Enterprise mobility management requires individualized approach: Telus

Handling a fleet of mobile devices in the workforce involves tailoring the approach to the individual user, suggested Graham Chalk, manager of enterprise mobility management (EMM) for Telus Corp., during his presentation at the P&C Technology Conference in Toronto on Monday.

Despite the usual differences in the workplace – from people to office sizes to laptops and mobile devices available – the methodology to create an EMM plan is essentially the same, Chalk explained: set a baseline, segment the user group based on the way they work and their responsibilities, and then create a spectrum.

“Some people are just going to be handed a device – there you go. Other people may get a choice,” Chalk said during his presentation, titled Mobility: Why the larger strategy (and not just BYOD) is so important. “I think you’ll find for every Apple person who says, ‘I gotta have an Apple,’ there’s somebody in your organization at a senior level who’s saying, ‘I’m not giving up my BlackBerry.’”

Often what happens, Chalk elaborated, is that companies have to build two platforms for their management – one to retain the BlackBerries and one for Android, Apple’s iOS and Windows Mobile platforms. “Organizationally, we are seeing more and more organizations driving out costs in their business by looking for alternative delivery methods,” he said.

Related: Insurers’ investment in technology focusing on modernizing core systems: SMA

In the insurance industry, it’s not so much about the devices or the airtime, but the services needed to manage a fleet of devices and how to allow third parties to secure access. “This can be as simple or complex as you want it. Even at the simplest end, do I have third-party agents selling my product who need to access my system with their devices; how do they get on my network?” Chalk asked. “How are they registered to get into my email?”

Helpful advice for a successful #BYOD policy. http://t.co/WFNoTpIHN0 pic.twitter.com/3GITQZEHEP

— TELUS Talks Business (@TELUSBusiness) March 5, 2015

At Telus, that process can be automated. Chalk used the example of mobile tools that can force users to view and acknowledge reading a policy statement and then have the organization’s system record that that the statement was read. Or “you can put watermarks on it, so if something leaks out, you know exactly where it got leaked from.”

Related: Mobile, cloud computing high priorities for insurers: survey

Acknowledging that some departments use certain devices more efficiently than others, the key is how to enable those departments to be the most efficient with the available technology. “The universal big app – like email – doesn’t exist anymore,” Chalk said.

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Once an organization determines where it is technologically and where it wants to go, the next logical step question is: “What is it you are trying to achieve?” Chalk said. “Are you trying to drive channel adoption? Are you trying to steal brokers away from other businesses?”

Whatever the reason, it’s important to adapt the EMM solution to the technology. “It’s really important as you are looking at your business units and your organizational departments to try and change it so they don’t see mobility as just another cost that needs to be cut,” Chalk said. “You have to build your foundation, so make sure the technology is there.”