In this and similar articles I still don't see the actual "benefits". These stories tend to focus on telling IT chiefs to accommodate BYOD (and please, not BYOT - we have enough abbreviations to do deal with as it is) rather than fight it. The word "win" appears above in connection with giving users access to email from their personal tablet device. Surely they can already do that via webmail. And where's the "win"? Presumably it's the saved cost of not buying a device. Instead of that, we have to jump through hoops to protect users' personal data and adjust policies accordingly.
In my view, if my company needs staff to access company systems away from the office we should give them what they need.
But like I say, maybe I'm missing the point.
Discussion on:
View:
Show:
turn in an expense claim for the device, the connectivity and any software purchased to
allow connecting to company servers/services? Is this expensed from IT? Added as an
employee "benefit" much like health insurance, pension, 401K plans and such?
To me this entire BYOD idea appears as a "cost shifting", where the employee is now
responsible for the expense, unless allowed to claim the costs. Even in such a case,
it's still a cost shift, from direct IT cost to "employee benefit", which as we know many
companies scrutinize for places to reduce those expenses already.
Nobody wins, despite all the hype and glorifications of BYOD. I didn't even touch on
the device support...who is responsible for fixing a broken device, because it WILL
occur. There are still many questions left unanswered or only half answered, most
of the answers read more like a sales brochure rather than an actual policy.
allow connecting to company servers/services? Is this expensed from IT? Added as an
employee "benefit" much like health insurance, pension, 401K plans and such?
To me this entire BYOD idea appears as a "cost shifting", where the employee is now
responsible for the expense, unless allowed to claim the costs. Even in such a case,
it's still a cost shift, from direct IT cost to "employee benefit", which as we know many
companies scrutinize for places to reduce those expenses already.
Nobody wins, despite all the hype and glorifications of BYOD. I didn't even touch on
the device support...who is responsible for fixing a broken device, because it WILL
occur. There are still many questions left unanswered or only half answered, most
of the answers read more like a sales brochure rather than an actual policy.
BYOT and BYOD assumes that the devices / tablets in question can meet acceptable security measures and can NOT be used as a conduit to infiltrate the corporate security.
They also assume that the people want to do so.
They assume that the company is happy with having company info on systems the company has no control over, or the owner is happy to let the company play about with his device / tablet.
They assume the device will be useful getting corporate stuff over the Internet and the owner is happy to pay for that - - most of the world pays for download by the MB, unlike the free or low cost unlimited download plans in the USA. (edit to add - or low cost unlimited)
And not a word of how the company intends to deal with an employee who refuses to BYOD / BYOT at all, but demands the company provide one at company expense if they want him to use it.
I know of one company that refused to buy IT admins cell phones or pay for cell phone services, they also refused to pay on call payments to make staff stay available on a phone during the weekend. until the failure to contact an admin one weekend cost them $250,000 in penalty fees due to the inability to meet contract terms due to a simple hardware problem any of the admins could fix if they could have been reached, but were all away from home for the long weekend. Pinch pennies and waste pounds, typical accountant type behaviour as they can see the pennies each week in the bills but not the pounds hidden in the contracts. The cost of the penalty got taken from the accounting branch budget as the finance officer was the one who refused the IT manager the approval to buy the admins cell phones at company expense or pay stand by fees. He didn't like that, but the GM agreed it was his decision that incurred the expense.
They also assume that the people want to do so.
They assume that the company is happy with having company info on systems the company has no control over, or the owner is happy to let the company play about with his device / tablet.
They assume the device will be useful getting corporate stuff over the Internet and the owner is happy to pay for that - - most of the world pays for download by the MB, unlike the free or low cost unlimited download plans in the USA. (edit to add - or low cost unlimited)
And not a word of how the company intends to deal with an employee who refuses to BYOD / BYOT at all, but demands the company provide one at company expense if they want him to use it.
I know of one company that refused to buy IT admins cell phones or pay for cell phone services, they also refused to pay on call payments to make staff stay available on a phone during the weekend. until the failure to contact an admin one weekend cost them $250,000 in penalty fees due to the inability to meet contract terms due to a simple hardware problem any of the admins could fix if they could have been reached, but were all away from home for the long weekend. Pinch pennies and waste pounds, typical accountant type behaviour as they can see the pennies each week in the bills but not the pounds hidden in the contracts. The cost of the penalty got taken from the accounting branch budget as the finance officer was the one who refused the IT manager the approval to buy the admins cell phones at company expense or pay stand by fees. He didn't like that, but the GM agreed it was his decision that incurred the expense.
"...most of the world pays for download by the MB, unlike the free download plans in the USA."
I haven't seen any 'free' download plans in the USA. Unlimited, yes; free, no.
I haven't seen any 'free' download plans in the USA. Unlimited, yes; free, no.
say things along the lines of "$X phone plan includes $Y of calls and free data download." That implies, to me anyway, you pay for the phone calls and get free data. However, even low charge unlimited download plans aren't available in most countries.
As far as BYOD is concerned for the average user, the benefits include choice of device, choice of apps, the freedom to customize the device as their own and the ability to work while away, if they so desire. True this will not apply to all users generally, but most end-users feel like IT's mindset for years has been authoritative at best and absolutely iron-fisted at worse.
This "draconian" mentality on behalf of IT may have been necessary at times and in certain organizations, but IT is dynamic - not static. We have to roll with the punches so to speak and if the current wave (due to a combination of younger end-users entering the work force, more tech savvy employees, economic downturn and cut-backs on non-essential spending, etc) means that corporations cannot (or do not want to) spend $$$ per user on a tablet or smartphone, or both, then this offers up a unique solution to both parties. Enterprise can offset the expenditure by allowing the end-user's to foot the bill for a device they may already own and users can feel empowered to use their personal equipment for work, if they so choose. It also brings with it a certain comfort level that they can work from where ever they are and with the apps they are familiar with - so long as the job gets done.
As far as Enterprise is concerned, they will need to make adjustments to support such traffic on their networks. But most of the time, with the heavy shift to web-based (cloud) apps, this is a non-issue really and secured access to company servers can be implemented using a variety of low-cost, industry-standard solutions, like VPN for encryption, VLANs for network switching and security policies on the devices themselves - even on corporate email/Exchange!
Lastly, as far as support goes, this is a biggie. Being the sole IT support at my location, this one kind of falls between my skillset and my judgement. Personal devices - even if used for work - are taken on a case by case basis, at my sole discretion. There is no policy in place to address this issue, but the company outlook is basically "if it's procured by the company, you support it; if not, you decide how to proceed". With that said, I do my best to support all devices equally. However, there are times/situations where the work load does not allow me to fully-support the personal device(s) or they have been dropped and may need a part replacement that is out of warranty. In these cases, the issue may be resolved through other means, either through out of warranty repair by authorized repair services or other options, as related.
Bottom line, BYOD is not for everyone and even if it works for your company, not all facets may be a perfect fit. But it is a two-part solution and both the company and the end-user need to sign-off on it and make the necessary changes to make it work out as best as possible.
This "draconian" mentality on behalf of IT may have been necessary at times and in certain organizations, but IT is dynamic - not static. We have to roll with the punches so to speak and if the current wave (due to a combination of younger end-users entering the work force, more tech savvy employees, economic downturn and cut-backs on non-essential spending, etc) means that corporations cannot (or do not want to) spend $$$ per user on a tablet or smartphone, or both, then this offers up a unique solution to both parties. Enterprise can offset the expenditure by allowing the end-user's to foot the bill for a device they may already own and users can feel empowered to use their personal equipment for work, if they so choose. It also brings with it a certain comfort level that they can work from where ever they are and with the apps they are familiar with - so long as the job gets done.
As far as Enterprise is concerned, they will need to make adjustments to support such traffic on their networks. But most of the time, with the heavy shift to web-based (cloud) apps, this is a non-issue really and secured access to company servers can be implemented using a variety of low-cost, industry-standard solutions, like VPN for encryption, VLANs for network switching and security policies on the devices themselves - even on corporate email/Exchange!
Lastly, as far as support goes, this is a biggie. Being the sole IT support at my location, this one kind of falls between my skillset and my judgement. Personal devices - even if used for work - are taken on a case by case basis, at my sole discretion. There is no policy in place to address this issue, but the company outlook is basically "if it's procured by the company, you support it; if not, you decide how to proceed". With that said, I do my best to support all devices equally. However, there are times/situations where the work load does not allow me to fully-support the personal device(s) or they have been dropped and may need a part replacement that is out of warranty. In these cases, the issue may be resolved through other means, either through out of warranty repair by authorized repair services or other options, as related.
Bottom line, BYOD is not for everyone and even if it works for your company, not all facets may be a perfect fit. But it is a two-part solution and both the company and the end-user need to sign-off on it and make the necessary changes to make it work out as best as possible.
- Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Prev
- Next
- Toggle
