As client organizations and service providers assess the sourcing landscape and define their priorities for 2012, a clear theme emerges. Executives are focusing on performance at a granular level to ensure optimal efficiency, while at the same time maintaining a high-level perspective on long-term operational strategy. In other words, putting out fires is not enough; rather, today’s competitive imperative is to address emerging challenges with urgency, while charting a path toward a fully integrated global enterprise that takes full advantage of standard services, utility computing, and cloud delivery models.
Consider CIOs, who are increasingly haunted by the specter of the “Bring Your Own Device” phenomenon; specifically, the thorny issues involved in managing the iPads, Blackberries, iPhones, and other devices that employees purchase and use for work-related purposes.
One set of considerations involves what policies to define and enforce: who can use what kind of device for what kind of activity? Who will be allowed access to what level corporate network? What criteria will be applied to determine accessibility? What if an approved user wants to collaborate with a colleague who doesn’t pass security clearance muster? It becomes very confusing, very quickly.
Another challenge surrounds application and infrastructure support for myriad mobile devices. Will character-based legacy applications hamper mobile functionality? Put differently, who wants to tell the EVP he can’t access sales figures on his iPhone? For infrastructure, BYOD impacts network strategy in terms of managing perimeter security, IP, and client data, and other issues.
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