If there was a buzzword-of-the-year contest,
BYOD, or bring your own device, would probably win hands down. Talked about by
CIOs and managers, as well as by fellow writers covering the technology beat,
BYOD
seems to have taken the enterprise and SMBs by storm. And we've all seen the
effects of BYOD by now: colleagues coming to the office armed with the latest
smartphones, tablets, e-readers and even ultraportable laptops.
As an
increasing number of personal devices start materializing within the corporate
office, workers are also clamoring to access network resources and systems from
their beloved gadgets. And aren't we familiar with the issues of a BYOD-ridden
environment that is not kept in check by proper controls and security measures?
Almost
like a mantra, security managers and network administrators are chanting
doomsday messages of data leakage and security breaches resulting from
misplaced or stolen devices. Regardless of what they think, it seems
increasingly evident that BYOD is here to stay, even as the IT department
scrambles to beef up the Wi-Fi network to accommodate the tablets and
smartphones now jostling for wireless bandwidth--though some have yet to
recover from the previous upgrade to handle the transition to work-issued
laptops.
I came
across a report by Tom Kaneshige of CIO magazine who asked
whether BYOD workers are more productive. While the article goes on to talk
about metrics for measuring BYOD performance gains, it did get me thinking
about the prevailing arguments for the popularity of the BYOD phenomenon.
On one
hand, workers argue that being able to use their own gear makes them eminently
more efficient and productive. See, they can now reply to emails even when
visiting the, um, washroom. Or how about this: They can immediately check up on
the latest inventory status when making service calls--without having to head
back to the office.
The
counter on the IT side, though, is that it is simply too costly to properly
manage and secure the smorgasbord of BYOD devices: the multiple generations of
Android devices, the infinitely jailbreak-able iOS, fringe devices like RIM's (NASDAQ: RIMM)
PlayBook tablet and Windows Phone 7 smartphones and, of course, the upcoming
Windows 8 for ARM (devices that are expected to land in October.
As
someone who constantly reviews new gadgets, uses loads of gadgets in a typical
day and, yes, has worked for a number of years as an IT professional--what is
my take on the entire BYOD affair? Well, I personally feel that BYOD will
probably benefit executives and professionals who are constantly on the move,
but will be of limited practical impact to office workers who stays mostly at
their desks. After all, who wants to work traveling to and from the office?
Unfortunately,
I fear that logic alone will have no part to play in the inexorable slide
towards BYOD. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave a comment, send me a tweet or
drop me an email. - Paul Mah
(Twitter @paulmah)
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
Dear
Reader,
May I
invite you to visit our new blog: IIMS-Asean http://iims-asean.blogspot.com/
News
and activities of the International Institute of Medicine and Science Asean
Chapter of IIMS, Inc. California, USA - Health care, Life Science, Education,
Research, Philanthropy. Asean is the economic organisation of ten countries
located in South East Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. IIMS is a
non-profit organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment