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Mobility Interview
BYOD and BYOS not a “zero-sum” game What are the challenges and opportunities for companies to consider implementing BYOS? Employers need to trust their employees; otherwise, tech and IT will always be built from a “restrictive” view rather than a “permissive” one. Also they have to trust the employee to make the best productivity choices for themselves in using tools and services they are already familiar with. If they do that the productivity gains are bound to happen. With the new generation of employees expecting BYOD policies to be in place at enterprises they work for, what are the implications for businesses when employees also expect to be able to BYOS? BYOD & BYOS are not passing fads and are here to stay. For a business to thrive in today’s economy and compete on a global stage, a transformation to more creative and high value added output is needed, and knowledge work is the crucial ingredient to do n recent years, Bring Your how this can create more value for that. A natural concern that rises Own Device (BYOD) and Bring enterprises. Your Own Service (BYOS) have CommunicAsia 2014 speaks to Foo been at the forefront of empowering Tiang Lim, Market Development, Asia mobility among employees. According Pacific at Evernote for his perspectives to an analyst report, Asian businesses on the BYOD, BYOS and most recently, out of BYOD and BYOS would are lagging behind in enterprise Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) be security and confidentiality of mobility opportunities due to a lack phenomenon. company information. However, the of understanding about mobility and crux of the issue would be employees having to deal with sub-optimal user experiences that frustrate, causing CommunicAsia2014 Summit: Consumerisation of the employees to use tech that they Enterprise – BYOD vs. CYOD prefer. Hence, businesses should The CommunicAsia2014 Summit will address the implications, strive to provide the best tools to challenges and opportunities of BYOD and BYOS. Foowill be speaking at equip its workforce to be able to fully the ‘Consumerisation of the Enterprise – BYOD vs. CYOD’ session which realise the potential of the company. takes place on Day 3 of the Summit, 19 June 2014.He will be talking Instead of being concerned about about the following topics: BYOS, companies should embrace this trend as it could help to increase BYOD – Focus on your Employees’ Experience, Not the Device productivity in the long run.
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• Why your people demand BYOD/BYOS: the discerning tastes of the modern knowledge worker • What companies can do to embrace that and overcome it: the importance of creating “business-class” experiences for your team and teams • What companies will need in the future: the augmented workforce www.mobilityindia.com
How can companies ensure the security of sensitive corporate information? A re-thinking of the role of the IT department is needed. Currently, a majority of IT departments play
the role of “enforcers” instead of “facilitators”. Too many discussions of the BYOD/BYOS trend are framed as a zero sum game, but that is not true, as security does not have to be compromised to enjoy the benefits of BYOD/BYOS. The key thing is to apply the right thinking in the right areas of the business, at the right levels. Additionally, the HR department plays an active role in ensuring that the right employees are hired. This, coupled with an office culture of transparency and trust, would help in ensuring the security of sensitive corporate innovation with the BYOD/ BYOS trend. Now there is also CYOD, is this moving too fast for companies, especially in Asia, to meet the expectations of the knowledge worker? This is actually an encouraging sign, and also an indication of the shifting of the role of the IT departments around the world. Again
the key thing is to work together with your workforce to craft a productivity IT strategy. CYOD isn’t a fad if you think about what the issue really is, and that is knowledge workers deserve the best and most productive experiences at work. The question of whether BYOD/BYOS/ CYOD facilitates, should not be an end in itself. Focusing on the welfare of employees is not just a courteous or morally right thing to do, it’s a very real business strategy. Productivity cannot be forced out of knowledge workers, the only way a company is able to raise their productivity levels is to ensure that the welfare of the employees is taken care of. Like with giving them the best experiences at work also allow them to choose their software & hardware.
Mobility April 2014
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