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With most enterprise mobile agreements, there comes some sort of management system to keep track of IP addresses, email addresses, owners, etc. Therefore, there really is no need to track this separately. Of course you should always know who is using the device, but you will not need to track the relationship between the person, email address and physical device, as naturally, is this relationship breaks down, the device will stop working! Additionally, the software management system for the devices should help you track this.

Personal mobile and enterprise mobile contracts have little distinction, which can often be a problem. With the constant flux of the enterprise, flexibility needs to be built into the contracts to ensure you are getting what you need, when you need it. If you are able, try and negotiate a more flexible arrangement, where connections and disconnections can be established for a small fee. IF this isn’t possible, be sure that you can move users around easily – for example – if one employee leaves the company, you want to be sure you can easily transfer that person’s device AND contract over to his or her replacement. Also try and work into this deal that the new hire gets a new phone number. It’s not unreasonable to ask and you CAN shop around. You should also let the carrier know you are shopping around – believe me, they want your business.

Apps, apps, apps – this is a recent headache for IT asset managers with the advent of the iPhone, Blackberry, Google phone, and many others. Now every developer worth their salt is coming out with an app. This can cause many problems as employees download this and that onto their devices. Licensing issues come into play here as well as ownership – what happens when an employee pays for an app personally – are they entitled to take it with them when they leave? This problem is not going to go away either, it’s only going to get worse. As controls are going to be challenging, the best solution we can offer right now is to be sure to have a strict policy for apps in place. If the employee downloads an app and pays for it, it belongs to the company once they leave; they are personally responsible for user agreements and must take responsibility if these are violated, etc. Make employees sign a contract if you are going to allow them to download apps. You can also restrict apps, pick and choose those that will be beneficial to your business, and implement an approved app list for employees.

This is going to be a learn as you go process as the app world is evolving. Just keep in mind that you need to protect yourself from liabilities at all times. You almost have to be a pessimist and think the worst at times!

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