Here comes mobility, and it's coming fast!

Enterprise mobility, cloud computing, bring your own device, the consumerization of IT, collaboration, social media- the list of ICT trends is large.

However, during the vast array of devices and capabilities at the fingertips of end-users has redefined the way we live, work and connect, the current megatrend in IT departments is that they're overwhelmed, overburdened and struggling to enable and support users in this era of pervasive mobility. Still, with proper capacity, coverage and performance optimization, organizations can begin to ride the mobility wave or rather than get dragged in accordance with it.The procurement processAccording to Jonathan Que, country solutions manager at Dimension Data Philippines : "When it comes to new devices on their networks, many organizations are playing catch up. IT teams can't stop the proliferation of consumer devices accessing their networks, even if they wanted to. The days when the IT department dictated what you work on and where you work are over. The end-user has more power than ever previously. Actually, BYOD is one of the most influential trends to hit IT, and has word for word redefined the way devices are used in the workplace."Employees want to integrate their personal and professional lives using their mobile devices and leverage the productivity gains that anywhere, anytime, any device connectivity provides. Organizations are being forced to adapt quickly to the consumer device phenomenon or lose their relevance in what is now a world "on-the-go".Recent statistics indicate that on average, employees have 2.5 devices each. What's more, they expect to use the advanced functionality and applications these devices offer-whether watching videos or Voice over WLAN -anywhere, anytime. To boot, Cisco predicts that by 2016, mobile connected tablets will generate nearly as much traffic as the entire global mobile network does today. Tablets are just the latest bandwidth hogs, and according to industry analyst firm, Gartner: "This is just the tip of the mobility iceberg". "When you consider that the media tablet market didn't even exist two years ago, the only thing you can plan for when it comes to mobile technology is more, more, and more," said Que, who pointed out that a then-designed, pervasive WLAN infrastructure used to be a "nice-to-have" nevertheless it's now rapidly become a "must have" necessity."The good news is that there's much that organizations can do to help with the coverage and capacity of their wireless network and meet user requirements around service, performance and seamless mobility," he added.Building better infrastructureIn particular, 802.11n enables optimal coverage, reliability and performance across the corporate network infrastructure for data, voice, video and other services vital to supporting mission critical mobile applications and services so if you're on the whole nursing along a legacy 802.11 a, b or g infrastructure, it's time to upgrade. And in many instances, connectivity plans need to include mesh topology to support communication in emergency situations, in the open air or in harsh environments.When designing a high-density WLAN, it's as well important to consider the performance implications of all the tablets, smartphones and other Wi-Fi devices in a small area and that the integration of these multiple devices occurs with ease. Today's newer mobile devices all use 802.11n, yet IT needs to make sure that other users with older devices and older technology notwithstanding common in the workplace, don't suffer.In reality, many IT departments have been looking at this from the wrong end. "They've been so busy making sure the executives or the sales guys have the latest tablets they want and trying to cater to end users bringing in their own devices that they haven't given enough thought to the fact their WLAN wasn't designed for all these devices," explained Que. "Nevertheless if you don't optimize your research and infrastructure, your network will simply not be able to withstand this uncontrolled explosion of new devices." To be concluded

  Enterprise mobility, cloud computing, bring your own device, the consumerization of IT, collaboration, social media- the list of ICT trends is large. Read more

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