. “One of the dangers is that mobile technology ‘creeps’ into the business and isn’t necessarily considered in the same way as desktop or laptop security,” he says. “Consider the BYOD [bring your own device] trend, for example, where staff use their own devices for business,” he says.

“This isn’t a bad thing per se, but businesses must include mobile in their risk assessment, just as they would for any other technology – look at what assets they have, how they are used, how data is stored/moved, who has access to it, who might want it, and how they might try to access it. In this sense, mobile secu - rity should be considered as part of an overall security strategy.” MOBILE TECHNOLOGY JESUSSANZ/GETTY computerweekly .com 15-21 M ay 2018 27 Home News As Brexit gets ever closer, is the UK government technologically ready?

Better understanding needed to get cyber security products to market, says NCSC Wagamama uses its noodle to satisfy diners Editor’s comment Buyer’s guide to big data Serverless computing: What it is and why it matters Find the right mobility strategy for your SME Downtime One of the biggest trends affecting mobile strategy and secu - rity is BYOD. “No longer can organisations insist on a device to be used by staff,” says Clive Longbottom , service director at Quocirca. “This is made worse by the changes in workforce – con - tractors, consultants, specialists and so on cannot be forced to use a specific device, but can be forced to allow the organisation to create a secure partition on their device.” Employees at smaller firms may not realise, when download - ing an app, where that app came from. “Employees can search an app store and find any number of apps that purport to be able to do what they want,” says Longbottom. “Individuals tend not to even check where the developer comes from – maybe Russia or China – and will have no capabili - ties to check the traffic between their device and the back-end servers.

“By creating a secure partition, users can be prevented from loading apps onto it, with only company-approved apps available to them. The user can still install apps on their part of the device, but these will not have access to corporate data.” Priority’s Richter says the best tip is to understand where in the business a mobility strategy will add value. “Is it more important for your HR and accounting team to be mobile, or your field ser - vice reps?” he says. “Instead of trying to do everything at once, being selective about which parts of the business would benefit from going mobile will increase the chances of a strategy sticking.” Nfon’s Leach says line managers must be confident that staff are aware how to use, and are using, technologies available, so employees are just as effective at their job when out of the office.

“There also need to be clear policies for working from home, such as allocated days and shared calendars,” he says. “But the most crucial factor to ensure a successful mobile strategy is cre - ating a positive culture for mobile working. Do employees feel comfortable asking to work from home and then doing so? Do you trust them to work, or do you think they will be swilling tea all day while signing for neighbours’ Amazon deliveries ?” In the next few years, 5G networks will be commercialised. 5G devices should consume less energy and improve battery life, so 5G networks will have higher data rates and lower latency than previous generations.

These new networks will come with features to give companies better mobility and flexibility. This will be useful for SMEs with remote employees being able to work any - where and retain workplace-like bandwidth and connectivity.

The internet experience of 5G for field staff will be better in a number of ways. Internet-connected vehicles and machinery can be monitored in real time more easily. It should also be easier to get analytical data into management hands to enable quicker decisions, wherever employees are. These factors should make an impact on a business’s productivity. n MOBILE TECHNOLOGY “T he mosT crucial facTor To ensure a successful mobile s Tra Tegy is crea Ting a posi Tive cul Ture for mobile working ” m y Les L each , n fon uk Copyright ofComputer Weeklyisthe property ofTechTarget, Inc.anditscontent maynotbe copied oremailed tomultiple sitesorposted toalistserv without thecopyright holder's express writtenpermission. However,usersmayprint, download, oremail articles for individual use.