The recent disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged businesses that primarily rely on office-based personnelto rapidly deploy new tools and technologies as well as adapt to a dispersed, mobile workforce with increased security risks. How can businesses address gaps in technology and be better prepared for future disruptions while staying secure? An integrated platform of applications and services that allow for remote work provides a solution.

Enterprise IT mobility enables organizations to empower employees to work from anywhere without compromising the functionality of essential applications and devices. IT mobility has become a top priority as companies strengthen their business continuity strategies and develop greater resilience.

This article aims to provide helpful information on implementing enterprise mobility solutions and cloud services.

Enterprise IT Mobility: Advanced Security & Collaboration

When choosing IT mobility solutions, security is as important as functionality. Failing to implement proper security can lead to data breaches, ransomware, and other costly issues.

Several vendors provide productivity, remote connectivity, and security software, as well as the hardware and tools to integrate these systems. Many organizations choose solutions from a combination of vendors to achieve their IT mobility and security goals.

Microsoft Office 365 (Office 365) is a leader in the mobile productivity market. In recent years, Office 365 adoption has increased with the total number of users increasing from 60 million in 2015¹ to 155 million in 2018.² This year, the number of commercial monthly active users surpassed 200 million in the first quarter of FY2020.³ Given this widespread adoption along with my own experience, this article will reference Microsoft’s mobility solutions.

Cloud productivity suites such as Office 365 allow team members to collaborate online safely and securely, provide mobile device management (MDM), protect critical business data, and enable organizations to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. In these unprecedented times, keeping all members of an organization connected and productive is a top priority. 

While many organizations benefit from default security features that are available from their mobility solutions, they may not be taking advantage of other advanced security features.

Multi-Factor Authentication

One of the most fundamental security components of cloud computing is multi-factor authentication (MFA). Once referred to as two-factor authentication, security enhancements now enable organizations to implement three or four factors.

The basic concept is authenticating to a resource, such as an e-mail or a shared file, that requires more than just a username and password. It also requires an additional piece of information, or evidence, to complete the authentication process (i.e., something you know plus something you have).

In practice, MFA typically includes installing a special authenticator application on your phone that works in conjunction with the login process. When you open a website or application and are prompted to enter credentials, you will also be prompted to provide additional information or take an action from an authenticator app, depending on the MFA configuration. Options include simply approving the login request or entering a unique one-time code sent via text or voice message.

Although other MFA methods exist, such as specialized hardware devices, the ubiquity of smartphones makes the mobile app the easiest method.