COMMENT

GenMobile is the term that ’ s used to describe a generation of people who have shaped their personal and working lives around mobile devices . Today ’ s younger employees , the mobile-natives , are changing the way companies operate by behaving in ways that have farreaching implications for corporate network security .

This shift , however , is much more than just a case of ‘ we ’ re always connected ’. It ’ s about the availability of new ( and often free ) web-based tools and apps that rival the functionality and power of anything your company can provide . It ’ s a complete behavioural and attitudinal change of direction .

You might be a “# GenMobile ’ r ” yourself — you might have adapted , consciously or not , to dipping in and out of work comms at pretty much any time of the day and paying less and less attention to the old 9-to-5 edict . But to younger generations , this isn ’ t something new — it ’ s business as usual . They ’ ve never known any other way . Crucially , that means they won ’ t change ( hint : you might have to ).

This is where Aruba Network ’ s report helps paint a picture of # GenMobile — who they are , how they behave and how their three most striking working habits could affect your business .

Super-productive , supereffective Let ’ s start with the positives : the survey found that # GenMobile are very productive . They get work done and they do it well , using all the tools they can get their hands on . Their innate

SABAHAT NASIM , CHANNEL SALES MANAGER , GULF , AT ARUBA

familiarity with tech means they are self-empowered to power through their to-do lists . Consumer tech is driving this change : 51 % say that mobile technologies enable them to be more productive and engaged at work .

Collaboration , collaboration , collaboration A huge part of this uptick in productivity is a new culture of sharing and collaboration . # GenMobile are really good at this . There ’ s a chance your company already has some type of collaboration tool in place or in development , so you don ’ t need to be reminded how useful sharing and working together can be .

Passwords ? Don ’ t even … Yet this is where the story takes a darker turn . This self-empowered , ‘ get things done ’ attitude means security concerns take a backseat . A fact illustrated by rising levels of security agnosticism : security ranked a lowly fifth in workplace tech priorities for the # GenMobile workforce .

THIS SELF-EMPOWERED , ‘ GET THINGS DONE ’ ATTITUDE MEANS SECURITY CONCERNS TAKE A BACKSEAT . A FACT ILLUSTRATED BY RISING LEVELS OF SECURITY AGNOSTICISM : SECURITY RANKED A LOWLY FIFTH IN WORKPLACE TECH PRIORITIES FOR THE # GENMOBILE WORKFORCE

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