Today, many organizations have embraced the bring your own device (BYOD) trend and are already seeing a significant increase in end-user productivity. It’s becoming clear that BYOD is not a short-term movement; it is here to stay. The time to implement a BYOD policy is now.
Why BYOD
Perhaps it can be tempting to see this trend toward BYOD as a flash in the pan deal, because implementing such a policy in your organization presents several possibilities for headaches. But your end-users now own a variety of devices, such as smartphones and tablets, which are capable of performing work-related tasks nearly as well as the traditional desktop. Many IT organizations are hearing their users express a major desire for access to company services from anywhere and with any device they own.
Organizations that have implemented BYOD strategies have found that, since employees really like to use their own devices, they’re more productive with them as well. Clearly, there are advantages to providing employees the flexibility of using devices that they’re comfortable with. Also, there’s the possibility of cutting down on costs, if end-users are using devices that they’ve purchased themselves.
How to BYOD
Taking a phased approach to implementing BYOD can often be the most useful strategy. First, look at which devices you’re going to support – are you going to support every model of smartphone, for example, or only models running certain OS versions? Then decide which applications you’re going to support. Many organizations start with access to email and calendar applications and go from there. And finally, look at which employees and roles in your organization need to have access to your BYOD policies.
Once you know all that, start small. Pick a pilot group to roll out these policies to. As you gain knowledge and understanding of the responsiveness of your systems and end-user base, you can begin to expand throughout the organization.
Watch this video to learn more about successfully developing the right BYOD strategy for your organization.
