Devices are Choose, not Bring

BYOD (bring your own device) has been a disruptive trend in the enterprise. But, says QUINTON PIENAAR, businesses will have more control should they adopt a CYOD (choose your own device) policy, where a controlled group of devices with pre-installed apps are available to employees.

Until very recently enterprise mobility has been considered one of the most disruptive trends. While it is exactly that, there is a misconception as to why it is so disruptive. Mobility if often only considered from a device perspective, when in fact, a total revamp of the technology landscape and organisations also have to consider the technology infrastructure in its entirety.

Once the infrastructure challenges in the cloud have been addressed, the business applications and services can be adapted to address mobility. This reengineering is initially disruptive, but the benefits and productivity gains derived will have far reaching, positive impact.

An example of the positive impact is being seen as an innovator. If an enterprise mobility strategy is correctly implemented it takes the organisation to a level where it is seen as an innovator, shaping how customer service can be adapted and improved upon, and ultimately creating new service benchmarks within the specific vertical industry.

It’s for these reasons that the mobile strategy of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been usurped by the next big trend of Choose Your Own Device (CYOD). According to www.nextbigwhat.com in 2013, several large companies implemented BYOD policy, which enables employees to work on their own device using the company’s requisite software. But with increasing fragmentation of mobile device ecosystem (especially with advent of non-iOS devices other than Android), it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to maintain uniformity in device and apps usage.

So most enterprises are now thinking about following CYOD instead of BYOD, where companies will pre-select a mobile ecosystem. It makes more sense for employees to choose from a controlled group of devices with pre-installed apps. This will be extremely useful in bringing down the amount of complications with device management and the successful rollout of an enterprise mobility strategy.

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