Q&A With Smith Micro on Challenges for Administering Mobile for Small Business

In past years, a company looking to give their employees access to the network through phones and mobile devices just had to buy a fleet of BlackBerrys and an exchange server. Today, that's not so simple. Employees want to choose their devices, and small businesses need to learn how to keep up with the pace and still keep the network safe.

To assess the issues companies face in terms of a mobile workforce, and how to address them, AllBusiness talked to Doug Louie, senior director of product marketing for enterprise at Smith Micro.

The 30-year-old company provides connectivity software for tier one wireless operators. Smith Micro also works with companies to provide a layer of management and security where users access the network with smartphones, tablets and sometimes just a personal laptop.

AllBusiness: Companies used to provide a fleet of BlackBerry handsets to their employees, but now it seems employees are supplying their own phones for business use.

Doug Louie: This has been a huge trend for all of 2011: the consumerization of devices. Employees now have shiny, new devices, and want to be able to do work on them as well. It puts pressure on IT.

AllBusiness: What does a small business need to do in order to accommodate all these devices?

Doug Louie: Companies fostered the BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, trend. Instead of having to buy hardware companies can drop their cost to a third. Now the employee has bought the phone, maybe the company might subsidize that. For smaller companies who are tighter on budgets, this is the way to go.

AllBusiness: Are we talking mainly about smartphones? Or are there more devices employees are using to access the company network?

Doug Louie: The rise of the tablet, especially the iPad, just took off from January until now. People are leaving the laptops at home. The tablet allows them to do 90 percent of what they need to do.

AllBusiness: What challenges do companies face a larger variety of devices on the network?

Doug Louie: From a company standpoint, securing the data. If you have a financial file, you need to make sure there is reporting and secure accountability. You don't have control over these devices everywhere. What happens when you give control to the Outlook server, and an employee leaves a phone in a restaurant? [Mobile solutions] allow companies to locate devices and enforce password policity. Basic security is now allowing companies to listen to the needs of employees, and allow them to be productive, but implement enterprise security.

AllBusiness: Security is one thing, usage is another. Is there any concern for people who may overuse their access?

Doug Louie: There are no longer unlimited data plans. Companies subsidizing phones are making sure they're not paying for an employee's kid downloading films on Netflix. It's important to make sure [employees] aren't eating into the corporate data plan. Especially when there is free Wi-Fi in the office.

AllBusiness: What are the biggest challenges for implementing a mobile solutions policy?

Doug Louie: The biggest challenge for enterprise is sitting on the sidelines watching. They have to look at the challenges, get more groups involved. It used be only the IT department involved, now companies have to get human resources, marketing and legal involved.