Originally posted by Gartner

A well-executed single sign-on (SSO) strategy reduces password-related support incidents and provides users with improved convenience and more-efficient authentication processes, according to Gartner, Inc. A sound SSO strategy will give users fewer reasons to write down passwords. However, one password providing access to all in-scope systems can lead to compromised access to those systems.

“Organizations implementing SSO, particularly to systems that hold sensitive data, should implement risk-appropriate authentication methods with the SSO system,” said Gregg Kreizman, research vice president at Gartner. “Solutions are not ‘one size fits all,’ and solutions that provide SSO to all target systems may be deemed too expensive. Therefore, a best practice is to identify the tactical and strategic approaches that reduce enough of the problem space over time and within budget.”

Mobile devices can pose further challenges for SSO. “The proliferation of mobile phones and tablets with a variety of operating systems has created the latest and greatest challenges to authentication and SSO,” said Mr. Kreizman. “Web-architected applications can often be supported with existing access management tools, such as Web access management (WAM) and federation, because smartphones and tablets have Web browsers. Native mobile resident applications can create a gap in SSO support, and market offerings to resolve the issues are currently immature, proprietary, or not comprehensive enough to support multiple device and operating system variants.”

2012 was a pretty big year, in terms of mobile and enterprise mobility. Look at just a few of the milestones that spring to mind in a quick mental review of the year’s biggest mobile headlines:

A friend of mine was responsible for creating the BYOD pilot program for a Fortune 10, $50B healthcare company. In the process he learned several important and surprising lessons, which he has kindly passed along in blog form.

One lesson he learned is that the biggest cost in developing a large corporate BYOD policy rollout may not be directly related to technology or devices at all. In many cases, it’s the tab for lawyers and HR staffers to review proposed policies, and to develop the lengthy contracts employees ultimately need to sign to use their personal devices on the corporate network.

Today’s workforce is increasingly empowered and enhanced with mobile technology. Colleges that are enabling their students to fully leverage mobile technology and learning are ultimately preparing them for success in today’s economy.

Consider some current trends:

At more and more organizations, mobility is driving the need for desktop virtualization. This is largely due to what Linda Tucci, senior news writer at TechTarget, describes as “the growing appetite for using smartphones and tablets to access desktops remotely—even if only in a pinch and only for limited use.”

In “CIOs Sell Enterprise Desktop Virtualization with Mobility,” Tucci quotes David Johnson, senior analyst at Forrester Research: “‘I can’t quantify it, but there is a link…Mobility is a tipping-point issue for desktop virtualization.’”

Field employees, such as building inspectors and code enforcers, can reap enormous benefits from using mobile computer devices. By eliminating time-consuming workflows that rely on manual, paper-based processes, mobile devices help inspection agencies improve operations and service delivery, while enabling them to increase revenue and lower costs.

Your workforce is mobile and no longer restricted to working at an office desk. Finding the right combination of computing devices is essential for today’s office and road warriors.

This infographic features four combinations of tablets, laptops, desktop computers and workstations to help maximize efficiency for your mobile workforce.

Download the high-resolution version.

Cloud computing is radically changing the way enterprises are doing business. Advantages include increased workforce productivity, simpler implementation of and growing support for telecommuting, reductions in labor force & infrastructure costs, and faster and cheaper integration of enterprise applications and storage solutions.

This infographic gives you an idea of just how big the cloud is becoming, how it is being used, the most popular telecommuting devices and ultimately why your enterprise should embrace cloud computing.

In previous posts we’ve written a lot about how Windows 8 will bring a new user interface to PC and mobile device users. But Windows 8 also introduces many features designed to help IT professionals better manage and protect their enterprise information. One of the more interesting tools IT industry watchers are talking about in this area is Windows To Go.

Part of the Windows 8 Enterprise edition (which we’ll discuss in greater detail later this month), Windows To Go will enable users to access their Windows 8 corporate image from a USB drive. IT administrators will have the power to burn whatever image they like on those USB drives, so they can determine the exact OS experience their users will have. Users can then boot that image from any x64 PC at any location, regardless of whether they are online. (Note: Windows To Go is not supported on Windows on ARM).

This is important to IT professionals because it gives them the ability to control the environment their users work in—from managing app and file access, to enforcing policy compliance and administering streamlined support. Windows To Go can further help IT professionals better secure and manage access to company information by employees using their own personal computers and mobile devices.

Intel CEO Otellini calls out ARM on Windows 8 Tablets

Intel CEO Paul Otellini on Thursday said that the company has an advantage over its rival ARM on Windows 8 for tablets because of decades of developing x86 chips that support the Windows operating system. “We think it’s a differentiator,” said Otellini at the company’s investor meeting in Santa Clara, California. “We have the advantage of the incumbency, the legacy support.”

Intel’s only competitor in the Windows 8 tablet market is ARM, whose processors ship in most tablets today. ARM may have an entry point to the Windows tablet market, but faces a tough road ahead considering Intel’s history with Windows, Otellini said.
Originally Posted by Agam Shah, Computerworld

CIO Roles Evolve as Supercomputing and Enterprise Mobility Become Widespread

It should come as no surprise that, with the growth of mobile development and the progression of artificial intelligence and supercomputing, CIOs would at some point be facing a different landscape in IT management. According to ComputerWorld, panelists at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium encouraged future CIOs to embrace traditional management roles as well as make the most of emerging technologies like social networking, big data, and enterprise mobility.