One of the main excuses used by firms that haven't yet invested in mobility strategies or solutions to make mobile devices a more integral part of operations is that these devices are inherently insecure. If an employee loses his or her device, or it is hacked, it could open up a company's intellectual property, or even its network, to those with malicious intent. Or at least, that is the argument from naysayers of the BYOD movement and mobility in general.
Despite these accusations being somewhat meritless, mobile devices can pose a security risk. The increased functionality of smartphones and tablets make them key resources to take advantage of, however, requiring companies to address these security concerns, and potentially improve their operations in the process.
According to IDC, mobile device shipments have rose by 55 percent from 2009 to 2010 and have continued to increase since then. This means more devices in the workplace, regardless of if they are being utilized for business processes. Firms should take advantage of this free resource by encouraging employees to embrace mobility trends safely and securely, and one of the key ways to enhance mobile security is to invest in high-quality mobile BPM software.
Process management software provides a solid foundation to launch mobile initiatives from. These tools will provide a flexible, scalable solution that integrates well with current operations and other initiatives, such as cloud process management. Additionally, they eliminate security concerns by adding an additional gateway to protect company resources.
Appian BPM software in particular is a key solution for mobility concerns, as it provides the optimization, customization and access that professionals need to work effectively on a mobile device. Additionally, Appian's high-quality tools provide excellent security measures to counter the concerns related to this trend. Not only do these BPM solutions integrate secure network communication, but enhanced authentication and encrypted local data storage to both increase the safety and efficiency of working on a smartphone or tablet.
Beyond the actual working measures that protect company data, these tools also ensure that, should a device be lost or stolen the firm is in complete control by being able to remotely disable access to its systems for that device. As the ultimate in productivity, mobile BPM solutions address both a modern need to be more productive and more secure with computing options.
Cindy Cheng
Director of Product Marketing
