The bring your own device (BYOD) trend is being usurped this year by choose your own device (CYOD), according to Quinton Pienaar, chief executive officer (CEO) of African Salesforce.com reseller Agilitude.
Several large companies have implemented a BYOD policy, which enables employees to work on their own device using the company’s requisite software, but Pienaar said with the increasing fragmentation of the mobile device ecosystem it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to maintain uniformity in device and apps usage, meaning companies are now thinking about CYOD policies instead.
“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,” he said.
Pienaar said enterprise mobility has been considered one of the most disruptive trends recently, but that the disruption in fact goes well beyond the device itself.
“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,” he said.
He said once infrastructure challenges in the cloud have been addressed, 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,” Pienaar said.
“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.”
