Today's enterprise has many complexities that they are facing better communication with their employees and customers. Now they have another layer to worry about: integrating their employees' mobile devices into their network. In this article, one of V-Soft's own discusses what's changed and how these new improvements will benefit your organization. 

Do you remember when everyone had a Blackberry device years ago? They wanted to be able to access their company email on the go and stay connected even when they were out of the office. But why did they use Blackberry devices specifically? Well, the reason is that Blackberry won the mobile war at the time with their unique and secure integration capabilities into an organization's email system. At the time it was the only choice for CIOs and IT departments due to that very integration.

Unfortunately, that monopoly was short lived. Blackberry's market share eroded almost overnight by the concept of BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device.

The Introduction of BYOD in the Workplace

As smart phones became more popular in the 2010s, employees began to approach their IT departments with some tough questions.

"Why can't I use my own device to access my email and information?" They'd practically demand. Eventually the manufacturers caved into this demand and developed a more secure and robust platform that would better integrate into a company's email systems. iPhones and Android smart phones would quickly become the norm in most companies both large and small.

Now most companies have some sort of BYOD policy set in place to accommodate busy and distributed workers. Even more so, some companies are enhancing this BYOD movement by communicating company resources via a proprietary mobile application.

Integrating Mobile With HR

With more and more of the workforce either working remotely all the time, or even a few times a week, the demand for an internal company mobile app is on the rise. Employees want to be able to schedule their paid time off, request help desk resources, and view HR options all from the comfort of their own device. With the rising number of remote employees operating all over the world, this is not looking to slow down any time soon.

One of the key tools for accomplishing a perfect HR app for your business is with a powerful ITSM--IT Service Management--platform. One of the market leaders in that space is ServiceNow­^®, which has hundreds of customization features that can be tailored to fit your needs.

ITSM and Mobile Integrations

According to a Gartner study in 2015, 67% of The Global 2000 Companies surveyed stated that they either have an ITSM solution currently in place, or plan to implement one by 2018.

Regardless of the ITSM platform, these solutions are dynamic, "living" ServiceNow applications with more care and feeding needed to keep them functioning and relevant for employee use. Because of that requirement (and the lean IT budgets that most companies face today), this upkeep and integration makes outsourcing or offshoring a sensible approach to accomplish.

App Development Challenges

One of the other challenges that IT departments in this sector face today is the specific skill requirements of iOS and Android development languages. These are very specific skill setes to find these days; the developers are in high demand and command high compensation.

Many IT departments can't justify the expense of a full-time employee or contractor on the mobile side, as the skill set can be very specific but application very narrow in scope. As with ITSM, this lends itself to outsourcing or offshoring as a model that makes the most sense due to budget headwinds.

One thing is clear, the demand for mobile solutions for the enterprise and more complex integration for ITSM solutions is not going away. That demand will continue to challenge company IT resources to stay ahead of the development curve.

About the Author

Mike Lagger is a Senior Business Development Manager for V-Soft Consulting. He is based out of the Chicago, IL area, and specializes in selling business solutions like mobile apps to companies. He has been selling IT solutions for over twenty years. When he's not working, he enjoys playing bass for a local four-piece jazz group. Interested in getting a free lunch? Request to meet with Mike and discuss your business' needs over lunch. No pressure and no catch!

If lunch isn't your thing, you can still feel free to connect with Mike on LinkedIn today.