Which is better – COPE or BYOD?

By Benjamin Robbins – Bring your own device (BYOD) has enamored many organizations. It has introduced several positive forces into the enterprise with the supposed promise of cost savings, employee satisfaction, and productivity. However, reality has proven to be otherwise. As many organizations struggle with implementing a BYOD program, others wonder if there is an alternative…[read more]

ICYMI – Panel: Mobile Apps – The Danger of Making Security an Afterthought

The BYOD phenomenon has resulted in the need to accept personal mobile devices on corporate networks with the expected security risks. Listen to the panel of experts as they discuss the top of mind issues for security officers:

- technical approaches to identifying security vulnerabilities
- methods of embedding security into the application life cycle
- research efforts to ensure application security technologies keep pace with latest threats and vulnerabilities
- approaches for scaling testing across an enterprise

The panelists:

Benjamin Robbins, Principal, Palador (moderator)
Diana Kelley, Application Security Strategist, IBM
Brian Katz, Director and Head of Mobility Engineering, Sanofi
David Rogers, Founder, Copper Horse Solutions Ltd

Taking the Mobile Office with You

Benjamin Robbins is asked to put togeth a presentation on mobile strategy at very short notice. He can’t get hold of the team in time, but corners them one by one to get their insight in some pretty unusual settings, thanks to the joy of working mobile only. A film made in its entirety on mobile devices. Check it out on the Guardian!

 

Benjamin Robbins is a Co-Founder of Palador, a consulting firm that focuses on providing strategic guidance to enterprises in the areas of mobile strategy, policy, apps, and data. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

MobileOnly Episode 4 – Can you ski and video conference at the same time?

With built in audio and video, mobile devices easily allow for on-the-fly video conferencing. But what happens when you try and use that technology to play hooky from work? Watch the latest MobileOnly video short, Mobile Hooky, on the Guardian to find out!

Mobile Killed the PC Star

Is there any difference between a laptop and a tablet with a keyboard? Does mobile really not mean much other than a touch screen? With the official death of the Netbook class of device it is a great opportunity to compare device capabilities and the implications ahead for the PC. Check out Mobile Killed the PC Star to see just how quickly the computing world is changing!

Benjamin Robbins is a Co-Founder of Palador, a consulting firm that focuses on providing strategic guidance to enterprises in the areas of mobile strategy, policy, apps, and data. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Happy Holidays From Palador!

 Just a quick note to wish you all a safe and happy holidays! If you haven’t got the chance to check out the third Mobile-Only episode, ‘A Connectivity Carol’, on the Guardian take a moment for a little holiday humor!

ICYMI – Mobile Trends Through 2014

If you were not able to attend the webinar this past week on Mobile Trends Through 2014 with Bzur Haun and myself don’t worry – it was recorded for your convenience! We had a great time, turn-out, and content. We even through in a crazy prediction or two.

Watch it here and let me know what you think!

Mobile-Only – One Lap to Go?

Third quarters are always a challenge. The inital excitment is gone and the finish seems too far away. This past week I took a look back at the previous 12 weeks to take stock of where I’m at and ask myself, am I going to make it? Check out Turning a Mile into a Marathon to see what ground I’ve covered, what I’ve learned, and how far I still have to go.

Benjamin Robbins is a Co-Founder of Palador, a consulting firm that focuses on providing strategic guidance to enterprises in the areas of mobile strategy, policy, apps, and data. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

BrightTALK Professional Network Launches Mobile App

As many of you know, I have moderated several webinars on the BrightTALK platform. I am excited to learn that they are making available a mobile app for viewing the great professional content available on their site. If you get a moment download it and check it out. Who knows, you might even learn something! Complete press release below.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Professionals want to make the most of every minute of their day, especially while they are on the go. With this in mind, BrightTALK is pleased to announce the launch of the My BrightTALK app. Subscribers can now view webinars and videos anytime, anywhere, straight from their mobile devices. By streaming and downloading content through their smartphones and devices, professionals have unlimited access to knowledge and insight that can inform their business decisions and advance their careers.

BrightTALK CEO, Paul Heald, said, “At BrightTALK we believe that knowledge should be shared. The My BrightTALK app provides great quality thought leadership content to professionals for free. The app will enable professionals to learn from their peers at times and locations that suit them.”

One subscriber commented on the app saying, ”It’s fantastic and I’m totally in love with it! Now I can listen in a comfy chair, not just at my PC.”

The easy-to-use app enables BrightTALK subscribers to stream and download recorded webinars and videos using WiFi or 3G connections. Users can browse the channels they have already subscribed to from the app. Live webinars and videos will be ready for viewing through the app just minutes after the event concludes so you can stay up to date.

Don’t have an account? You can join for free at www.brighttalk.com. Then browse BrightTALK to discover thousands of webinars and videos relevant to your profession and interests.

The My BrightTALK application is compatible with Apple devices and available for free from the App Store.

About BrightTALK

BrightTALK provides webinars and videos for professionals and their communities. Every day thousands of thought leaders are actively sharing their insights, their ideas and their most up-to-date knowledge with professionals all over the globe through the webinar and video technologies that BrightTALK has created.

Bitzer Mobile – Enterprise Mobility without Missing a Beat

Greenfield and enterprise do not usually go hand-in-hand. Enterprises have spent years, if not decades, building up systems, processes, and the applications to support those endeavors. The introduction of mobile shouldn’t throw a major wrench into those systems. Unfortunately, for many organizations mobility represents either an add-on to existing enterprise systems or severely feature-reduced tool. Bitzer Mobile’s Enterprise Application Mobility solution provides a way for enterprises to fully leverage mobility and their existing technology infrastructure.

Bitzer’s Enterprise Application Mobility (BEAM) solution is comprised of three main components, a secure container on the device, a gateway server, and an admin console. These three components working in concert provide a unique approach to enterprise mobility.

The secure container is achieved through app wrapping, Wrapping an app consists of adding a layer of code around an existing mobile app after it is compiled, but before it is signed with an enterprises own distribution certificate. Bitzer Mobile takes a unique approach to app wrapping though. Instead of treating each app as an isolated security island, Bitzer adds a ‘policy engine’ around each app. This allows administrators to create and leverage shared security policies and data across apps. Admins can also change policy in real-time without having to recompile or redistribute an app.

Bitzer Mobile’s gateway server, BMAX, provides another distinct advantage over other solutions. First, it offers an integrated solution with Windows authentication infrastructure for secure Single Sign-On (SSO) to corporate applications. Beyond authentication lies the capabilities that the gateway server provides, namely the secure browser, file manager, and document editor. These three apps work in conjunction with the gateway server to provide full enterprise application capabilities in a secure environment.

What does the capabilities of Bitzer Mobile’s solution mean for an enterprise? It means that mobile users can access custom internal web applications directly from their mobile devices. It means that employees have full access to the file system on the corporate network from the sidewalk. It means users can access SharePoint at a client location. It means that users have the ability to fully edit Microsoft Office documents on the train from their iPad. It means that mobility can provide users on-the-go the same capability as users who sit at a desk.

The introduction of mobility shouldn’t force organizations to develop entire new systems or even applications. This is expensive, time-consuming, and disruptive to the core of what a business provides. Technology should support not strain your enterprise efforts. Bitzer Mobile provides enterprises with a way to continue to derive value from existing systems and solutions whilst providing maximum capability to mobile devices without the need for a technology overhaul.

I also got a chance to speak with the Bitzer Mobile team about challenges, opportunities, and the future of the secure container. I asked, Naeem Zafar, CEO of Bitzer what he thinks are the biggest challenges with a container approach?

“The biggest shortcomings are the lack of standards.  Each MDM and mobile security company is touting a “secure” container. Yet none of them offer comparable features, so a company has to do extensive evaluations to understand what they may be buying.  One has to address the data-at-rest, authentication, data-in-transit, and fine-grained control issues.  What about FIPS 140-2 certification?  This confusion is slowing down the adoption en masse.”

I was also curious to hear what he envisions for the future of the secure container? Zafar commented:

“I see the secure container having a bright future and progressing beyond just mobile devices.  I see a day when a new employee gets a yellow sticky note on her first day or work – it will have a URL and a password.  This will allow the new employee to download the Secure Container onto their mobile device, laptop or desktop.  The companies want to get out of device or hardware business yet not lose control over the data.  This container-based approach is exactly the ticket.  It provides much deeper control over the corporate data and minimizes the non-strategic functions that IT provides today.”

Bitzer Mobile Inc., enhances employee productivity by allowing secure access to corporate apps and data from mobile devices while preserving rich user experience. Its secure container solution creates the enterprise workspace on any mobile device – corporate owned or personal, and for all mobile platforms. Employees get seamless access to intranet, corporate data and apps with enterprise-grade security and deep integration with Windows Authentication for true Single Sign-On. For more information, please visit Bitzer Mobile