Almost as dramatic as the 1966 Clint Eastwood western (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) is the talk and opinions about the BYOD (Bring your own device) revolution. I think the lesson learned, as in the western, is to be ahead of the game… at least 10 steps ahead. As a business leader (perhaps CIO, entrepreneur, and otherwise), certainly knowing the benefits and risks of BYOD is key. For Telecom Agents, being knowledgeable is always profitable.
With the Smartphone/ iPhones, tablets, and laptops, people can do business any time, from anywhere. In fact tablets outsold PC’s or desktops last year. Website visits are coming from mobile users.
Similar to the Cloud, a business really needs to have a strategy in place before adopting BYOD practices, evaluating the pros and cons to determine (and deal with) security risks. Basically, the benefits must outweigh the risks.
The debates continue:
- Employee
chooses device versus controlling the types of devices and uses.
- Going mobile versus chained to a desk.
- More productive versus more risk.
- Effectiveness versus costs of networks and other cost for usage.
- Employee empowerment and choices versus lack of IT support
How to decide:
- First question is…’Is it doable?” Find out from a Telecom Agent at NW MAP if BYOD is manageable and appropriate for your business (type of business and/or size).
- Employee surveys- finding out who would use them and what they think about it. Some research has shown employees would accept a lower paying job if able to use their own devices.
How to do it:
- Talk to your Telecom Broker or Agent.
- The current thought and what many businesses are allowing is BYOD but with limited support. Issues with this is of course security but also employee satisfaction with limited support. Allowed with full IT support is optimal, but your choices are not allowing it, allowing with minimal support, allowing with full support, and allowing with no support.
- Check and evaluate network capacity. Most people using BYOD have 2-3 devices.
- Money! Realize BYOD will not eliminate costs, but rather place them in areas of support functions rather than devices.
With BYOD, it seems employee satisfaction varies – employees either love it or hate it. Truth is, companies want, no need, their employees to be connected, especially to what is
happening now…information and communication at the speed of light. Employers are equally on the fence as about 40% of companies allow it.
Contact a NW MAP Telecom Agent: https://nwmap.com/contact-us
With BYOD, it seems employee satisfaction varies – employees either love it or hate it. Truth is, companies want, no need, their employees to be connected, especially to what is
happening now…information and communication at the speed of light. We’ll see how it all unfolds.
NWMAP continues to keep our agents and clients up-to-date on the newest perfect fit technology for a multitude of business needs, business types, and sizes through our monthly newsletter and blog. In addition, we’d like to introduce our Hosted/Cloud Newsletter! There is just too much benefit a business can gain from utilizing the Cloud that we’ve got to shout it from…the Internet!!! Well, actually a quarterly newsletter covering ALL Cloud, ALL types of useful services and carriers we know to be the best in the business. This Spring (Q2) marks the first Cloud newsletter