Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to Work – A Good Business Strategy?

As the world gets increasingly mobile new challenges are arising both for the marketing department, as well as throughout a business enterprise. 

Today, we're pleased to feature a guest post that explores the big BYOD question that is currently challenging employers. (If you'd like to submit a guest post to our blog, email Michelle LeBlanc at mleblanc [at] iirusa.com)

Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

The policy of Bring Your Own Device or BYOD has become a pressing issue on businesses and enterprises adopting mobile solutions for their operations; it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.

Adopting a BYOD work policy definitely has its merits. In an increasingly post-PC era people are becoming more and more reliant on their smartphones and tablets for their daily tasks and activities – work included. Allowing people to connect to the company network and do their jobs on their own devices introduces more channels for employees to be productive.

For companies with people doing fieldwork, it can be a means for a truly mobile and connected workforce without the need to spend for additional (expensive) hardware. On the other hand, BYOD can also lead to more distractions and the diversion of a worker’s attention away from doing the job at hand. There is, of course, the very real risk of these devices becoming tools to spread viruses, malware, or open security breaches and data theft on the company network.

So what is the attitude of companies towards BYOD these days?

According to the second annual Consumerization IT survey from InformationWeek Fifty-six percent of companies now consider themselves proactive or accepting of consumer technology. Here is an infographic that neatly summarizes their report:

Source: http://visual.ly/byod-enterprise

It’s a strategic solution moving at a rapid pace. Within the enterprise, employees now enjoy using their own personal devices in offices and executives look at how efficient the movement is with more productivity gains by the process. More companies are now encouraging employees to use their own devices for work-related tasks on a completely voluntary basis. This is shifting the enterprise management process that is traditionally based on IT developing devices and managing what devices workers use. Accordingly, major changes are necessary to prepare company IT departments and enterprise networks to support the arrival of BYOD, especially in enhancing the privacy and security of data.

However, this may pose as a challenge for tech support teams as they have to become more responsive and capable of handling a diverse range of mobile devices and operating systems that will surely be used on a BYOD model.

BYOD challenges aside, companies are still willing to go with the trend. It’s a very simple business strategy that delivers operational benefits. BYOD is for the benefit of employees and businesses alike. With its rampant growth, it’s set to increase its value accordingly.

With the consumerization of enterprise mobility, employees are now bringing their own devices to access company resources. It’s an inevitable revolution happening right now. Statistics reliably show how BYOD in enterprise is an effective strategy that can be overcome with the rapid development of technology we have today.

About The Author
Jimmy Wentz is a budding freelance tech writer, gadget and gaming enthusiast, and social media junkie. He writes regularly about O2 and the latest news in the tech, gaming, and the social media world.
Connect with Jimmy on Google+ and Twitter.

Only Hearing 50% of the Engines Roaring

Keeping consumers aware of a brand’s integrity is one of the primary reasons for the utilization of social media. One would assume that all well-adept brands would engage with the community that is online and on mobile devices to keep appearances up, however there currently exists certain brands or even certain industries that are still having trouble with the curve, kind of like Clint Eastwood's outdated method of directing one’s thoughts to a chair to get one’s opinions through to an audience, implying the methodology of using social media is obscured.

Comblu having just released its fourth annual study of various companies’ utilization of social media, "State of Online Branded Communities." The Digital Impact Blog has previously published their findings here of last year's study. With 15 industries, 92 brands, and 219 communities analyzed, Comblu's study helps to illuminate the business side of social media and how it is trending.

(Source: Comblu)

What is surprising is that while the Chrysler claimed the Automobile Industry was to make the world “hear the roars of our engines" in Clint Eastwood's Superbowl commercial, the auto industry only has a 50% social media integration proportion. Really only 50% of the roaring is being heard on the online social mediums, yet the auto industry is still not positioned as the worst industry not integrated with social media. The Insurance (Property & Casualty) Industry fared just as badly with a 50% social media integration proportion as well, but with the OTC Industry at 80% and the Pharmaceutical Industry at 60%, there definitely is room for improvement for certain brands to step up their game in the untapped online community.

Also, if you are wondering why the need for the antagonism to bash Clint Eastwood, it is really all in good fun without any serious discontentment. He just happened to correlate with the topic of having "Trouble with the Curve," the film title he most recently starred in with the predictable plot in which all strained relationships are eventually repaired. His trouble with the curve also extended to his not so long ago act of explicating his thoughts to a chair in the GOP convention and his connection with the auto industry by his participation in the Chrysler Superbowl ad. Coincidentally that same Chrysler ad ironically mentioned and implied how the auto industry itself is at halftime just as is its social media integration. I guess Clint does say things that are not too offsetting after all.

Trouble catching up with modernity? Not like Clint Eastwood! 
He's got a whole movie about it. (Source: The Washtenaw Voice)

So the lesson is not to be like Clint Eastwood (unless you are trying to promote an old-school, kind of gritty countenance for your brand) and try to keep ahead of the curve, especially in the online communities that are obviously being utilized by more and more people. Not everyone has the privilege of being Clint Eastwood, acting out a Hollywood-esque, narrative conclusion where everything eventually ends up alright. Businesses in an ever-changing environment of social media must at least keep themselves in the loop in order to stay relevant. So take a look at Comblu's "State of Online Branded Communities" here to familiarize yourself with what is happening with the trends of what businesses have done with social media before you end up confused and frustrated, not knowing what to do for your brand.

(Source: The Commercial Appeal)

Chester Wai is a New Media Intern at IIR USA with a specialization in Economics, Cinema, and Cultural Studies. He may be reached at Cwai@iirusa.com