As the current decade unfolds toward its halfway mark, there’s one reality organizations can’t skip. If you call yourself modern, you must embrace enterprise mobility. Otherwise, consider omitting the word ‘modern’ from your business vocabulary.
As the enterprise mobility tide sweeps across industries, financial services face the brunt of challenges due to their highly regulated nature. More so, as 83%1 of such organizations allow employees to work from dispersed geographies. Therefore, mobility trends in financial services call for innovative approaches by organizations operating in this field.
Remote or app-based customer services, transactions, and communications have meant that Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) has gained prominence across industries. However, a one-size or turn-key EMM solution won’t suit financial services organizations. Stringent compliance requirements that differ among regions (even countries), along with stiff operational parameters, make the EMM needs of financial services organizations unique.
Let’s take a deep dive into the top mobility trends that will shape the now and then of financial services. We’ll also try to put into perspective how an EMM or Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution can help financial services organizations stay in sync with these trends.
Evolution of Mobility
In the initial stages, our world operated within the confines of the corporate network perimeter (which, in many instances, remains the case). Mobile device access was restricted to those capable of connecting via a VPN, primarily limited to PIM data. Standardization was lacking, and only a handful of mobile devices offered rudimentary features like mobile email.
Enter the Pioneer!
Then, the BlackBerry emerged—a specialized device accompanied by a dedicated BlackBerry server positioned behind the corporate network perimeter. All data traversed a secure network, ensuring the safety of your information throughout its journey. These devices were company-provided marvels. When appropriately configured, they not only granted access to email, calendar, and contacts but also facilitated tasks such as reserving meeting rooms, accessing network files, instant messaging, and much more.
Enter a New Avatar of the Pioneer!
Subsequently, a significant event unfolded (in January 2007) with the introduction of the iPhone. Although it took a few years to permeate the enterprise, its arrival posed a considerable challenge for IT and corporate security teams worldwide. Executives and senior leaders in these organizations desired to incorporate these costly devices, but at the time, there existed no genuinely secure or straightforward method to achieve this goal.
The devices lacked robust security features, utilized connections through ActiveSync (not even the initial iPhone had this capability), and were generally distrusted. There was a notable absence of a remote mechanism to ensure their security, inadequate encryption measures, and no established method for transferring corporate data from the network to the device that met both stringent security standards and provided a satisfactory user experience.
Enter a Global Crisis!
Yet, and perhaps, the most dominant factor in the evolution of mobility in workplaces is undoubtedly the unfortunate and unforeseen pandemic that shook the world. Its ripples were felt especially during globally enforced lockdowns. Businesses that couldn’t embrace EMM quickly (some with extreme budget constraints) were looking down the barrel, whereas those with some sort of contingency plan survived. The contingency plans were all about adopting modern workplace mobility—well beyond but as game-changing as BlackBerry.
The pandemic has subsided, but what it left behind in the world of IT will always remain relevant and remarkable. Solutions like EMM or MDM are now more popular than ever and have gone on to become a must-have in the tech stacks of organizations big and small.
As far as mobility in financial services is concerned, 72%2 of employees consider mobile technology to be a crucial productivity element. So, it’s time to get into the real deal of this blog!
Mobility Trends in the Financial Services Industry for 2024
1. Return and Rise of COPE
Given the increasing emphasis on security and regulatory compliance, numerous financial services institutions may reconsider the adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies in favor of corporate-owned devices. This shift, especially towards Corporate-Owned Personally Enabled (COPE) and fully managed devices, allows organizations to exert greater control over applications and enhance overall security measures.
While COPE has become a more generic term (OS-wise), from an Android perspective, COPE was coined for Android 9-10. COPE was renamed as WPCO (work profile on corporate-owned) from Android 11 onward. This was largely due to the introduction of the Android Work Profile.
Utilizing Android Work Profile enables employees to maintain distinct profiles on their devices for both work and personal purposes. Work profiles are overseen by the IT team, ensuring the privacy of personal profiles and their associated data. A clear UX demarcation consistently indicates when the Work Profile is active, minimizing the risk of inadvertent data leaks.
For financial services, especially those with multiple compliance requirements, moving toward the COPE model offers far more secure data and device environments. However, for financial services organizations that have a large headcount or cost restrictions, the COPE trend might not be the best option. In such cases, the BYOD model will remain the trend in 2024.
| Read more about COPE/WPCO enrollment |
2. BYOD Policies (Containerization) at the Core
For smaller financial services providers with a limited device cost infrastructure, following a BYOD scenario will be the best choice. Such organizations must increasingly focus on their BYOD policies to gain control over work data while still enabling devices for personal use. It’s a balancing act that will need clear directives. BYOD can be a tightrope for financial services as the regulatory stakes are very high. Hence, an effective BYOD or containerization policy is the secure way ahead.
An effective BYOD policy begins with proper communication so employees are not skeptical about the privacy of their personal data. Financial services organizations will need to communicate every aspect of BYOD security risks and how containerization prevents them. Android-heavy BYO device fleet should look for EMM or MDM providers who support AMAPI-based BYOD. It leads to faster enrollment of devices for IT teams to bring them under BYOD management.
| Read more about AMAPI-based BYOD enrollment |
3. Device Management Flexibility
Rigidity will have no room in enterprise mobility and device management. Financial services increasingly depend on robust management frameworks to tailor devices according to the distinct requirements of roles and organizations. Zero-touch enrollment will be employed to a greater degree to configure these devices seamlessly right from their initial setup. And that’s just the beginning. This flexibility of choice extends to all the EMM/MDM features as well as the software pricing. Solutions that are low on flexibility (and even scalability) will find themselves estranged, especially in bagging financial services clients.
Financial services, on the other hand, will have to get their homework right when choosing and implementing an EMM solution and MDM strategy, respectively. End-user requirements, security and compliance needs, and business goals must align to a nicety. That’s pretty much the device management mandate for 2024.
Drive Home the Mobility Advantage with Scalefusion
Enterprise mobility in financial services will continue evolving—2024 and beyond—and so will the mobility trends. While many businesses return to office fully, financial services organizations will have to deal with a mobile, distributed workforce. That’s where a comprehensive solution like Scalefusion, with its EMM and MDM capabilities, can be a close ally of financial services to help them thrive.
Scalefusion offers features that encompass the mobility trends we have mentioned above. Whether COPE/WPCO or BYOD enrollment and management or flexibility and scalability in device management—Scalefusion has got financial services organizations covered.
Schedule a demo with our experts to learn how Scalefusion can help financial services and their operations cope with the mobility trends in 2024. Get going and sign up for a 14-day free trial.
References:
1. Flex Index
2. Samsung
