As technology moves steadily into the era of mobility and IoT, businesses wonder when they should move towards a mobile-first mindset. In fact, 42% of businesses already consider themselves mobile-first. However, a business that moves forward into mobility without understanding their needs and business environment will incur unnecessary costs and potentially put their enterprise at risk.

Businesses can find themselves in the middle of transitioning with no roadmap.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) requires an overall business look at mobility requirements. This includes accessing security requirements and device policies, in addition to software and service provider needs. To assist with the process of developing a mobility-first mindset, we have a few points for enterprises to consider. We have separated the points into strategy, processes and policies, and hardware and software.

Mobile-First Strategy

The first for any enterprise attempting to be mobile-first is to evaluate and understand the business goals for mobility.

Unfortunately, businesses can find themselves in the middle of a process without fully understanding the overall driving goals. What are the business's current and future mobility needs? What is the current environment of mobility use? How does mobility play into the future strategy of the business? What software is needed to maintain security of all devices?

Answering these questions will allow a business to develop a strategy that includes finance, technology, and logistics that align with the overall business strategy. Mobility serves no purpose if it does not help a business achieve efficiencies.

Hardware and software

Once a business is clear on the strategy, reviewing existing hardware and software is mandatory. Compile data on all existing hardware, including BYOD and company owned devices. The data should include how much money is spent monthly on usage, as well as what hardware is owned by the company. Are there devices sitting in storage? Are there unaccounted for devices? What devices support the company strategy?

Secondly, has the business decided upon a software to assist with device management. Is there a current MDM or EMM software in place? Does the software support the company strategy? Or does the business need to purchase software to ensure security and support for devices?

Both hardware and software decisions have huge impacts on IT budgets, and not having an accurate handle of both will lead to heightened technology creep and costly mistakes. Accurately assessing hardware and software needs at the beginning of a mobile-first approach will ensure a business does not spend more than needed. Plus, accurate hardware will increase efficiency and decrease employee dissatisfaction with the strategy.

Processes and Policies

Finally, a company needs to decide on processes and policies to pull together strategy and hardware. What procurement processes are in place to ensure employees only have access to approved devices? What are the security policies in place to ensure company data is not at risk? Is the company supporting BYOD policies or is the company providing devices?

It is important to ensure company policies support the overall strategy while protecting company hardware decisions. Also, processes are important to map for both employee and support aspects. An accurate view of how IT will be affected by going mobile-first, both in resources and finances, is necessary to prevent any budget overruns in the future.

Mobile-first Business

While we have discussed a few of the several different aspects to consider when going mobile-first, there are a lot more details not covered. Enterprises that are currently using mobility without having accurate strategies or policies will find themselves struggling to effectively use and scale mobility. Unfortunately, mobility will become a drain rather than a resource.

A business who is not currently using mobile devices or does not have a clear strategy needs to assess their future needs in efficiency. Likewise, a business that is using mobility might find there are paying more and being less efficient than they think.

Click here to request MobileWare’s full checklist of how to become a mobile-first enterprise. Also, read here for more information on mobility life cycles and how a Managed Mobility Service can save money while ensuring a clear path for a mobile-first future.