The consumerization that generated the BYOD tidal wave is spilling over into new areas -- and causing additional concerns for IT.
Because many IT departments still struggle to manage the abundance of brands, devices, and operating systems that employees are bringing to their offices, it's no stretch that allowing workers to use their own applications, social networks, and clouds won't happen smoothly or overnight. But a groundswell of adoption will occur within the next 12 months or so, according to Siemens Enterprise Communications.
As Randy Roberts, vice president of the mobile portfolio at Siemens Enterprise Communications, told me:
The consumer is smart, and the consumer is also a worker. A lot of times, those same apps and solutions can make them productive, as well. The line between work and home has, frankly, disappeared. If you think about the IT guy, now it's even more challenging for him.
In a Blue Coat study conducted in November, 83 percent of organizations allowed employees to access company email on personal mobile devices, and 51 percent gave employees access to corporate instant messaging. However, only 31 percent granted that same freedom with enterprise resource planning software, 24 percent did so with sales force automation, and 19 percent allowed workers to log in to supply chain management.
This, however, assumes that IT managers know which applications employees are using. That is not necessarily the case, according to Roberts. "IT managers are unaware of two-thirds of the applications being used on their network," he said. "In 2013, I think it will grow even more and be self-evident."
Ross Sedgewick, vice president of global solutions marketing at Siemens Enterprise Communications, said that more employees, looking to eliminate the redundancies of creating the same work environment across multiple devices, are using personal clouds from providers like Box, iCloud, and Dropbox to store data. Personal clouds provide convenience and productivity, but corporate IT must be able to provide identity authentication, security, and encryption, he said. "Security will start to become part of the table stakes in file sharing and storage of personal cloud."
People don't want to try and figure out where a particular piece of data or a certain app resides. Instead, they want their tools and information to travel with them in a personal cloud they can access for either personal or business reasons. They may, for example, prefer the photo-editing software they use at home to the corporate-approved application, or a free time management app they use to track their kids' schedules may be ideal for managing a project.
For example, I prefer using IrfanView for working with photographs. There may be better tools out there, but for the limited amount of work I do on art, I haven't found it worthwhile to learn a different application (yet, anyway). We all have our favorites; most are from reliable developers and are used as standalone products simply to get a particular job done. Letting employees use their preferred tools for noncritical functions makes sense, especially if it means less demand for IT support.
That doesn't mean, of course, that we all get to choose our own payroll, customer relationship management, or enterprise resource planning solutions.
In fact, Siemens Enterprise Communications expects users and business managers to drive half of IT use decisions. As a result, IT will need to focus on centralized policies, security standards, and usage controls for all these bring your own technologies, the company said.
Will employees soon be bringing their clouds, as well as their devices, to work?
NicoleH - So say if an employee is working on a confidential document that listed SSN's or credit card#'s on their personal cloud app and for whatever reason, the document is compromised and that data is leaked. Would the employee be at fault because it was not necessarily an approved app or maybe IT because they do not have better controls in place to support employees using personal cloud apps?
Good question! I'd say both are at fault here, but really only a lawyer or regulator knows for sure.
@Mitch: I believe we're in that phase when mobile applications are at a plurality, much like the time when social networks kept popping up here and there. After some time, the best of the best go mainstream, allowing IT to manage employee-level usage more easily. I think the case will be the same for BYOC. Maybe in a year or two, we'll see the Facebook/Twitter of BYOC-related mobile apps. That or businesses (once again) mandate their users to use Microsoft.
So say if an employee is working on a confidential document that listed SSN's or credit card#'s on their personal cloud app and for whatever reason, the document is compromised and that data is leaked. Would the employee be at fault because it was not necessarily an approved app or maybe IT because they do not have better controls in place to support employees using personal cloud apps?
The mention of Irfanview made me realize just how convenience is a real driver in real life situations. I've used this handy and free application for years and know the ins and outs well enough to handle most any photo job I come across.
It's the ease of use and familiarity that bring me back to it again and again, even though there may very well be even easier to use and more flebible programs out there now. But, I don't want to have to learn another program.
Allowing employees flexibility in what they bring to the corporate setting just makes sense. Not only saving time and money, but giving employees a sense of controlling their own work style.
Mitch - great comments on this article. You raise all the issues with security, privacy and account management. But with apps being designed for personal use and morphing to enterprise use I have not seen many approaches to solving these concerns.
"And, again to echo Mitch, there could be major repercussions for businesses in terms of governance, risk-management, DR, and security."
That's really true. But I was thinking that most businesses should have realized these problems you highlighted and as a result have taken appropiate steps to minimize employees's erratcic use of the network. That's why an effective corporate policy governing the use of the network is very important first step towards steming this tide of "unwanted' apps ruuning through the network.
"And, again to echo Mitch, there could be major repercussions for businesses in terms of governance, risk-management, DR, and security."
That's really true. But I was thinking that most businesses should have realized these problems you highlighted and as a result have taken appropiate steps to minimize employees's erratcic use of the network. That's why an effective corporate policy governing the use of the network is very important first step towards steming this tide of "unwanted' apps ruuning through the network.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Like other leading technology-using businesses, Walmart is starting to look like a vendor in its integration of the latest technologies to serve its customers. That's what led it to buy two Silicon Valley cloud startups this week.
IT executives are worried about business units that use social media, Dropbox, Skype, and other public clouds without working through IT. This "cloud sprawl" creates concerns about security, compliance, and other potential problems for the enterprise, according to a study.
Cloud computing helped Netflix score a big win this week, meeting a thousandfold increase in demand and driving the Internet video service provider back to profitability. It provided Netflix with "availability, scalability, and cost savings," chief executive officer Reed Hastings wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Curious reports this week suggest that HP's blossoming interest in offering converged cloud services puts the PC giant in direct competition with Amazon. That's not how I see it.
New tools like laptops, tablets, smartphone, and wireless connectivity let us work from San Diego to Katmandu, and anywhere in between. But time management remains a problem.
Showing results is the best way to win over social business doubters, according to Mary Maida, Medtronic lead information solutions manager. Internet Evolution's Mitch Wagner interviewed Maida at the E2 Innovate conference.
Companies need to take advantage of new technologies to simplify interfaces, improve capabilities, and enhance back-office processes. But they can't upgrade their Websites too often.
Wells Fargo uses social software to replace email chains and help its sales team collaborate more effectively to land deals, according to Kelli Carlson-Jagersma, VP Collaboration Strategy for Wells Fargo. Mitch Wagner spoke with Carlson-Jagersma at the E2Innovate conference
A survey by JD Powers found that customer interest in product features is lessening as phones evolve. Rather than features, price is driving purchases, and that change could have a dramatic impact on how IT departments secure these devices.
Multi-tenant clouds assure security for clients, but not necessarily for their ideas. Here's one thing you should discuss with your cloud provider before you sign on.
Trying to reinvigorate their market position, suppliers added significant enhancements to their enterprise video collaboration tools, including enhanced support for mobile systems, virtualization, and cloud solutions.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
Email This
