Wireless Device Management:
Today's Wireless Environment:
The technology platform of today's enterprise has a rapidly growing component: wireless systems. From field operations, to logistics and supply chain, a host of crucial business activities and applications are now conducted, even driven, by wireless mobile devices.
Wireless technology makes today's global supply chain enterprise more flexible and better able to respond to changing markets and aggressive competition. In the past decade, these devices and their applications have transformed supply chain management making it leaner, more productive and more in tune with customer preferences and expectations.
However, the fundamental value of wireless devices their mobility, which translates into ease of use and efficiency is also their greatest challenge from an IT management perspective. Many businesses now recognize that comprehensive management of their wireless device infrastructure is a crucial component of a total IT enterprise management solution.
The Challenge of Mobility
A mobile device is not locked down it's an enterprise asset that is potentially always on the move. It contains valuable software and firmware that needs to be configured, tracked and managed as your business grows, in lockstep with the other components of your enterprise IT environment.
As an active digital device, it is a point of entry, and thus a point of vulnerability for the wireless-enabled enterprise. In this Web-based digital age, network security remains a paramount concern.
Recently, a major US auto manufacturer had their global network compromised via a wireless link into one of their facilities located in Europe. Additionally, a major US electronics chain learned that people in their parking lot were plucking customer's credit card information from their wireless network. These types of breaches, sniffing and network hi-jacking have raised the overall awareness around Wireless Security and caused the initiation of several wireless compliance-based standards.
And, given today's business environment, enterprise mergers and acquisitions are a constant fact of business life. Potentially, that means managing and migrating multiple wireless platforms, with potential legacy technologies and protocols.
Managing Complexity and Change
The use of wireless device technology in supply chain management has exploded- far faster than expected by some. Wireless Technology is becoming pervasive and a given component of today's supply chain systems. It's a classic dilemma: Budget, time and skilled resources are not available, or have not been allocated, to manage these fast-growing platforms.
In addition, wireless platforms generate unique challenges:
- They are distributed over many remote locations, or on mobile vehicles;- There is an evolving mix of proprietary and standard operating systems and applications;- They involve radio frequency-specific technology, operating requirements, and protocols; and
- There are multiple compliance issues that need to be addressed with wireless information movement and distribution (such as PCI, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPPA, etc.).
And the challenge is growing fast. Proprietary wireless protocols and operating systems have evolved to standards-based products and platforms (MS Windows, 802.11, etc.). This has stimulated much wider use of mobile technologies, with expanded applications and product offerings.
This technology change is also contributing to much shorter product lifecycles. In the past, IT management could specify and adopt a platform, anticipating 5-10 years of use before replacement. However, conditions now have new technologies and applications being rolled out in 2-3 year cycles; it's essential to manage that kind of change strategically and proactively, to ensure your business has the latest, most effective tools to remain competitive.
Just as with other information technologies, wireless devices should be managed as part of a plan that includes goals, milestones, and metrics.
Core Issues of Wireless Device Management
An independent research group recently estimated that the average annual total cost of ownership (TCO) for wireless devices is between $2,500 and $3,000 per device*, per year. Multiply that cost across any multi-site enterprise, and the impact on supply chain management and IT costs can be dramatic.
There's also a significant risk of these costs going up. Consider the experience of one major North American manufacturer: Their wireless device platform inventory listed 900 units; after three years, 250 of the devices ? close to 30%! are unaccounted for.
However, the potential savings from the proper wireless device management approach can also be dramatic: from 10% to 15% of TCO, with a potential return of $150 to $250 per device.
