Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Michael. I agree. I also see BYOD as a trend. That actually goes with the human nature, we want to own things and if it is ours we take care of it. That should help IT shops I think.
In my opinion .. one of the keys to finding the right vendor may be found in the area of strategic partners/alliances. For example:
Understanding and implementing BYOD effectivelly pivots on the hand off between internal/contract IT and vendor provided support/services. A good IT partner may dabble in a number of areas, but has a clear line of demarcation between support offered and when to leverage vendor resources - all for the benefit of the end user.
Splitting support and growth of IT between multiple resources, all keying from a common vendor source can be challenging, but the continuity of on site support and integration staff is where the big win is found. The same set of eyes or team needs to be responding to the client/end user. Building a trust relationship between support staff and end users is of key importance and cannot be acheived without continuity of support staff.
@Joanne, Well, to try and answer your question some what best I can, I could see working with a vendor that dabbles in all kinds of things not just technology related because there are often times where other services may be required such as marketing, training, etc. and it's wonderful if that vendor can support all of that so you can keep all your eggs in one basket.
@hounhosp, I can certainly see your point there and to be honest, it makes a lot of sense to have multiple vendors just in case. Sticking with only one can lead to bias decisions as well as other issues, as you stated with the hurricane situation.
Jason, I agree that IT partners today need to support BYOD. That's a real challenge, with so many devices out there. Companies will expect this level of service though and users will be frustrated if this isn't done. What's the point of having an IT partner if they aren't all things tech though?
It is true that nowadays a lot of providers have made themselves conversant with the basics of tech trends such as BYOD, cloud etc. Also important is that as you hire a company have a look at their vision and see if it connects with yours. Are they trying to be industry leaders and are they looking far into the future? this will assure you that they are a reliable group and they will be there for the long term. That they will have time to understand your technology vision and buid it for you.
"Is it possible to be successful when one of your suppliers also is your competitor?"
It depends on the type of business you are running and the type of audience you target. In the case of Apple and Samsung, who do you think is the supplier?
I always wonder if choosing a single IT vendor is a wise thing to do. We can learn from recent disruptions due to hurricane Sandy disasters. Choosing two or three IT partners is safer than relying on just one.
Good point; it definitely is important to select a vendor capable of supporting all the various technologies that will be used. These days though, it's not hard to find those types of companies because, or at least I hope so, those companies know that they need to dabble in each area of technology in order to stay competitive.
Good question. I feel like the answer should be an obvious no but sometimes if it's not directly impacting your business, sales, etc. then exceptions can be made.
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