Tablet Computing in the Enterprise Environment

2012

Proprietary and Confidential

Contact:

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513.234.5822 Dustin.werden@afidence.com

Dustin Werden

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
The Enterprise Environment Embraces the Tablet ........................................................................................... 1 What are the security risks and how are they mitigated? ............................................................................... 2 Central Management; Standardization ............................................................................................................ 3 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

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TABLET COMPUTING IN THE ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT

The Enterprise Environment Embraces the Tablet

The tablet computing platform has, until recently, filled a need for users skewed towards leisure and entertainment rather than work. Typical instances of tablets in the enterprise environment were those one-off users, normally in the upper management ranks of an organization or for highly mobile sales personnel. This culture has changed quickly as tablet computing devices are being integrated throughout large organizations as a means of driving business process efficiency and enhancing the delivery of information. 25% of all tablet computing devices will be purchased by enterprises this year with that number rising in 2012. 1 -2011 Deloitte estimate With the advent of government incentives to digitize medical records, the healthcare sector has been an area of high growth in tablet computing. Most commonly, doctors and nurses use tablets to collect data while interacting directly with their patients. Data collection can involve everything from automated instrument readings ported directly to the tablet or manual input from the user. This type of mobile computing also allows healthcare providers to readily enter data directly into the electronic medical records (EMR) system in real time. The automated and standardized data inputs that are driven by this method of data collection also improves efficiency, as errors relating to misread hand written notes or lost reports are greatly reduced, allowing for a higher level of care for the patient. Tablet integration into normal business processes is not isolated to just the healthcare sector as evidenced by a recent Hamilton County, Ohio initiative to put iPads into the hands of 187 social workers 2. This initiative is aimed at driving efficiency away from the traditional office environment to the field, where much of their work is done. Previously, these social workers would make case-related home visits and take hand written notes, which were later entered into their desktop systems. The tablet computing process change allows important notes to be captured immediately, which in turn enables these workers to catch small details that might otherwise be forgotten or lost. Quicker access and input of data in non-traditional office environments is the hallmark of Tablet computing. Tablets are also being used to replace bulky and space consuming paper manuals. Flight crews for Alaska Airlines are among the first to replace traditional large paper manuals that hold flight and weather information that can quickly become out dated with tablets 4. Now, volumes of information critical to pilot and flight crew activities are always up to date and contained neatly in a small and space saving tablet. The United States Air Force is also moving in this direction as the Air Mobility Command has recently taken similar steps for consolidating and keeping flight information up to date for their pilots and flight crews 5.
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TABLET COMPUTING IN THE ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT What Are the Security Risks and How Are They Mitigated?
Increased business use and criticality of information held on tablets dictates the need to mitigate and manage risk due to the theft or loss of a device; the security risks of mobile computing devices are well known and well documented. Data is at risk whenever it leaves a controlled enterprise environment in any form but laptops, external hard drives, and smart phones are especially easy and highly valued targets for theft. Tablets are also now high on the list of most desirable items to be stolen from an employees home or vehicle. The enterprise must protect the physical security of their data while providing secure remote access. The data held on a tablet can be secured in two ways; encryption and remote location services. Encryption is the gold standard of data protection and is native in the two leading tablet operating systems, iOS and Android. Proper encryption of data on an enterprise tablet will prevent unauthorized users from viewing, modifying, or otherwise interfering with the integrity of that data. The second means by which an enterprise can secure their data on a tablet is by utilizing remote location services. As long as the device is in use, remote location services allow the enterprise to track the physical location of the device from a central console using the integrated GPS, which is standard in current tablets. Remote location services functionality can increase the recovery of a missing device and also allows for remote wipe capability to reduce the exposure or potential data leakage. Besides the native data security capability of tablet operating systems, major players in data loss prevention are entering the market with offerings designed and marketed solely for tablet use. Products from Symantec and McAfee have recently been released or are scheduled for impending release, with more surely following. Along with physical security concerns, secured remote access to data is one of the main challenges of tablet computing. Secured access to enterprise data includes architecture that is familiar to any laptop user, VPN and the secured gateways provided by HTTPS and Citrix. If a stolen or lost device is not properly encrypted or managed with remote location services, secured access to enterprise data can at the very least reduce the amount of potential data leakage. No aspects of data loss prevention are impenetrable, but with multiple layers of security used in concert a tablet computing device can be considered secure.

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TABLET COMPUTING IN THE ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT

Central Management; Standardization

As with any new technology that is introduced to an enterprises network architecture, tablets present yet another unique platform that bring with it inherent administrative overhead. iOS currently has a commanding lead in the tablet operating system market share at 57.6% according to the latest Strategic Analytics research 3. While Apple has a commanding lead in market share, it is losing ground to Android. Android powered tablets claimed a 10% year over year increase from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011 in market share for 39.1% of the current tablet OS market 3. The impending release of Windows 8 also presents yet another new and potentially powerful player in the tablet OS market. While iOS comes with a narrowly defined number of hardware configurations to support, Android presents many different hardware configurations and makers from which to choose. Where does this leave the enterprise that must now support not only a new user platform but also a splintered operating system market? The answer to this support and integration nightmare is standardization and central management. As with any new technology a standard must be decided upon by the enterprise as a means of providing reliable, stable, and dependable service. There are a few factors that must be considered when deciding on a standard tablet, most notably how many variations of hardware the enterprise is willing to support and what operating system meets their business needs. The answers to these questions will be different for every business depending on any number of reasons including: What type of business do they do? o Do tablets need to meet certain durability and size requirements to function within the business? What does the vision of tablet computing within their organization involve? o Will they be using mainly off the shelf applications or is there a strong interest in developing internal applications? What governmental standards and requirements govern their business? o This is extremely applicable in any pharmaceutical or healthcare provider setting. Also key to any large scale tablet presence in the enterprise is the ability to manage those systems centrally. This includes managing updates to both functionality and security. A standard set of security parameters must be enforceable at the tablet level to drive compliance along with a reasonable expectation of secured access to data. A common activity among tablet users is accessing email. This means all email related policies, procedures, and standards must be enforceable on tablets just as they are on any other device. The enterprise must also be able to enforce use policies for tablet users, which includes unauthorized application installation and unauthorized activity policies.

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TABLET COMPUTING IN THE ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT Summary

Tablet computing devices offer businesses the ability to increase worker productivity with information constantly at their fingertips, regardless of the workers setting. The biggest benefits in the application of tablet computing are already being realized in the education, government, healthcare, sales, utilities, and manufacturing sectors. While these non-office setting work environments are reaping the early rewards of tablet computing, still other businesses can benefit from the freedom and access to information they provide. While the business efficiency opportunities of tablet computing are in the early stages of discovery, the prospects of improved processes and quicker service offered to customers are extremely exciting. With the encouraging possibilities of what tablets can do for a business comes the realization that they do present an entirely new factor in any enterprises architecture, one that must be treated as a completely separate entity that is properly supported and managed. This requires resources and a commitment from leadership to give proper attention to the development and implementation of a well thought out plan. Tablet computing provides a powerful tool when used correctly but can also be a danger to any enterprise operation if the appropriate precautions are not observed and security plans are not implemented, from inception to execution.

Citations:
1. Boulton, Clint. (2011). Desktops and Notebooks: Tablets, Smartphones Fuel 10 Technology Trends for 2011: Deloitte. EWeek.com. January 20, 2011. Link to Article

2. 3. 4.
5.

Business Courier. (2011). Hamilton County approves purchase of 187 iPads for social workers. Bizjournals.com. November 3, 2011. Link to Article Business Wire. (2012). Strategy Analytics: Android Captures Record 39 Percent Share of Global Tablet Shipments in Q4 2011. BusinessWire.com. January 26th, 2012. Link to Article Murphy, Chris. (2012). 9 Powerful Business Uses For Tablet Computers. InformationWeek.com. February 10, 2012. Link to Article Montalbano, Elizabeth. (2012). Air Force Command To Buy Tablets. InformationWeek.com. February 7, 2012. Link to Article

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