The BYOD Balancing Act

With Gartner expecting the mobile device management (MDM) market to be worth $1.6 billion by 2014, it’s obvious that the industry has become very prominent. But, the MDM market is still evolving at a feverish pace. Just take a look at the average employee’s bring-your-own-device (BYOD) habits. Smartphones, tablets and laptops are all part of one big mix during the work day. Thanks to the growth and of mobile devices and the emergence of more mobility apps  the needs of the mobile enterprise and their users is quickly evolving from being device-centric to being data-centric.

While the market is still young, there’s an emerging trend of commoditization here. MDM is critical and the foundation for many mobility strategies put together by IT departments. But we also have to address the needs of the users. And their need for content (data). They don’t mind if IT is securing their devices, but they certainly don’t want it to interfere with their work. So IT needs to balance  the need for security, and management, with the needs of their users for a seamless and efficient experience.

This balancing act can be tricky. More security measures can mean less flexibility, and that’s why employees so often look for workarounds. What IT needs is something that I simple for the enduser, secure to protect corporate data assets and managed so that IT stays in control.  Mobile File Management (MFM) solutions such as Acronis mobilEcho, can help IT find the right mix. For example, mobilEcho allows organizations to provide secure mobile file access to enterprise servers, SharePoint  and NAS devices.

MDM and MFM for BYOD

The question IT faces is how to allow for BYOD habits to continue without putting the workplace at risk and without impeding employee productivity? 

That’s where mobile file management (MFM) and MDM meet. These solutions are complementary and can create a secure and seamless experience for both the user accessing files and the IT department who needs to secure and manage the environment. Looking forward a few years, companies will need MDM and MFM in the future, but keeping devices and files secure will be part of a much larger process. As enterprises look for ways to keep a grip on the free exchange of data between employee devices, it won’t just be traditional MDM technology they’ll want, it’ll be something that enables a comprehensive and seamless mobile experience for workers and for IT.