Future Changes in the Workplace: Managing a Growing Fleet of Mobile and IoT Devices

By 2030, there will be 25 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices worldwide. Today there are 9 billion devices. You don’t need to be a mathematician to know that an increase of 16 billion devices in just eight years is significant and game changing. These IoT devices include anything from sensors to intelligent signage in retail to wearables. And by 2026, mobile device users will increase to 7.5 billion up from 6.4. What are they using? Smartphones, tablets, e-readers, music players, smartwatches and fitness trackers with smart capabilities – and one can only imagine what new technology will be on that list by 2026 or 2030.                                                        

In our latest report, A Defining Year: State of Mobility in 2021, it was revealed that during the pandemic, companies have invested significantly in mobile technologies and remote device management software to manage them. This investment has enabled enterprises of all sizes to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic and helped customers access the goods and services they need, despite the disruption every organization has faced. 

Here, we look to the future, changes in the workplace and how to manage the growing number of mobile and IoT technology in the hands of companies and consumers. 

More Devices Than Ever Before

With more devices in the hands of employees, there’s more to manage for organizations. The pandemic quickly mobilized a work from home culture deploying more laptops, tablets and phones into the hands of employees. Over 90% of enterprises have seen an increase in the number of employees working from home. Nearly 65% of enterprise employees are regularly working from home today, compared to just 14% prior to the pandemic. 

This past year, nearly every industry brought more technology into their organization, adding devices to help with the changing and evolving workforce and adapting to keep workers safe. From adding devices to help with curbside pick-up requests, managing online orders or going remote with work from home, businesses are managing more devices and are more reliant on them than ever before. However, simply investing in more mobile devices does not create an agile, mobile-ready workforce. In fact, an increased number of devices can make it harder to manage daily operations. 

From our latest report, SOTI discovered that most enterprises’ daily operations are dependent on mobile technology and they are not able to complete their duties without them. For continued success, organizations need to manage their ever-increasing fleet of mobile and IoT devices and keep them running for their employees. 

Managing Your Mobility

Many of these devices are connected to mobile networks and will run mobile operating systems. Managing them will require the same skills, technologies and systems that companies invest in to manage their mobile devices today. Investing in intelligent, remote device management software is an investment for the future.

Organizational agility is no longer an aspiration, but a business necessity, along with having systems and technologies in place that can adapt to evolving conditions. In our latest report, SOTI found that over the next 12 months, most organizations are considering increasing their expenditure in mobile technology devices, systems and/or security. The report also revealed that there will be further investments in technology for better device and system integration, and/or for replacing their legacy systems.  

The workforce is evolving along with technology, and organizations must be investing in mobile and IoT device management to stay successful, relevant and current. Business agility will not be achieved through investing in greater numbers of mobile devices. To support mobile workers and build resilience in their workforce, organizations need an Enterprise Mobility Management solution to deliver visibility and control of their business-critical mobile devices, understand what role each device plays in business operations, how each device is performing and what security risks are possible within a  mobile network.  

Keeping Your Organization and Customers Safe 

With an increase of mobile and IoT devices being managed by enterprises, the security risks for the organization and employees are increasing as well. One of the things that keeps executives up at night was uncovered in the report results – half of those SOTI surveyed said that their organization is not using mobile technology well enough to adjust to the challenges of the post-pandemic marketplace. As a result, many organizations will need to consider increasing their budgets – not just on new mobile devices, but on a security solution as well.  

Having proper security protocols in place will help ensure data integrity is always maintained. Enterprises should be taking this time to step back and analyze all security risks with their current mobile and IoT devices. From there, businesses must take the necessary steps to fix any current or possible future issues to keep customer and company data secure. This can be achieved by using a comprehensive platform to manage their business-critical mobile and IoT devices. 

Now is the time for organizations to take the next step and think about the future of mobile management solutions. With the right technologies and expertise, they can build on their already significant investment in mobile technologies to expand their capabilities and fully realize the benefits of their investment. What is even more exciting is that they can create a business-wide technology ecosystem that’s flexible, scalable and intelligent. Doing this will give them the edge they need today, set them up for success tomorrow and prepare them for the future.

• Download your free copy of our report, A Defining Year: The State of Mobility 2021 
• Trial our Enterprise Mobility Management solution for your organization