Member Article

How mobile is changing the IT department

Back before Apple unleashed the iPhone on the world, smartphones were something of a curiosity, at best. They were mostly confined to the business world; the truck of enterprise professionals and tech geeks. With the iPhone, Apple brought about a revolution – one which only grew larger with the launch of the iPad.

Before anyone really knew what was happening, mobile technology had transformed from a luxury to a necessity. Only ten years ago, the number of mobile users could be counted in the millions; today, there are over 2.1 billion mobile web users in the world. Of the industries disrupted by this rapid evolution, it was the IT department that saw the most profound impact.

There are a few reasons for this.

First of all, the rapid proliferation of mobile technology led to a phenomenon which has been coined the “bring your own device” craze. Whereas before most employees were forced to rely on company-provided mobile devices (if they used any at all), many of them soon began using their own smartphones and tablets for work. While this afforded them an unprecedented level of freedom – they could feasibly work anywhere, at any time – it also opened up a whole new array of problems.

There were many developers and IT professionals who simply weren’t equipped to deal with this considerable shift. In the case of developers in particular, this has led to a sort of “evolve or die” situation; one which persists to this day. What I mean by this is that the IT professionals capable of managing mobile devices - those developers and administrators already equipped with the necessary knowledge to code on Android or iOS - soon saw themselves gaining a significant advantage over their peers. This was doubly true where compliance entered the picture.

That’s the biggest problem with mobile devices - and it’s one that affects every level of an organization. IT departments are still struggling to manage networks made significantly more complex by the introduction of a mobile ecosystem; those organizations incapable of or unwilling to implement the proper measures have dealt with everything from decreased efficiency to full-on security breaches.

In addition to changing how IT departments operate, mobile devices have also changed how consumers and employees alike access the Internet. In the States, mobile apps have actually overtaken PC usage. With this in mind, the fact that a staggering number of organizations (particularly small businesses) haven’t bothered to optimize their websites for mobile is a little distressing; those organizations run the serious risk of being left behind by their more tech-savvy competitors.

The prevalence of mobile technology has, to a degree, also ramped up user - and employee - expectations where accessibility and uptime are concerned. Smartphones and tablets have effectively “un-tethered” the Internet; anyone can access a website or platform at any time, regardless of what time it is or where they are. As a result, both users and clients generally expect services to be accessible from anywhere, at any time, on whichever device they have to hand – whether or not that’s feasible.

Last but certainly not least – and this is to some extent connected to the BYOD trend – many web developers have begun to code their own mobile apps. These applications – linked to their billing and support portals – allow their clients to manage virtually everything about their hosting plan right from their phone. In an increasingly-mobile world, this is more or less a necessity.

I don’t think anyone at Apple really knew or expected what they’d bring about with the release of the iPhone. Because of that singular device, our world has changed in more ways than we could possibly imagine. Web development was one of the more profoundly-disrupted industries, and it will continue to evolve in tandem with mobile technology as we move forward.

About Matthew Davis—Matthew works as an inbound marketer and blogger for Future Hosting, a leading provider of VPS hosting. Follow Future Hosting on Twitter at @fhsales, Like them on Facebook and check out their tech/hosting blog, https://www.futurehosting.com/blog/.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matthew Davis .