Part 4/4: 5 Essential Tips for Mobile and Wireless Computing

I was interviewed on the topic of Mobile, Wireless, and Security several times this year however only a portion typically makes it to print so I'm blogging about it.

I encourage you to share your experiences here or send me an e-mail at sibaraki@cips.ca, Thank you from Stephen Ibaraki, I.S.P., DF/NPA, CNP

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This is a four-part blog series:

Part 1/4: The Major Move to Mobile and Wireless: are you prepared?
Part 2/4: The Value of Security for Mobile/Wireless
Part 3/4: Managing Mobile and Wireless Security Effectively
Part 4/4: 5 Essential Tips for Mobile and Wireless Computing

Look at your strategic business objectives and goals, and aligning your IT objectives with these business goals. Examine how mobile and wireless computing can add to your business objectives. Ensure everyone, both business and IT managers are on the same page in making changes. And obtain buy-in from the general employee population by collaboration and open-communication. Choose both a business and IT champion for the further implementation of mobile and wireless computing.

Carefully assess your current environment hardware and software to see what needs to be updated to meet current standards. Additionally look at what new hardware, software needs to be purchased to meet the needs of your business today and 3 years in the future.

Look at designing a mobile infrastructure that delivers centralized control over security (examples: user authentication, data encryption), synchronizing data between users and the servers, external threats management (examples: spyware, viruses), data backups, versioning control of applications/software, emergency data lockdowns, and so on.

Clearly understand that there is a difference between mobile and wireless. A mobile solution extends deskbound data-processing to any locale. Wireless provides another data connectivity option. A mobile user may not need full wireless connectivity while others such as a financial analyst may need essentially continually wireless capability.

How is your cell phone wireless access? Is it 100% and is there only one standard? Be clear, when architecting for wireless connectivity, that there are data flow constraints (bandwidth limitations), unreliable coverage, and evolving standards - just like with cell phones.