The Brave New World: Mobile in the Enterprise

Smartphones and tablets have rapidly become integrated into our daily lives as consumers. They serve as the alarm clock that wakes us up in the morning, and help us reserve a table at a nearby restaurant after a long busy day, and just about everything else we do in between! These same devices that have become commonplace in our daily lives are also being rapidly assimilated into the enterprises in which we work. People want to utilize the same devices they enjoy in their personal lives in their work lives. The pace at which this is happening brings many interesting opportunities and challenges to modern enterprises. IT leaders and business stakeholders need to decide if they will allow employees to "bring-your-own-device" (BYOD), and, if so, what kinds of policies should apply to those devices, and how will all these devices with different form factors and underlying software stacks be managed in a secure and scalable way?

In addition, smartphones and tablets today bring many interesting new features to the table that were not available in the past, such as location sensing and other sensors, cameras, ubiquitous network access, etc. How can enterprises leverage these features in new and helpful ways, and at the same time manage any risks that they might pose to their employees or the business itself? Many existing apps are already available for enterprises to take advantage of. Other applications that leverage these platforms are still waiting to be implemented, leaving management wondering if future apps should be outsourced, or developed internally, or if the apps should be native, web-based, or perhaps utilize a hybrid app framework. How do these decisions impact the overall user experience?

On November 19 a panel of experts will be discussing this brave new world at our next Mobile Monday Grand Rapids event. We are pleased to have the following five speakers lined up to present at the event:

• John Dean (John S Dean LLC, formerly of Steelcase): Translating Mobile Technology into Business Value in the Enterprise

• Eric Freeburg (Motorola Solutions): Mobile in the Enterprise from an OEM perspective

• Bruce Brouwer (Gordon Food Service): "Why Mobile?"

• Rob Geer (Kelly IT Resources): "Must-Have" Productivity Apps in the Enterprise

• Brian Swets (CompuCraft Technology Solutions): iOS Deployment in the Enterprise

The event is being graciously sponsored by GFS and will be hosted at their brand new facility at 1300 Gezon Parkway in Wyoming, MI. Please mark your calendars, and come join us for a very informative and worthwhile evening.

More About Our Speakers:

John Dean (John S Dean LLC): In his role as Executive Advisor, Mr. Dean is focused on helping organizations produce better business results through the right application of information technology and business transformation practices. John is an active member of the SAP Independent Executive Advisory Council (IEAC), providing consulting services for existing and prospective SAP customers, member of the Grand Rapids based Information Technology Managers Association (ITMA), the West Michigan CIO Council, and the Grand Valley State University Seidman School of Business S2B Advisory Board (Student 2 Business). John is a board member for the Grand Rapids Public Museum and has, in the past, held board membership positions with Cyber Michigan, the Grand Valley State University CIS Advisory Board, the Western Michigan University CIS Advisory Board/Executive Council, and Grand Rapids Goodwill Industries. John retired from Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the office furniture industry, in July 2008 after 25 years with the company. John held a variety of leadership positions at Steelcase; Vice President IT Strategic Alliances, Vice President Global Technology Applications and CIO, Vice President Global e-Business and CIO, General Manager of Hedberg Data Systems, Group Manager Business Technology Group, and a variety of management roles for infrastructure, database and software engineering services.

Eric Freeburg (Motorola Solutions): Eric is a Senior Account Manager at Motorola Solutions. He has spent the last 25+ years of his life using mobile technology to empower the individual and transform the enterprise. At Motorola he provides Enterprise Mobility solutions and consulting to the corporation's large multi-national accounts headquartered in Michigan. His focus areas also include seamless connectivity through wireless LAN, wireless broadband, and wide area networks, voice and video, location and presence applications, and security and management services. In addition to infrastructure solutions, Eric also works with enterprise customers in the area of advanced data capture and professional commercial radio devices.

Bruce Brouwer (GFS) is an Application Architect at Gordon Food Service and is heavily involved in answering the questions of what GFS does with mobile technology. Bruce has spent much of his career pushing for the adoption of new methods and technology, and in his role at GFS he has gained plenty of hands on experience in the development of applications across the GFS portfolio. Through those projects he has pushed the boundaries of testing and helped accomplish widespread adoption of testing practices in the entire development organization. Recently, he leads as the architect on the project to bring Google Apps to GFS, and along with that, all the mobile features that Google provides.

Rob Geer (KITR) brings his passion Technology to his role as the business development representative for Kelly IT Resources® (KITR). He is responsible for development of the IT staffing products for the West Michigan market including Project Management, Application Development and Integration, DW/BI, Software Quality Assurance and Testing, Enterprise Maintenance and Support, Data Storage Services, Configuration, Integration, and Administration, Infrastructure Support Services and Network Engineering.

Rob has 20 years of experience in business development and sales management. Immediately prior to joining KITR, he specialized in IT staffing for a different firm, leading business development and recruitment across the entire IT spectrum. He is an avid user of Technology at work and home and he recently audited his router at home to find 15 wireless devices connected in his house that were regularly being used.

He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Rob stays on top of Technology and Mobile Devices by networking thorough various organizations, user groups and through social media. He has developed a strong network through LinkedIn and teaches regular seminars on using LinkedIn in your career search as well as introductory Social Media classes for businesses. He is also a consistent user of Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Foursquare and loves to learn the best uses for all forms of social media.

Brian Swets (CompuCraft) is Vice President of CompuCraft Technology Solutions in Grand Rapids. He was born in Grand Rapids, and started his IT career 15 years ago in a local public school system, working with Mac deployment and management. He's been with CompuCraft for nine years and now leads a service team which handles technology implementation and management for small business and enterprises in West Michigan. His specialties include creative workflow processes and systems, Google Apps for Business, and iOS deployment and management.