It can be challenging to tally the wins and losses for a BYOD implementation, especially given the five risks associated with creating policies and procedures around this popular approach to mobile technology.
As IT managers it is our job to weigh all the components of a technology and make recommendations to leadership, hoping our plan is not shredded beyond all recognition by purchasing, human resources, and management. When considering BYOD, the adoption audience extends to the entirety of any company.
The C-suite usually includes a group of users who are the most demanding, hardest to train, and least likely to follow instruction. Combine these challenges with all of the wild conjecture surrounding hip-top devices, and you have a recipe for disaster. Paying attention to the C-suite and its goals for implementation should top your list of integration goals. Make the big boss happy, and your budget will grow, guaranteed.
Sales and customer support reps are traditionally the sharp end of the corporate stick. This group accounts for the majority of revenue or saved costs. Appeasing a client or making a feasible promise to a prospect is often won or lost based on having current information or marketing materials at hand. Having the ability to access core information about inventory, shipping status, supporting documentation, contact numbers for next-level support, or just making a meeting on time can be the difference between gaining a client's trust and earning continued business and losing a deal. Make sure your chosen BYOD lineup and the correlating coverage area meet or exceed the needs of this extremely demanding set of internal customers.
Internal support staff comprises HR, administrators, manufacturing managers, warehouse personnel, and those in the delivery model (such as truck drivers and field staff). These users often need to retrieve and update data in real-time. Having a device that allows the user to input data with the least resistance is critical. Consider, for example, a Federal Express driver who is armed with a device that allows for the capture of information pertaining to the delivery of a package, information that is automatically sent to a larger database, and then fed to the concerned parties.
Replicating this model for your company's support staff roles will make a key difference in how smoothly data flows. Empowering the user with BYOD products that may be augmented with add-ons purchased by corporate (like credit card readers or barcode scanner software) makes for some truly imaginative and compelling integration.
In an attempt to harden the lines between wins and gains, here is a list of possible gains to put forth in your BYOD presentation. Pick and choose which are relevant to your company.
1: Increased productivity
A key in understanding productivity, gained or lost, is the ability to measure the change in a process or function. BYOD hardware enables IT/HR/C-level leadership to capture and analyze data surrounding business-related activity. Becoming more efficient without losing touch with your client and vendor base is a critical component as we move to a more technologically empowered corporate structure. Capturing information about sales touches to sales closes, miles driven by reps (a direct cost-to-sale correlation), identifying client needs and responding in real-time -- all are topics close to the heart of any leadership team. Correctly implemented, BYOD empowers IT to capture much of the data companies need to analyze and report on these very important business metrics.
A key in understanding productivity, gained or lost, is the ability to measure the change in a process or function. BYOD hardware enables IT/HR/C-level leadership to capture and analyze data surrounding business-related activity. Becoming more efficient without losing touch with your client and vendor base is a critical component as we move to a more technologically empowered corporate structure. Capturing information about sales touches to sales closes, miles driven by reps (a direct cost-to-sale correlation), identifying client needs and responding in real-time -- all are topics close to the heart of any leadership team. Correctly implemented, BYOD empowers IT to capture much of the data companies need to analyze and report on these very important business metrics.
2: Employee satisfaction
Many employees live in a bubbles of frustration, hampered by the inability to get their jobs done efficiently. BYOD empowers employees to investigate new solutions to tried-and-true legacy problems within your company's structure. Inexpensive applications drive this empowerment through apps targeted at solving specific problems. The culture of BYOD, implemented correctly, will drive this innovation. People who solve problems feel better about themselves, their companies, and their jobs.
Many employees live in a bubbles of frustration, hampered by the inability to get their jobs done efficiently. BYOD empowers employees to investigate new solutions to tried-and-true legacy problems within your company's structure. Inexpensive applications drive this empowerment through apps targeted at solving specific problems. The culture of BYOD, implemented correctly, will drive this innovation. People who solve problems feel better about themselves, their companies, and their jobs.
3: Attracting, retaining, and supporting new talent
The massive adoption of the iPhone 5 is a testament to the link users feel with their devices, devices that require little to no additional training and allow a fast path to productivity. This is an HR dream and a corporate win. Providing the newest and best device for a new hire might also be the tipping point between losing the potential asset to a competitor and gaining a new productive team member. Do not discount the power of a new toy.
The massive adoption of the iPhone 5 is a testament to the link users feel with their devices, devices that require little to no additional training and allow a fast path to productivity. This is an HR dream and a corporate win. Providing the newest and best device for a new hire might also be the tipping point between losing the potential asset to a competitor and gaining a new productive team member. Do not discount the power of a new toy.
4: Lower IT costs
In the past, a new employee required an “IT package," including a laptop, cellphone, VPN license, desk phone, business cards, and a growing, more complex list depending on the corporate infrastructure. Now, most requirements may be met with a high-end BYOD-compliant hip-top device. Off-loading some support costs to your smartphone vendor might reduce the total cost of ownership for the related employee tech. This point is driven home by ever reduced IT and support budgets across all business fronts.
In the past, a new employee required an “IT package," including a laptop, cellphone, VPN license, desk phone, business cards, and a growing, more complex list depending on the corporate infrastructure. Now, most requirements may be met with a high-end BYOD-compliant hip-top device. Off-loading some support costs to your smartphone vendor might reduce the total cost of ownership for the related employee tech. This point is driven home by ever reduced IT and support budgets across all business fronts.
5: Improved collaboration
The real key here is new innovation driven by technologically empowered employees. The BYOD rollout overcomes many previously insurmountable collaboration problems and challenges. Collaborative scheduling, document sharing, unified message, and shared contacts are only a few of the tools now available via inexpensive hardware. Combine the low training hurdle with the massive number of available tools, and the result is a heightened level of information sharing and topically specific problem solving.
The real key here is new innovation driven by technologically empowered employees. The BYOD rollout overcomes many previously insurmountable collaboration problems and challenges. Collaborative scheduling, document sharing, unified message, and shared contacts are only a few of the tools now available via inexpensive hardware. Combine the low training hurdle with the massive number of available tools, and the result is a heightened level of information sharing and topically specific problem solving.
Corporate problems, client related problems, manufacturing problems: In the past, people scheduled a meeting but little was done to address the issue. New collaborative tools allow people to address the issue, with all the related data at hand, in real-time. This should lead to a higher level of corporate competence and more satisfied clients.
Hopefully, your company is looking for new innovation, approaching traditional problems with new solutions, and providing never before seen efficiency at the point of business integration. The new BYOD supported model truly provides the opportunity to adopt change at the speed of business.
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