IT Briefcase Exclusive Interview: Using Device-native Capabilities to Secure Devices with Mobility Strategies

Productive, secure use of mobile devices if often far too complex and expensive for many organizations to truly benefit from the incredible developments we’ve seen in the last 10 to 15 years. In this interview, Henning Volkmer, president and CEO of Cortado Mobile Solutions Inc., shares his thoughts on using device-native capabilities to secure devices implementing productive mobility strategies, as well the benefits, simplicity and cost savings a cloud-based approach offers.

• Q. How can MDM/MAM make business more successful?

A. Instinctively many of us probably just like to wing it. Just get it done. But some order is usually necessary, even desirable when it comes to business. Mobility is tricky enough as it is. If you’d like to find out just how tricky: Talk to your lawyer about a BYOD policy.

The ability to react to customer questions or new leads wherever and whenever is infinitely powerful. With the right MDM/MAM strategy businesses can be both customer- and employee- centric. Customers will receive what they asked for as quickly as possible and employees are able to take advantage of the added flexibility in managing their time and location. Within reason, their personal and professional lives can co-exist rather than be mutually exclusive as they typically are in a traditional 9-5 desk-in-an-office setup.

Enterprise mobility offers the opportunity to be more successful with a “new” type of device. That can be a company issued device or a BYOD/COPE device but either type needs to be managed to provide the level of security required by the company as well as a seamless, manageable user experience that empowers users to reap maximum benefit from their device. Keeping personal and work data separate is one example, creating a task specific device that only runs one application for less technologically inclined employees is a second and protecting proprietary or personally sensitive data is a very relevant third.

Enterprise Mobility Management addresses these issues, while allowing companies, their employees and their customers to quickly and easily be more productive. However, in the quest for productivity, the technical aspects of Enterprise Mobility Management shouldn’t be complicated. Both Apple and Google have done a good job implementing the necessary capabilities into their devices and operating systems.

• Q. What are the feature/capabilities s a company should consider when choosing an MDM/MAM solution?

Using the capabilities that are natively built into the device’s OS is the key to “MDM/MAM-Happiness”. They are the most likely to be future-proof and supported with the next OS update. They are most closely integrated with the devices software and hardware and thus most reliable and effective.

An MDM/MAM solution should be able to build a “native business container” to keep work data safe and separate from any personal data. In addition, it should be able to support multiple use cases or scenarios.

The sales force for example may need a wide range of applications in a secure, native business container while a delivery driver may just need a “kiosk mode” device running only the one application that allows them to keep their schedule.

Ease-of-use for both the personal set-up, as well as maintaining the system are critical security considerations. If the administrator has trouble keeping up with the ins and outs of the system important security features may not be as effective as it could be. If the solution is hard to understand or makes users’ work more difficult and less productive the users will find work arounds that render the MDM/MAM partially, if not wholly, ineffective.

Do not pick your MDM/MAM solution just based on technical security features. The solution’s ability to make your users productive is at least equally important. Some offerings like Cortado Cloud or Cortado Server have more than a decade of experience making users productive.

• Q. What role does the cloud play in this space?

A. Simplicity without sacrificing functionality is a key element of allowing any organization to benefit from MDM/MAM, not just those large and financially capable enough to afford the specialized know-how and infrastructure needed to utilize MDM/MAM.

A solution for cloud-based MDM/MAM can offer all the required features yet be as simple and manageable as other cloud-based business functionalities, including cloud storage, CRM or email. Solutions like Cortado Cloud are ideal for agile companies looking to remain in charge of their devices and data with a minimum workload or who are actively looking for a cloud solution.

• Q. What are the benefits businesses can take advantage of with a cloud-based MDM/MAM solution?

A. Given the technical complexity and the required know-how needed to implement an MDM/MAM solution, smaller organizations as well as those looking to keep their IT spending to a minimum, have not been able to take advantage of this technology. That means they have either not been able to use mobile devices at all, or have spent far too much money to set-up simple things like email accounts or WiFi access without being able to properly secure the devices and the business-related information on those devices.

Those who have not previously benefitted from MDM/MAM will be able to provide a simple, comprehensive mobility strategy for their organizations and those who currently use on premises MAM/MDM, but would like to reduce the cost and know-how required, will find that solutions like Cortado Cloud enable companies of all sizes, and in all verticals, to easily integrate mobile devices into their workplaces.

Cortado Mobile Solutions offerings focus on using native device security capabilities, quick and easy implementation, as well as a superior user experience for optimal productivity. Cortado Mobile Solutions delivers both on-premises implementations as well as cloud-based services to its customers based on their environment architecture or preference.

Henning Volkmer is the president and CEO of Cortado Mobile Solutions Inc. He drives the execution of Cortado Mobile Solutions’ strategy to provide leading solutions for enterprise mobility and file sharing solutions for companies, teams and freelancers across the Americas. He follows the philosophy that the combination of working with native apps and the use of operating systems’ own security architecture brings the highest levels of user acceptance. Volkmer has been at the forefront of technology trends for the past seventeen years, helping to shape the enterprise mobility industry. In addition to holding various positions within the Cortado group, Volkmer served as part of a project team focused on reducing costs in the network infrastructure division with what is now Nokia Networks. Under Volkmer’s direction, Cortado Mobile Solutions has increased its position as an enterprise mobility solution that combines the easy, secure management of mobile devices and apps with true mobile productivity.

Originally from Berlin, Volkmer currently resides in Denver.