By Jessica Mayo-Pike

Mobility is undoubtedly one of the most significant forces ever to hit IT. In fact, the mobile world has reached a critical mass: Way back in 2011, total smartphone unit sales outpaced PC sales globally, according to market research firm Canalys, and we haven’t looked back.

As with any technology disruption, the explosion of mobile devices in the workplace has created numerous challenges for CIOs, but also a massive opportunity for channel partners. If you’re a VAR or agent, and you are looking to capture a share of the mobility pie, managed mobility services (MMS) offers a tremendous opportunity. Although MMS is being utilized by many companies today, it has not yet become the gold standard in the midsize space, making the opportunity for channel partners enormous.

On the surface, it’s easy to tout the benefits of mobile life-cycle management: a workflow and process for how a company procures devices, inventory and reporting, expense management, security and end-of-life practices. But one important component of MMS that can easily get overlooked — and that is a great entry point in getting the discussion started with a client — is the simple question: “What is your corporate mobility policy?”

One of the most established maxims in the world of enterprise mobility management is that you need to have a well-designed policy. Ask any analyst, journalist or mobility vendor and they’ll tell you the same thing. Despite constant harping, however, only 30 percent of companies have formal mobility policies, with 37 percent of enterprises working on one, according to CompTIA’s third Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility report. That leaves a 33 percent chunk that isn’t even making an effort to apply a policy.

Here are common responses you may get when you pose this question to clients, and how you can debunk their replies:

If you oversee mobility in your organization, you need to be active in creating the mobility policy.

In summary, mobility has revolutionized internal IT like nothing before it. Mobile devices are personal devices, and people are particular, not just about operating system, but carrier, device size, even color. The generation entering the workforce now has grown up using mobile devices as their primary interface to the rest of the world. Balancing the expectations of your workforce with the realities of maintaining a robust and secure enterprise network is something that technology alone cannot manage.

This new environment needs guidelines — guidelines that a strong mobile policy provides. Developing that policy can be challenging for IT, but trying to skate by without one can be just as challenging, and potentially more hazardous.

Jessica Mayo-Pike, CMS managing partner and COO, came to CMS with a high-profile background of heading up a managed services program for a large Cisco VAR in upstate New York. Previous to that, she served as a channel manager for a national carrier. Mayo-Pike has extensive experience in cloud and carrier services, as well as deep expertise in channel sales. At CMS, she contributes to the growth of the three core offerings, and focuses on road mapping the current and future strategic initiatives of CMS. She also serves on the 2014-2015 Channel Partners Advisory Board.