Our friends at iPass have just published their Q3 mobile workforce report. For just about all trends it's a 'more of the same' story, especially the adoption of BYOD for highly motivated workaholics in the enterprise.
However, there are some significant risks being taken by the unplanned, unmanaged adoption of BYOD and significant roaming costs await those without a plan.
A summary of the recommendations:
- Data security is something that should be implemented in order to prevent data loss.
- Security and cost ownership are important elements of a BYOD plan.
- For devices where IT is paying the bill directly, be sure to communicate guidelines around roaming and how to avoid roaming costs.
- Investigate a global Wi-Fi option as an alternative to roaming.
- BYOD combined with a flexible work schedule definitely will help organizations harness extra productivity from their employees as this report shows that a flexible work schedule leads to added productivity; BYOD will help those employees stay connected.
One of the challenges we have had at Orange is that the development of a mobility strategy and the supporting policies and procedures have not been at the top of most CIOs' agendas. We tend to have a conversation about 'how to reduce roaming costs,' not 'how can we take advantage of mobility, BYOD etc'.
It will be interesting to see if the rise and rise of BYOD changes these priorities.
Which leads me to my question for readers of this blog: Does your organisation have a 'bring your own device (BYOD)' policy that you are aware of?
Peter
image © Kirill Kedrinski fotolia.com
With management roles in sales, marketing, and strategy I have over 30 years in IT and telecoms specializing in transformation projects.