ManageEngine is an IT management company that offers software for the enterprise demand. The company?s client portfolio is of more than 90,000 companies around the world, which use ManageEngine?s products to manage their networks and data centers, business applications, and IT services and security. With the launch of 3G/4G services, enterprises have started adopting mobile applications to enhance productivity while reducing time and costs for the IT related assignments. Sridhar Iyengar, Vice President, Product Management, ManageEngine discusses the role of mobile applications for IT management.

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Please provide a brief background of your company and its India operations.

ManageEngine was started in 2002, as the enterprise IT Management division of Zoho Corporation, providing easy to use IT management software. The product suite includes affordable solutions for Network Performance Management, IT Help Desk, Application Performance Management, Desktop and Mobile Devices Management, Log Analysis and Security, Privileged Password Management and Active Directory Management & Reporting. Over 90,000 companies around the world ? including three of every five Fortune 500 companies trust ManageEngine products to manage their IT. Another 300,000-plus admins optimise their IT using the free editions of ManageEngine products. Apart from 50 free tools, most ManageEngine products come with a lifetime free edition for a limited number of users or devices for the SMBs.

ManageEngine?s business objective has been to break down the complexity in IT management, as IT Management was traditionally a costly and complex affair, where in most cases an organisation would deploy a solution investing a lot of time, effort and money in it with very less local expertise. The underlying philosophy at ManageEngine has been to build great products that are quick to deploy and evaluate. Most of ManageEngine?s fully functional products are available as a free downloadable edition with the file size as low as 30-40 MB for evaluation for up to a month.

In India, we have our R&D facility at Chennai and Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu.

How have the mobile enterprise applications evolved in the Indian Telecom space?

Globally, in every industry, enterprise mobile applications have been playing an important role in establishing better connectivity among the employees within an organisation. With the advent of third and fourth generation networks, which provide enough bandwidth for professional use, employees have started using mobile applications to enhance productivity, reduce costs and quick turnaround time for the IT tasks. The availability of next generation networks demanded by the rise of the smart devices started transforming the business world. There is also mounting pressure from the employees to allow employees’ personal smart devices in the professional world (BYOD ? Bring Your Own Device). This has paved way in many companies around the world to allow their employees to work from remote locations. This move has shown increase in productivity by close to 25 per cent more than the native methods. The line between personal and professional devices has been fast diminishing in organisations, thereby cutting down cost in procuring and managing multiple mobile devices by the same person for different use.

When it comes to the Indian Telecom space, it is no different from the global scenario, but the penetration of the Internet is slower than what it is in the developed countries. Telecom companies in India slowly started having an app store of their own, which provided users with a gamut of possibilities to do things in an efficient manner, e.g. Money transfer through mobile networks; online payment through a network provider, etc.

What are the key structural barriers that have limited the growth of enterprise mobility in the country?

  • Low adoption rate of next generation networks by end users both for their personal and professional use, due to higher data rates
  • Availability of Internet is not even across the country thus making the enterprises to be clustered predominantly in the tier 1 and 2 cities, limiting the enterprise mobility to the cities
  • Applications Management ? Managing the various influx of applications through mobile devices is a growing concern for enterprises
  • Mobile Device Management ?India is expected to have close to 120 Million Mobile Internet users by the end of 2014. Improper or lack of strategy in managing employees? personal mobile devices in the professional world is another challenge that needs to be addressed in growing markets
  • One of the greatest of all barriers that limits the growth of enterprise mobility in India is Data security. Organisations are wary of how their confidential data can be intercepted by unauthorised persons for financial gains via mobile devices. Apart from managing the employees? mobile devices and applications, companies have to ensure the highest form of security in the organisation, as mobile devices have been great channels of Cybercrime

What is the role of mobile applications for IT Management?

Mobile applications have been tremendously changing the way IT admins and managers work. Earlier, IT admins had to be glued to their IT rooms, having a tough time trying to keep their network/server/application up all the time. With the introduction of mobile apps, IT admins have the liberty to attend certain inevitable errands, and still keep a tab on IT. Mobile apps provide real-time alerts on the go at no additional cost, giving IT managers and admins, access to corporate content from remote locations. This has been a key in increasing productivity and providing better ROI, not to mention the business agility and continuity it enables. Mobile apps are going a step ahead in enabling organisations and its employees to quickly translate the concept – Future of work, into reality. Growing adoption of enterprise mobile apps is alerting vendors to keep mobility as one of their top priorities when they come up with new products.

What is the role of mobile device management in the adoption of mobile enterprise applications?

IT admins and managers have to keep an eye on the devices that enter into their organisation, irrespective of a corporate owned or personal device (BYOD). A mobile device management (MDM) solution plays a crucial role in adopting mobile applications in an organisation. It provides the required freedom for the employees to use personal mobile device for professional purposes, and at the same time provides enough control for the IT admins and managers over IT.  An MDM solution will help the IT admins to configure and secure mobile devices from a centralised place thus giving the employees the access to certain data via mobile applications. It also provides the admins the ability to automatically gather information from the app stores, distribute and manage the apps that are installed on the devices in the system. It gives a complete picture of the organisations? mobile devices to the IT admins, thereby giving them control over who should be given access to what kind of applications?, depending upon the scope of the employee in the organisation. The solution further empowers the IT admin in scrutinizing what kind of apps are safer to be used in the system, and the once have to be removed from the central apps repository. Overall it does a gatekeeping and administration job for the entire mobile landscape in the organisation.