Just as it’s hard to imagine banking without ATMs, computer users eventually will look back and wonder how they ever got by without smartphones or tablets. Network-connected smartphones, notebooks and tablets, according to analysts, will reach 15 billion worldwide by 2015 — more than double the planet’s projected population. Mobile phones in 2013 will surpass PCs in connecting to the Internet, analysts predict.

As of 2012, the number of smartphones in use worldwide had passed 1 billion. Mobile computing is inevitable. Users want to carry their mobile devices at all times wherever they go, including the workplace. For employers, especially small and midsize businesses  (SMBs), the proliferation of personal smartphones and tablets accessing their networks creates complex management challenges.

Often, companies don’t know who is bringing what devices into the office and how much corporate data is in them, which poses serious security risks.

The Mobility Necessity

Mobile devices have come a long way from the brick-like cellphones of the 1980s and laptops resembling oversized calculators. Today’s smartphones have more processing power than the computers used in the Apollo lunar missions. From the PalmPilots of the 1990s to the near-ubiquitous Blackberrys of the 2000s to the explosion in smartphones in recent years ignited by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms, mobile computing has evolved from luxury to necessity. Today, conducting business without mobile access borders on the “unthinkable”.

Enticed by the functionality and features of consumer-focused smartphones and tablets, end users have made mobile devices a must-have in the workplace, forcing employers into a tough decision — to leverage or banish employees’ mobile devices. Either choice carries risks. Leveraging the devices requires controlling them, while shunning them shuts out the benefits.

RaeTech can assist you in managing those mobile devices on your network to protect you against data breach. Contact us today for more information how you can protect your network.

Contact RaeTech today 800.985.4065.