Solutions for small and growing businesses going mobile – Tips and trends from the 2011 Small Business Summit

Last week I had the opportunity to present to hundreds of small business owners at the Sixth Annual Small Business Summit in New York, and I wanted to share some of the mobility trends, tips and solutions that were discussed.

More and more employees – especially in small business environments – are requiring increased access to business applications and data while away from their desks.  And, in small business environments, it’s no surprise that employees often use their own mobile devices for work-related projects

As employees are becoming more dispersed, the ability to work seamlessly anywhere from any device becomes increasingly important.  However, access to cloud-enabled applications on these new devices comes with new concerns about data management and protection.

Fortunately, Dell continues to partner with leaders in this space like Good Technology to address these issues, offering secure access to corporate data and applications across a wide range of mobile devices.

Here are some benefits of the service:

  • Provides a secure, contained environment by encrypting data from your business’ server and restricting its access within a special application.
  • “Quarantined” environment enables employees to use business applications and access email, attachments and PIMs without interfering with personal applications.
  • Data is secured on the hand held device, the primary servers, and while data is in transit.
  • Manage the whole device – or just the business applications and data consistently – according to your policies.
  • Business and personal data live on one mobile device without concerns about the two mixing.

Rather than going directly to a carrier to solve all your mobility wants, there’s value in looking for the technology first as opposed to the connection. Carrier plans often provide unnecessary costs and provisions that can be avoided by taking the time to evaluate your needs and find a tailored solution that’s scalable to your business.

Remember, for a mobile solution that helps drive business, you need to think about the device’s entire ecosystem.  In the near future, Dell will be providing mobility-specific services in the form of professional services to help our customers assess their infrastructure, design a customized plan and implement the right combination of best-in-class solutions.

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