9 Mobile Strategy Buzzwords You Need to Know

Successful mobile strategy involves many moving parts, but none are more important than an enterprise's ability to understand and integrate new technologies. Staying current with the pace of mobile technology's development, however, is much easier said than done.

To effectively implement mobile strategy, your program leadership needs to know about mobility's latest and greatest innovations and how they affect your enterprise. Management's undoubtedly full schedules, on the other hand, leave little time for learning about recent industry developments or deciphering unfamiliar acronyms.

With that in mind, here are nine of today's key enterprise mobility acronyms and why they're important to consider from a strategic perspective:

1. Application Programming Interface (API) -- APIs are all the rage in today's mobility management software world. Program infrastructure capable of leveraging this technology can enable enterprise-wide innovation efforts, allowing mobile technology to uncover entirely new revenue streams. API-driven architecture also empowers your organization to undertake big data and analytics tasks, further driving innovation and creating business efficiencies.
2. Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) -- Keeping mobility program data, devices, and users safe is a strategic enterprise priority for obvious reasons (just ask Target and Yahoo! if you're unsure why). While an AUP doesn't actively enforce policy compliance or monitor end-user behavior, it does clearly outline an end user's responsibilities, creating accountability for security adherence at the employee level. Collaborative AUP creation and updates between program managers and users is a great way to collect honest feedback and increase workforce buy-in of new technologies.
3. Business Intelligence (BI) -- Related to analytics, BI is the combination of conclusions drawn from intense program data analysis. Mobile strategies are not only influenced by these analyses, but often seek to create BI themselves by leveraging technology to capture new and potentially impactful data sets. Placing a priority on BI can lead to better enterprise mobility decision-making capabilities, new strategic opportunities, reduced spend, and optimal resource deployment.
4. Consumerization of IT (CoIT) -- CoIT is something all mobility strategies must inevitably address. More and more often, end users are driving business technology adoption by initiating enrollment and support requests for familiar devices before enterprises have a chance to introduce them. While catering to employee device demands does make for a happier, more productive user group, it also sacrifices a degree of program security. It's up to you to decide whether those benefits are worth the additional risk.
5. Device Enrollment Program (DEP) -- If your mobile strategy includes leveraging iOS devices, Apple's DEP can simplify initial setup and save serious time and money in your enterprise deployments. Zero-touch configuration of account settings, applications, and network accessibility makes devices ready-to-use straight out of the box. Enterprise mobility management software can even automatically enroll DEP-enabled devices, guaranteeing complete program security and end-user compliance for Apple devices.
6. Mobility Management Platform (MMP) -- Unlike other service-driven, outsourced mobility solutions, MMPs achieve mobile strategy objectives with a unique, software-first approach. While most providers offer ancillary services like a service desk and logistics facility, the primary value from these expert solutions comes from a robust software offering capable of automating routine tasks and integrating your technology and management systems into a single platform.
7. Single Sign-On (SSO) -- Today's mobile strategy considerations commonly include SSO because it makes a program more user-friendly and eliminates support costs incurred by password/passcode reset requests. The security of such a policy, however, is a more debatable topic. While the same set of access credentials for every system can ultimately be much more damaging should it fall into the wrong hands, SSO allows an organization to focus its security efforts on protecting a single set of login information rather than trying to safeguard a fragmented network of services and databases.
8. Wear Your Own Device (WYOD) -- Over the next few years, wearable devices should play a larger role in enterprise mobility. Like bring your own device (BYOD), employee-owned wearables can put a serious strain on internal program support and security resources. If your organization currently manages wearables or plans on adding them in the future, it's important to determine how they'll be handled before questions of corporate data ownership arise.
9. Anything as a Service (XaaS) -- The XaaS model is a tremendous strategic advantage for today's mobility programs. XaaS gives your enterprise cutting-edge software and technology for a consistent, predictable price. Organizations that leverage these solutions never need to worry about future infrastructure upgrades, hardware maintenance, or on-premises support and training expenses, reducing the complexity and cost of scaling and evolving technology as program strategies change.

Hopefully these nine enterprise mobility acronyms get you thinking about your enterprise's current mobile strategy and lead to a positive, productive discussion or two. If your mobile strategy doesn't address everything above, it won't be long before your technology falls behind.