Research carried out by Forrester in North America has highlighted the inherent mobility of healthcare workers. Almost 90 percent of healthcare organisations in the study employ staff who work outside the office at least one day per week, while more than 50 percent have staff that work from home at least four days per week. Laptops and smartphones were the preferred mobile devices for 95 percent of respondents. Regulatory compliance is the greatest concern surrounding mobile technology. More than 40 percent of enterprises rated this as a ‘critical’ priority for the forthcoming year, while 43 percent described it as ‘high’ priority. Data security came a close second, defined as critical by 31 percent. The same number said that data in their enterprise had been compromised at least once in 2009. In the majority of cases, the underlying cause is the absence of a clear, unified strategy around mobile technology. Mobile devices are purchased and distributed without due emphasis on security, monitoring and usage controls. The Forrester study suggests that while the industry is beginning to translate these concerns into solutions, relatively few enterprises have taken action. Just 29 per cent of those surveyed had implemented or planned to implement data leak prevention for desktops, and only 11 percent are expanding this to the mobile estate. Approximately 50 percent of healthcare IT decision makers said that the ability to poll for and enforce on-device encryption was crucial in managing mobile users, while 33 percent favoured policy violation alerts. Wireless connectivity was a must-have feature for 38 percent. Adoption of these technologies is important, but more valuable is a single tool that provides a comprehensive view of wireless-enabled user activity. Emerging software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions may meet these demands, while helping to cut network and opex costs.
Research carried out by Forrester in North America has highlighted the inherent mobility of healthcare workers. Almost 90 percent of healthcare organisations in the study employ staff who work outside the office at least one day per week, while more than 50 percent have staff that work from home at least four days per week. Laptops and smartphones were the preferred mobile devices for 95 percent of respondents.
Regulatory compliance is the greatest concern surrounding mobile technology. More than 40 percent of enterprises rated this as a ‘critical’ priority for the forthcoming year, while 43 percent described it as ‘high’ priority. Data security came a close second, defined as critical by 31 percent. The same number said that data in their enterprise had been compromised at least once in 2009.
In the majority of cases, the underlying cause is the absence of a clear, unified strategy around mobile technology. Mobile devices are purchased and distributed without due emphasis on security, monitoring and usage controls. The Forrester study suggests that while the industry is beginning to translate these concerns into solutions, relatively few enterprises have taken action. Just 29 per cent of those surveyed had implemented or planned to implement data leak prevention for desktops, and only 11 percent are expanding this to the mobile estate.
Approximately 50 percent of healthcare IT decision makers said that the ability to poll for and enforce on-device encryption was crucial in managing mobile users, while 33 percent favoured policy violation alerts. Wireless connectivity was a must-have feature for 38 percent.
Adoption of these technologies is important, but more valuable is a single tool that provides a comprehensive view of wireless-enabled user activity. Emerging software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions may meet these demands, while helping to cut network and opex costs.