Organisations are mobilising their businesses because of the benefits of increased productivity and flexibility it brings, especially to knowledge workers whose interactions with colleagues and business partners means they are seldom at their desks.

As business mobility develops rapidly it is vital that organisations ensure that their security infrastructure keeps pace with these changes.

Business mobility changes the traffic patterns on the corporate network. It is not just an increase in traffic, but the change in traffic type of which means conventional firewalls and threat management systems may become a bottleneck.

The increased use of voice over IP (VoIP), where voice traffic in the organisation is carried over the network as data packets, has already highlighted this issue. Voice packets are smaller than conventional data packets (for example, an email with a spreadsheet attached) and cannot tolerate high latency (long delays in their transmission). If voice packets are delayed longer than 250 milliseconds, voice becomes unintelligible or clumsy; like speaking on an old-fashioned transatlantic telephone line.

Adopting mobile business exacerbates this further. Employees using handheld devices tend to send shorter emails: simple forwarding, one- or two-line replies and deletes. And, assuming the company is using wireless networks and Wi-Fi-enabled handsets, their voice traffic on-campus will be carried in packets over the data network too.

The result is a large increase in the number of packets, even though the total amount of data traffic may not have increased significantly.

This calls for a new approach to threat management. The security system must be capable of examining the greater number of smaller voice packets just as thoroughly as it can large data packets, but without introducing latency.

Companies planning, piloting or adopting mobility would do well to consider such security devices, so that their networks are ready for the resulting changes in traffic type. Conventional security devices may appear to have similar throughput in raw data numbers but, remember, it is the number of packets which rises quickly with mobility and VoIP not the total data volume.

Of course, security features in the network infrastructure that can help to keep mobile data safe is one part of the picture. For an holistic view, organisations need to look at end-to-end security solutions that add a layer of data security to the handsets themselves with over-the-air provisioning, synchronisation, anti-virus installation and updates, on-board encryption and the ability to remotely wipe the data should the handset be lost or stolen.

For more information visit www.nokia.com

Over 50% of small businesses are failing to take advantage of mobile communications effectively to manage and control their operations. Of the small businesses questioned with 50 or fewer employees, as many as half admitted they do not currently use mobile email despite rapid growth of wireless broadband and the clear productivity rewards from its uptake.

Technology has advanced at an astonishing rate. Better chips, for example, have added real muscle to better-built, faster, lighter and cheaper Wi-Fi enabled laptops. Tablet PCs promise even greater convenience on the move and ever improving PDAs now offer robust versions of key desktop software while we are just beginning to understand the potential of smart phones. All this new power has coincided with plummeting prices. Once the big question for business was ‘why?'; now it's ‘why not?'

The advent of wireless broadband has meant that you can be connected to work 24 hours a day. Being able to work at will, almost anywhere and anytime, has radically changed the way we do business. Mobile communications means workers have more flexibility and can be more productive giving you a distinctive advantage over your competitors.

Even the commute into work has become an extension of the eight-to-six day. That solitary time for composing yourself before a busy day in the office is now a multimedia extravaganza. You are hooked to the net, scheduling meetings and replying to emails on your blackberry. You are reading reports, checking budgets, speaking to India using VOIP connection on your wireless laptop while sat sipping Latte in the city coffee bars. The ultra efficient worker has emerged through the use of mobile technology, whether you like it or not, you need never be away from your office or place of work ever again.

A recent survey by Vodafone found that over 80% of business professionals are now equipped with the technology to work away from the office. Customers and suppliers also expect services to be available 24/7 or simply for the business and staff to be more accessible during normal working hours.

Recent figures show 60% of companies have Wireless capabilities in their offices, UK Broadband penetration has already reached over 50% of homes with the majority of these connections Wi-Fi-enabled. Wi-fi now reaches deep in to our public spaces including hotels, coffee houses, restaurants, libraries, trains, department stores and airports.

What's the next step? Large-scale blanket public access Wi-Fi networks spanning our major towns and cities, driven by the needs of mobile professionals, who demand access to their data at all times. The City of London's Wi-Fi network launched earlier this year is one of the densest citywide wireless networks in the world and this is just the beginning. Soon enough, we'll all be connected all of the time.

In today's business, there are few excuses for a slow response to enquiries, neglected opportunities or missed deadlines. Customers and suppliers expect businesses to work smartly and efficiently and have basic measures in place to deliver good customer service - the use of mobile technology will help your business achieve just that - failure to adopt will ultimately give your competitors the upper hand.

For more information visit www.empiredirect.co.uk

Flexible working and mobile working have been buzz terms in British business for a few years now. For many businesses, the idea that they only operate from a single office is long gone. They need to be able to work flexibly and do business on the move, to meet the needs of their customers and compete in their market.

According to a YouGov survey for BT Business, directors of the UK's smaller businesses increasingly recognise that flexible working policies can positively help their organisations, with 65% citing staff motivation and 50% increased productivity as key reasons to adopt them.

However, it is important that the desire to receive the benefits of mobile working is supported by an understanding of how to do it effectively and what technology to choose. As a simple guide, there are three steps to follow: understand why you need to work flexibly, build the right foundations and culture, and then implement the most appropriate and secure technology.

Small businesses have to justify every penny spent, so it's vital that investment in technology should be backed up with a clear rationale and objective of what they want to achieve. As a starting point, businesses must have an understanding of the work-styles and needs of staff. What type of roles do workers play? How much time do they spend away from the office and where? How can you help them to be more productive? If you understand these issues you will be in control of the technology and ultimately the costs; after all, no business is the same and no one solution fits all.

Once the business need for mobile working has been defined, the second step is to ensure that the right culture is in place. Most businesses will need to recognise that work is no longer somewhere you go, but something you do, and that may not be the traditional 9-5pm. Some businesses may choose to put a clear policy in place to guide staff on this new way of working.

Once the need for cultural change has been recognised, the third step is choosing the right technology to facilitate mobile working. For many small businesses, this can be incredibly confusing as there is so much out there on the market. Get it right and your business can flourish, get it wrong and you could miss out on the benefits.

Making the right technology decision involves a consideration of how it supports device and data security and managing and controlling the costs of a mobile workforce. Ensuring that device functionality effectively enables employees to do business on the move also needs careful consideration. At a basic level, a secure broadband network in the office or in workers' home-offices is a pre-requisite. Smartphones and laptops for certain workers are also likely to be essential.

For businesses that want to keep costs down, new fixed-mobile convergence and mobile Voice over IP (VoIP) services such as BT Office Anywhere, which route calls over broadband networks to offer cheaper calls, should be considered. Ensuring they have a flexible package is in place can also help businesses optimise their communications spend more simply for both voice and data. Individual mobile usage can vary monthly, so the ability to share inclusive minutes with colleagues across the business can ensure money isn't wasted on unused minutes.

The latest smartphones and PDAs, like BT Office Anywhere, offer the functionality of a PC in a device small enough to fit in the pocket. They take advantage of the growing number of public and private Wi-Fi networks that offers high-speed access to information enabling workers to do business as if they were in the office.

It is important to recognise that by giving employees the freedom and flexibility to work outside the office walls, it means sensitive company information will be moving in public environments with them. It is critical to have appropriate levels of security and processes for employees working on the move. For example, BT Office Anywhere runs on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform with remote device management security features that allow administrators to wipe or lock on-device data, verify passwords, and enforce policies to multiple devices simultaneously, which means device administrators can easily secure company data if the device is lost or stolen.

While each small business is different, applying this simple, three-step process to mobile working means that whether your staff are in the office, on the move or at home, they can be liberated to do business anywhere.

For more information visit www.bt.com

Mobile working has become a necessity for many businesses throughout the UK. In order to grow a business in one of the UK's competitive markets you need to take advantage of immediate opportunities and increase your customers' perception of innovation and customer care. It is no longer acceptable to our customers to be "out of the office" or perceived to be uncontactable. Business people are increasingly aware of the efficiencies that can be achieved through the deployment of business applications on mobile devices.

Excalibur has seen an increase in sales in all mobile office-related products; 3G Data cards, BlackBerry® and Windows mobile devices. We believe the main factors for this are improved overall efficiency by accessing emails and documents anytime, anywhere; increased productivity and profitability by making full use of any downtime; and, most importantly, the prospect of a better customer experience when an immediate response is required.

Mobile working has become easy to implement; most businesses have laptops and these days they are purpose-built for working on the move via USB modem compatibility. The good news is that the technology is not an expensive luxury. From as little as £5 per month for a BlackBerry® email add-on or £25 per month for a 3G Broadband data card. These costs are minimal when you take into account the value that you could achieve from a more productive workforce as well as the added customer service levels that can be obtained.

Accessing company information on the move often presents security issues, however a range of security solutions are available for mobile workers to provide a fast and reliable secure access to your company network from home, hotels or even abroad. The key here is to strike the right business balance between cost, bandwidth and user access. Below are three common scenarios that clients ask for help with:

Mobile email
Mobile email is often the first step in mobilising your workforce. It is all affordable and relatively straight forward to setup. Using most modern email servers you can provide a web interface for your staff to access anywhere in the world; using SSL certificates and logon authentication you can ensure access is secured. Email can also be provided on mobile devices, the most common of these are BlackBerry® and Windows Mobile smart devices.

Mobile workers
Many workers will spend at least some of their time out of the office and will need access to at least some company applications or data. By using a 3G Broadband data card with a secure VPN client application, workers can securely access their corporate network from anywhere. If you only require basic application data these can be provided via SSL encrypted mobile smart phones.

Homeworkers
It is becoming more common to allow workers to work permanently from home. However, ensuring these systems are secured can cause difficulties. Here are a few options: using a VPN client application you can create an ad-hoc secured SSL or IPSEC VPN using a normal broadband connection. This will allow authenticated and secured connection into your company LAN. If you want to provide a permanent VPN between several remote offices or remote users, you can implement a full MPLS network which will provide a secured link between all offices without the need for expensive and complicated firewall's at each location.

The above illustrates the practicality and availability of usable solutions for doing business on the move. It should be an area which is investigated further by most businesses rather than shied away from. Any costs incurred are normally recouped and only a basic technical knowledge is required. With a truly mobile office the workable benefits really cannot be stressed enough.

For more information please visit www.ex-c.co.uk