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Develop & Enforce Policies that Securely Enable a Mobile Workforce

Prepare your policies for a future when mobile personas are more important than mobile devices.

  • User policies are often created ad hoc or based on outdated policies designed for specific corporate-issued devices.
  • The number of possible technology policies to enable or disable is daunting, and deciding which policies to apply to which users can appear to be a monumental task.
  • Poorly thought-out policies can increase support and management costs, especially if something goes wrong.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Determine your policy goals based on a forward-looking view of your mobile workforce, and then design policies that align with your goals.
  • Align your mobile policies with your broader mobile strategy, which should in turn align with your IT strategy.

Impact and Result

  • A strong set of mobile user and technology policies will enable a productive workforce, no matter which mobile devices are being used.
  • Automate enforcement of policies as much as possible to keep management and support costs down.
  • Use this solution set to create policies that are carefully thought-out, communicated thoroughly, and effectively enforced. Your workforce will be mobilized in no time.

Develop & Enforce Policies that Securely Enable a Mobile Workforce Research & Tools

1. Understand the need for mobile policy

Understand the current situation with mobility in the enterprise, and how policies fit in.

2. Document your future mobile policy goals

Understand where the future of mobility lies, brainstorm forward-looking goals, and explore the benefits of each goal.

3. Document your current mobile situation

Inventory your current set of mobile policies, identify who is doing what with mobile to determine use cases, and assign user groups to risk profiles.

4. Identify gaps

Identify gaps between your goals and your current mobile situation, and determine steps needed to close these gaps.

6. Incorporate mobile policies into your IT strategy and revisit regularly

Document your policies, insert them into your larger strategies, and revisit them regularly.


Workshop: Develop & Enforce Policies that Securely Enable a Mobile Workforce

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Document your future mobile policy goals

The Purpose

To understand where mobility is going, so you can aim your goals there, including policies that embrace the dual personal and work personas

To brainstorm a set of forward-looking mobile policy goals

Key Benefits Achieved

An understanding of the state of mobile technology that leads to a future-proof set of mobile policy goals

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Brainstorm forward-looking mobile policy goals

  • Mobile policy goals template
1.2

Analyze mobile policy goals

  • Goals analysis worksheet (goals and benefits)

Module 2: Document your current mobile situation

The Purpose

  • To inventory your current set of mobile policies, if any
  • To identify current use cases for mobile technology
  • To assess risk and assign risk profiles to user groups

Key Benefits Achieved

  • A baseline from which to identify gaps between your current situation and the goals you have outlined

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Review your mobile strategy and current inventory of mobile policies

  • Mobile policy inventory
2.2

Identify who is doing what with mobile (use case diagram)

  • Use case diagram with risk profiles
2.3

Tie risk profiles to roles

  • Consolidated list of roles with use cases and risk profiles
2.4

Consolidate to a manageable list of roles

Module 3: Identify gaps

The Purpose

  • To identify gaps between your future goals and your current situation
  • To identify the steps needed to close the gaps and achieve your goals

Key Benefits Achieved

  • An action plan will allow your organization to begin moving forward in creating and refining your mobile policies, one step at a time

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Identify gaps between your current status and your future goals

  • Goals analysis worksheet (gaps and steps)
3.2

Identify the policy-related steps that you need to take

  • Detailed action plan
3.3

Identify the policy-related steps that you need to take

3.4

Build a detailed action plan

Module 4: Create mobile policies

The Purpose

  • To begin taking action by creating or refining mobile policies
  • To decide on technology policies to be applied
  • To decide on user policies to distribute
  • To address training on and enforcement of policies

Key Benefits Achieved

  • A carefully thought-out set of technology policies and user policies, based on your forward-looking policy goals, will safely unlock the benefits of mobility within your organization

Activities

Outputs

4.1

Decide on technology policies

  • List of technology policies and settings
4.2

Create a set of user policies

  • List of technology policies and settings
  • Acceptable use policy
  • Remote wipe waiver
  • Reimbursement policy
4.3

Plan a rollout and training program

  • 12. Training slideshow

Module 5: Incorporate mobile policies into your IT strategy and revisit regularly

The Purpose

  • To consolidate your mobile policies and insert them into your mobile strategy, which will be inserted into your broader IT strategy
  • To determine responsibilities and develop a mobile roadmap

Key Benefits Achieved

  • An understanding that policies are only part of a mobile strategy, which are in turn only party of an IT strategy
  • A roadmap for implementing your policy decisions and revisiting decisions regularly

Activities

Outputs

5.1

Document mobile policies and insert them into your IT strategy

  • Consolidated mobile policy document
5.2

Determine responsibilities and set a timeline for implementation

  • Mobile roadmap
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About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 1-phase advisory process. You'll receive 2 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

  • Call 1: Create a set of technology policies

    An analyst will review your organization's current mobile strategy and technology policies, your long-term goals for mobility in your organization, and the types of technology policies needed.

  • Call 2: Create a set of user policies

    At the appropriate milestone, an analyst will review your mobile strategy and long-term goals to help you establish the types of user policies needed.

Authors

Mark Tauschek

Michael Battista

Tara Hadler

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