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"Widely publicised and high-profile BYOD case studies are further adding to the peer pressure. One in every two organisations are intending to deploy official BYOD policies, be it pilots, or partial- to organisational-wide rollouts, in the next 18 months."
Cheah says, however, that there is a 'disconnect between the assumptions and expectations held by CIOs and IT decision makers '” and commonly by supply-side organisations '” and the majority of employees when it comes to consumer technologies, device usage, and responsibility.'
IDC's Next Generation Workspace Ecosystem research has found that only two out of 10 employees want to use their own device for work and for personal use, which Cheah says means that corporate devices are still desired by the majority.
For CIOs and IT decision makers intending to deploy BYOD strategies, Cheah says the result will likely be a broader range of devices and operating systems (OS) connecting to the corporate network at a more frequent rate, considering the shorter life cycle of many consumer devices. 'This will be complemented by more frequent upgrades of OSs and the need to ensure that application performance as these upgrades occur.'
"Whilst many expect BYOD to help reduce costs, these shorter life cycles will need to be managed carefully in order to mitigate any blowouts in support, application modernisation, and lost employee productivity," Cheah adds.
IDC says that unless BYOD strategies are fully supported by the majority of employees in any given organisation, the deployment of such a policy may be simply problem shifting, and the analyst firm says its research found that device policies that are flexible and accommodating of all parties' preferences are more likely to be successful. 'In other words, 'choice' will be a defining characteristic of successful device policies in the future,' IDC concludes.
