Organisations struggle managing misuse of mobile devices

Organisations struggle managing misuse of mobile devices

Sydney, 23 February 2011: Despite the inherent risks mobile devices pose to organisations in today’s fast paced  technological workplace, research by leading asset and expense management provider Stratatel reveals that a staggering 28  per cent of Australian organisations rely on staff honesty and self regulation to track personal calls and data downloads.

In addition the study found that twelve per cent of organisations process their bills manually while others rely solely on carrier tracking systems for reports.

According to Stratatel chief executive Mr Matthew Parry, “Any system that fails to accurately track usage behaviour, breaches of company policy or that makes proper analysis time consuming and expensive, often to the point where it is neglected, is a very real threat to an organisation.

“There is no doubt that poor communication and lack of mobile policy enforcement will most likely result in financial wastage, compromise data security and result in employees communicating inappropriately with colleagues or clients,” he said.

According to the Stratatel paper, the growing prevalence of smart devices and high bandwidth networks are of particular concern. Employees now have the ability to download large amounts of data and with excess data often charged by the megabyte, an employee can easily incur hundred of dollars in extra charges without realising the cost.  Across a large fleet of devices, the capacity for financial wastage can be significant.

Loss and theft of mobile devices also can be a major threat to data security. While most emails don’t contain highly confidential or sensitive information, protections need to be in place to secure those rare exceptions when the device falls into the hands of competitors, or worse still makes front page news.

Security is also a concern when an employee leaves the organisation as data can easily be transferred to a personal computer, again compromising the organisation control over confidential information.

Equally, inappropriate use by employees of mobile phones can pose a serious reputational threat to any organisation. For example, personal text messages can easily be sent to a client by accident and confidential information can find its way to social contacts which can have significant legal consequences.

In an interesting twist in the United States, a former nursing managing for a home health care company, had exchanged emails with her lawyer on a company computer before leaving her job and filing a discrimination claim against the firm enabling the company’s lawyers to use these in the company’s defence.

Intellectual property can also be severely weakened through mobile devices. Whether by intent or accident, sensitive documents can be distributed widely and the company can become liable for an effected client.

“And mitigating these risks depends on a good mobile device governance policy, invariably these policies will fail without systems in place to ensure their effective implementation,” Mr Parry warns.

“The most effective solution for identifying problems, enforcing policy and creating behavioural change in employees are those based on awareness, accountability and asset management.

“When employees are required to pay for personal transactions on their mobile devices, it is in their best interests to minimise costs.

“Allocating calls, SMS and data charges as their personal or business expenses develops employee awareness of usage costs which in turns makes it far more likely that they will minimise both personal and business expenses,” Mr Parry said.

As you will note from the graph below on the impact of personal usage reporting for a government organisation, effectively managing the use of mobile devices has an enormous financial upside for an organisation.

Ends

About Stratatel

Stratatel Limited is a leading provider of specialised and innovative telecommunications expense management, cost recovery, print expense management and business management software solutions and services designed specifically for increasing profitability, reducing costs and improving operational efficiencies.

As a Premier IBM Software Business Partner with over 15 years experience, Stratatel provides quality assured IBM software and licence solutions to clients. Stratatel holds certifications across all 6 pillars: Lotus, WebSphere, Tivoli, Rational, Information Management and Business Analytics.

Stratatel delivers its range of products and business solutions to companies across Australia, ranging from SMEs to enterprise organisations.

For more information, visit www.stratatel.com.au or contact Viv Hardy@CallidusPR on 02-9283 4113 or 04011 208 951 or Viv@calliduspr.com