Today’s users expect PC-like functionality from their mobile devices, including the ability to print documents. According to an October 2011 report from research firm IDC, mobile printing is the fastest growing segment in the document solutions industry and is expected to grow from 68.3 million in 2010 to 1 billion in 2015.
As the use of mobile devices in the work place increases, many employees want to simply click “print” from their tablet or smartphone and print to their normal workplace printer. Unfortunately, this option is not available on most devices.
In many companies, IT has misjudged the need for mobile printing and is now realizing that employees need to print from these devices just as they would from a laptop or desktop. IT also needs to maintain strong authentication and role-based security features, to ensure that mobile printing doesn’t create new opportunities for data breaches to occur.
The benefits of deploying a mobile printing solution that offers robust enterprise security features and maximizes the mobile productivity of your workforce are worth exploring. Organizations that enable mobile printing can accelerate field and back office processes, save time, and most importantly improve mobile productivity.
Accellion’s mobile printing solution features embedded printing technology from Ricoh. View a use case for mobile printing here.
Ever wonder what type of toothbrush your dentist uses at home? Or how often your trusted mechanic gets the oil changed on his/her own car? Wouldn’t it be nice to know what products and practices the experts actually rely on behind the scenes? Well, thanks to a recent article in The Guardian, we gained a glimpse into how the mobile productivity editor of TIME Magazine – Harry McCracken – stays productive while out and about on the reporting scene.
Here’s some of what we learned:
• Harry’s tablet of choice? An iPad.
• A good keyboard is key: A keyboard can transform an iPad from a media consumption device into a legitimate productivity tool. Sure, some people do just fine with on-screen typing, but for Harry, he wanted a physical keyboard to be able to see more of his writing at one time. He’s tried out a lot of models and has found his favorites are from two companies – Zagg and Logitech.
• Desktop be gone: McCracken has traded in his desktop for a laptop at the office, although you’ll usually see him on an iPad, even when at his desk. He said that he traveled with his laptop for a while as a security blanket but then realized that the iPad could support his mobile computing needs just fine.
• Skeptics are everywhere: Despite being on the cutting-edge of mobile technology, Harry’s reliance on tablets has been met with raised eyebrows. “People get very defensive when someone is taking a different approach to computing then they do. My feeling is, there is no wrong way to use computers. If you’re happy and productive, all ways are equally good.”
Are you using a tablet for your day-to-day job? If so, check out the latest news on our Secure Mobile Productivity Suite, which allows employees to easily create, edit, and share files on a mobile device without exposing sensitive business information. It’s mobile productivity at its best.
Whether you are an organization with 50 employees or 50,000, finding a way to manage and secure employees’ mobile devices and access rights to corporate data is imperative. BYOD policies aren’t just for the big guys. If employees are bringing smartphones, tablets, or other devices into the office, then the chances are good that those same employees have plans to use (or are already using) those devices to access and send work-related files. It’s up to the organization to dictate when and how that happens.
We’re seeing a positive uptick among SMBs addressing the mobile device movement, with new research by iGR showing that 62 percent of IT managers at SMBs have an official BYOD policy in place. Yet, the same research found that 73 percent unofficially permit workers to use personal devices for work purposes.
It’s great news that so many smaller organizations have put a stake in the ground with a written BYOD policy. Hats off to you! It’s the 73 percent that are allowing employees to use devices without any official parameters that has us concerned.
Acknowledging that mobile access is a work must-have is an important first step. But, that needs to be followed with IT controls to ensure that files are being accessed only by authorized users, all mobile content is being shared securely, and that users are only turning to file sharing applications that have been thoroughly vetted by the organization.
So whether your organization has less than 50 or more than 50,000 employees, consider secure mobile file sharing an essential element of your mobile strategy, and make BYOD an official order of business.
Employees are more productive than ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, worker productivity grew 80 percent from 1973 to 2011, and has risen 25 percent in the past 10 years alone.
This uptick is certainly tied to the fact that many employees are able to do their jobs from anywhere. Thanks to flexible work environments and mobile devices, employees are simply better equipped than ever to get their jobs done better – provided they have access to the content they need while out of the office.
To help store and manage access to enterprise documents, 78 percent of Fortune 500 companies rely on Microsoft® SharePoint. And within organizations that have deployed SharePoint, 62 percent of information workers are turning to the application daily to find the files they need. But what happens when those same workers walk out of the office doors and try to access the files via smartphones and other mobile devices? The productivity ends there since for most organizations access to SharePoint stops at the corporate firewall. Why is this? Because external file sharing of files stored in SharePoint is not well supported either for employees wanting access on mobile devices or for organizations wanting to share with external parties.
Lack of external file sharing of SharePoint files leads to increased data risk and reduced productivity. Without supporting mobile access to SharePoint employees seek unsecure workarounds such as downloading files out of SharePoint and sharing via free cloud based services. The same for sharing SharePoint files with external parties. Employees will find a way
But, this doesn’t have to be the case. If you’re ready to mobilize SharePoint or another enterprise content management (ECM) solution, check out the five key requirements to help you maximize security, IT management, and productive employee communications.
With the right SharePoint-enabled secure mobility solution, users can easily and securely get a hold of the information they need and instantly share with others – without a VPN. And, in turn, your organization is able to keep pace with the upward productivity trend – a win-win.
Dropbox, Box, YouSendIt, Google Drive, Evernote, Skype, Google Hangouts. These are just some of the apps that Delyn Simon – a 42-year old executive – rattled off to Quentin Hardy at The New York Times when asked what services she uses on her iPhone.
Forget the malicious cybercriminals, for most IT Administrators, it’s your own employees who are cause for the greatest concern. Downloading dozens of apps aimed to make daily work tasks more automated and convenient has become so commonplace that individuals often don’t think twice about hitting “install” on their smartphones and then using those unapproved apps to access and share company information.
And, the number of different apps within just one organization can be quite startling. In Hardy’s recent article, “Where Apps Meet Work, Secret Data is at Risk”, he shares that the streaming video service, Netflix, discovered employees using 496 different smartphone apps, primarily for data storage, sharing, and collaboration. And, Cisco Systems found several hundred apps touching its own network via employees’ usage.
The risks of accessing these apps for both personal and business interactions become very real when sensitive data is compromised. That’s exactly what happened last week when Evernote, an online note-taking service, experienced a breach, with customer names, emails and encrypted passwords possibly stolen, driving the company to reset passwords for 50 million users.
So, is there any way for organizations to prevent employees from using their own consumer mobile apps? Yes! But, first you must eliminate the need for employees to turn to outside data storage, sharing, and collaboration appsin the first place. That means providing a mandatory alternative – a solution that allows users to easily send, share, and access files and that allows you, the IT administrator, to know what’s being shared, where data is stored, and that corporate data is safe.
Empowering employees with a secure mobile application is the first step to keeping your corporate data safe in today’s mobile world. And it just so happens Accellion can help you with that.
Recently Dropbox and Microsoft have publicly promoted new features for their free consumer file sharing solutions that could result in security risks for companies if used incorrectly or by those with malicious intent. Microsoft announced today a change to their SkyDrive collaboration feature. File sharing in SkyDrive is now defaulted to not require authentication.
Dropbox announced their open Sync APIs making it even easier for a 3rd party to register and download the Dropbox SDK and use it to embed Dropbox into applications. Given the already widespread usage of DropBox by not only consumers but also business users, this ease of integration only deepens the risk that enterprise content can leak into the unknown. The simplicity to leverage Dropbox APIs also allows the opportunity for people with malicious intent to develop free apps that users perceive as useful but in turn allows access to dropbox accounts. Behind the scenes the app could be copying content.
And lack of authentication as a default setting can lead to similar negative consequences. For example, without care and attention and end user could inadvertently share documents with unintended recipients.
Accellion advises the following to any organisation looking for a file sharing solution that will protect enterprise information.
1. Ensure you can set authentication to be turned on by default. Sending without this should be the exception not the rule.
2. Restrict the apps your employees can access via the file sharing solution through white/black listing
3. Only approve/white list applications to integrate with file sharing apps after they have been tested internally
4. Increase security by ensuring only the recipient can open up the document.
According to analyst firm, Enterprise Strategy Group, the enterprise cloud based file sharing revolution is being driven not by IT, but by end users – individuals who need to access and share data across laptops, smart phones and tablets whenever the need may arise. And, it’s these individuals who often subscribe to consumer-based file sharing solutions on their own and then bring those tools into the enterprise to support business use – creating a data security nightmare for IT.
This situation has IT playing catch up, yet many organizations are hesitant to embrace cloud services. Why? ESG found that 43 percent of organizations are worried about data security and privacy concerns and 32 percent about giving up too much control. Ironically, without a proper file sharing solution in place, users are calling the shots, creating the same security risks and a lack of control that’s been holding them back from the cloud in the first place.
In a new white paper, Evaluating Cloud File Sharing and Collaboration Solutions, ESG advised organizations to find a single, secure file sharing and collaboration solution that they can confidently endorse and provides a checklist of what to ask during the due diligence process, including:
•Can we sync data across end point devices when offline?
• Can users easily search for files across synched directory trees?
• Can we support files of any size?
• Can we set group policies from a central dashboard?
• Is there Active Directory integration?
• Is it easy to de-provision accounts?
• Is data encrypted in transit and at rest?
• Are there remote wiping capabilities?
• Is the data center SAS 70 Type II certified?
• Is data replicated remotely in the event of site failure?
To help you make a smart investment that’s right for your company, download the complete recommended checklist today.
P.S. Accellion answers “yes” to all of the questions above.
No one would be shocked to learn that organizations aren’t big fans of employees playing online poker or roulette on the job. Which is why, when 1,200 IT decisions makers at private companies were asked to name the top three worst apps that employees could download, gambling was at the top of the list, with 58 percent of responses.
Right behind concerns about bringing a bit of Vegas into the office are serious worries about certain online file sharing applications. But not just any apps – Dropbox and Box in particular. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents named these unapproved cloud file sharing apps as some of the worst offenders in the enterprise, earning the number two spot on the list. And, of the 45 percent of respondents who blacklisted apps, 57 percent named Dropbox and 42percent named Box as the apps being banned.
What happens is that users genuinely need a way to share large files and when there’s not an IT-approved solution in place they find one on their own. Consumer-focused online file transfer solutions, such as Dropbox, are then used behind the scenes to send proprietary documents, creating security risks and headaches for IT. It’s this need for a Dropbox alternative – a secure, proven, enterprise-class solution – that drives organizations to Accellion.
Accellion customer, MiTek, a global construction company, had been there, done that, leading the company to ban Dropbox, deploy Accellion, and not look back. Here’s what Justin Daniels, Web Services/Software Engineering and IT Support Manager with MiTek had to say:
“With public cloud providers, there are so many unknowns when it comes to security: Where exactly are your files? How do you get them back if you change providers? How do you know where your employees are sending files? We weren’t willing to give up the rights to data that was sensitive, proprietary, and was rightfully ours. With Accellion, we know exactly where our files are, can track and monitor both senders and recipients, and enforce file sharing policies at a user- and corporate-wide level.”
When customers say “yes” to Accellion, it makes saying “no” to Dropbox and Box a no-brainer.
In our last post, “New Research to Drive Your Mobile Policies”, we talked about how mobile devices are redefining the workplace, pushing the need for ubiquitous access to enterprise content. But, the big question is how to give users what they want – user-friendly, around-the-clock data availability – while maintaining strong IT security and control. It can be a big undertaking if you don’t know what to look for from a file sharing solution.
Here are 10 must-haves to help meet both users’ and IT’s needs:
Multiple platform support: Even if you’re a Blackberry shop today, you don’t know what the future holds, so you need to be able to support iOS, Android and Blackberry devices should the need arise.
Seamless access to existing ECM stores:Allow users to gain anytime, anywhere access to data – whether stored in SharePoint or another ECM system – and share files with internal or external audiences, without a VPN.
Enhanced encryption: To lower data breach risks, your solution of choice should encrypt data both in transit and at rest, across all devices – whether in the cloud or on-premise.
Centralized management: Easily configure user permissions and manage user policies and profiles, including role-based access controls – ideally from a single, web-based interface.
Proactive file protection:Extend your organization’s established content/file monitoring policies to all file sharing activities by integrating with commercially available DLP and anti-virus solutions.
Complete device control: Ask about remote monitoring, logging, and wiping capabilities, to provide much-needed visibility and control should a device be lost or stolen.
Required enterprise integrations: Ensure that the solution you’re evaluating will support your existing infrastructure, applications, and security processes, such as LDAP, Active Directory, single sign-on, authentication, FTP, and SMTP.
File sharing visibility: With evolving regulatory requirements, you need granular reporting capabilities, real-time file tracking, and automated audit trails to maintain compliance standings.
Deployment choice:Whether a public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid environment, evaluate which deployment provides maximum data security and availability and will have your users up and running quickly.
Say “no” to consumer-class services: Prohibit users from seeking out their own consumer-based solutions, such as Dropbox, to prevent being left in the dark about where files have been sent and to whom.
Extend security to every file and every device within your organization and embrace the BYOD trend. Your users will thank you.
With so many organizations wondering how to support the boom of mobile workers, we recently hosted a sponsored webinar, “Empowering the BYOD Workforce”, to provide insight into the state of mobile affairs, the evolving workplace, and what types of users are driving the BYOD charge. In case you missed it, Chris Silva with The Altimeter Group, LLC provided some great research to help guide the development and prioritization of BYOD strategies. Here are some highlights:
Smartphones are the “it” device: The pendulum is shifting from laptops to smartphones as the mobile screen of choice. Data from Nielsen shows that more than half (55%) of U.S. mobile subscribers have a smartphone – up from 41 percent last year. And that number will no doubt continue to rise with the anticipated arrival of new Google Nexus devices.
One device is not enough: The average worker now carries 3.5 “mobile” devices (smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc.), up from 2.7 last year, according to the iPass Q1 2012 Global Mobile Workforce Report.
Mobile computing is now the norm:Insight Research reveals that 89 of the top 100 companies offer telecommuting, with 67 percent of all workers relying on mobile and wireless computing to get work done.
Work hours are blurred: Research from Good Technology found that individuals are productive well beyond traditional office hours, with more than 80 percent of people continue to work when leaving the office, adding up to an extra 30 hours per month. Plus, 49 percent do work email after 10:00pm and 69 percent will not sleep before checking email.
Mobilizing sales is a must:The Altimeter Group, LLC found that field/sales employees are the most important user group to mobilize, as these road warriors live on mobile devices and need a simple and secure way to manage, view, store, and share information.
So, the big question is: how do you make enterprise file sharing accessible on phones and tablets to support the mobility trends outlined above, while maintaining tight control and security? Check out our next blog entry to learn how to navigate the security challenges of BYOD while enabling your growing mobile workforce.
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