1. Enterprise Reality Check Part II: A New Age of BYOD Trends

    The Phone Locker Blog (Feb 2 2012) Mobile Device Management

    1. In my last post, “Enterprise Reality Check: HTML5,” I explored how the latest developments in the World Wide Web would accelerate enterprise mobility. Today, I wanted to dive into a concept we have all become familiar with: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). In 2012 it will propel enterprise mobility in new ways, and enterprises will be left to contend with new challenges.

      Let’s take a look at the top five developments enterprises are faced with as the adoption of BYOD spreads:

      1. The need to support an integrated experience

      According to Gartner, the UI experience is vastly changing with the advent of mobile-centric interfaces. Windows, icons, menus and pointers are out; and touch, gesture search, voice and video are taking over. BYOD has taken off because employees are seeking this functionality on hardware platforms where they can customize their experience for personal and work activities. They want an integrated experience, increased productivity, ease of multi-tasking and real-time collaboration (communication)—and they expect employers to support it.

      2. The need for a mobility council and the shifting role of IT

      Who pays for MDM when BYOD is allowed? There’s a big opportunity for IT and Finance to join forces so that mobility costs shift from the IT budget into the business units.  But it’s a jungle out there in mobility land. IT leads from the front with a “mobility council”—a cross-functional team tasked with device management, mobile policies, provisioning and expense management. At the enterprise mobility table, everyone is a stakeholder. In order for mobility to actualize, everyone has to have their piece represented—from cost to security to policy (finance, IT, HR). IT’s role is expands from mobile provisionary to technology guide and translator.

      3. The need for real-time communication and collaboration

      With the post-PC era, mobile platforms like Android and iOS as well as social platforms such as Facebook are leapfrogging Windows. That’s not only a trend, it’s a transformation. The workplace is no longer “need to know.” The Internet has made information easily and readily available. Rather employees are adopting “need to share,” and demanding the tools for collaboration and networking.

      4. The need to invest in the cloud

      As we’ve discussed, employees are looking to a real-time experience in the workplace. It’s a consumer driven environment, and consumer-based apps are paving the way. With this, the BYOD trend will force IT to look at cloud computing not as an outsourced threat, but as a place to leverage innovation to bring value to the inside of the company. They don’t have a choice when current infrastructure is dated and innovation is moving at a faster pace than investments can keep up with. Moving to the cloud allows IT to take advantage of innovation at a lower cost and a lower risk.

      BYOD is forcing IT to think more strategically and outside the box. As my peer Jeff Vance said, if you don’t have a BYOD policy, you need one—yesterday. Get moving on an MDM solution (…yesterday).

      For further reading and advice on how to get your MDM in check, see:

      - Troy Fulton, Tangoe

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