Bring Your Own Device Phenomenon - Case Study Example

Business Report Student Name Tutor Course Date Executive Summary The dynamics and the landscape of corporate mobility are gradually and steadily being integrated. Most workers are becoming confident and comfortable to work with their own devices such as laptops, iPads, Smartphones and tablets. This aspect has given rise to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) phenomenon which is currently grounding its roots in the contemporary business society. BYOD concept is gaining global recognition. Basically, most attention is being paid to its impact and benefits of the policy to organizational performance, cost incurred and cost benefits as well as the challenges it imposes on the security of organizational data and usability of mobile devices in the company. Successful and effective adoption of BYOD programs requires holistic and tactical evaluation of the potential costs, risks and benefits of the policy. In support of organizational flexibility to the emerging business trends that have impact on the organizational performance, this analysis strongly proposes adoption of BYOD programs. The first part of this report displays wide range of benefits that result from adoption BYOD programs which provide reasonable grounds to attract the attentions of CEOs and CIOs of both service and product based organizations. One of the main benefits associated with the policy is enhanced productivity through employees’ job satisfaction. Furthermore, the concept is associated with other constructive aspects such as elevating employee mobility and boosting modes of attracting talents necessary for advanced innovation within the organization. However, adoption of BYID policy is not smooth experience as organizations encounter costs associated with upgrading the existing bandwidth platforms and data security challenges. Introduction Background of the Study The nature of organizational telecommunication has been deviating from the traditional mediums of communication such as email over the recent past. The modern trend in which IT is being consumed within organizational context has become a force to reckon, sweeping the dynamics of industrial telecommunication to an entire new direction. This report embarks on this relatively new dimension of organizational work procedure, popularly referred to as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The concept defines a business environment where employees execute their responsibilities using personally owned technological devices such as Smartphones, laptops, iPads and tablets to gain access to the organizational database. This project unearths the BYOD phenomenon and analyses the requirements for its effective adoption as well as its impact on organizational productivity. Additionally, the paper scrutinizes the challenge and costs incurred by organizations in the process of implementing BYOD phenomenon. Thereafter, the paper provides methodologies and solutions to the identified challenges. Ultimately, the project concludes by stating recommendations and pieces of advice for the chief executive office and the chief information officer of XYZ Company. Requirements and Benefits It is very inappropriate for any organization to allow virtually any Wi-Fi enabled device to have automatic access to the company network. This can impose daunting challenges to the organization (Meru Networks 2013). As a result, adoption of BYOD require organization have specific strategic measure for effective deployment. The organization needs to figure out how they can provide for the employees’ wireless devices without compromising the security of the network. Since configuring each device by the IT team might not be scalable and allowing user to manually configure their devices themselves imposes security issues to the company, it is necessary for the organization to have a provision platform with no intervention from the IT department. Similarly, adoption of BYOD requires organizations to have methodologies of identifying and authenticating any user who tries to access the network. This can be attained through creating predetermined settings by an IT policy so as to enhance the organizational capabilities to handle complication that may be caused by the diverse user types and different operating systems of mobile devices (Buser 2011). Adoption of BYOD policy requires careful evaluation of the advantages associated with the adoption of the BYOD phenomenon against the cons the posed by the same before adopting it into the organization. This should be done with regard to the company’s ability to handle the issues surrounding adoption of BYOD phenomenon, and may entail careful scrutiny of the IT infrastructure of the company (Staten and Cullen 2011). Proper deployment of BYOD policy requires strategic planning. Effective BLOYD deployment requires a proper platform to manage network access resources. According to Meru Networks (2013), this can be achieved if the there is a proper mechanism by which a user can be granted access to a well defined set of network resources and services. Every user need to be given unique access on the same network. However, effective utilization of BYOD policies requires companies to grant access only to the authorized individuals and from authentic and certified devices. The company must have the ability to identify the devices of the certified users. This is essential since a user may posses two or more Wi-Fi enabled devices connected to the same network. The fundamentals of this requirement is that BYOD phenomenon only needs to pair with authorized users to control misuse of the policy Effective adoption of BYOD policy needs organizations to scale the devices and categories of applications that a network can support without jeopardizing the bandwidth. In case there is a higher a higher device to user ratio, an organization is expected to estimate traffic loading bandwidth of every user as well as possess the capabilities of analyzing the bandwidth complications should they occur (Meru Networks 2013). Companies also require more complex BYOD mechanisms that will enhance partitioning of the traffic load so as to maximize resource utilization among the users. Embracing BYOD has some major constructive implications on organizational performance. Bill (2012) observes that BYOD elevates job satisfaction among the employees. This is enhanced by the fact employees do not need to carry too may devices to work or share devices at the workplace. Additionally, is noticeable that employees are more confident and comfortable if they work from their own devises thereby increasing their job satisfaction. More evidence of the impact of BYOD on the employee job satisfaction is put forth by the research conducted by Cisco. The study indicates a thirty three percent increase in job satisfaction when employees were allowed to use their personal Smartphones and iPads (Bill 2012). Working in a BYOD environment enhances increase in employees’ productivity. For instance, it is notable that as employees are allowed to use their own gargets, they are likely to access company database even while outside the company. This implies that the employees have the capacity to work extra hours at their own will. Therefore, prolonging the extra working hours will enable increase in productivity by speeding the resolution of action items (Christian 2014). Similarly, prolonged working hours enhances reduction in the time spent to deal with basic tasks since such tasks can be handled effectively at home. Extending the periods of connectivity grants the employees high level of mobility. Additionally, using the personally owned gargets improves collaboration among the employees. Reddy (2012) points it out that the devices owned by the employees are fitted with mobile enhanced services such social media services that allow workers to connect and respond very fast in real time and share the technicalities that hey are experiencing in discharging they mandates. This borderless connectivity and increased virtualization together with advanced mobile applications elevates the degree of collaboration of work processes among the employees. This allows them to complete their work effectively and in time thereby enhancing productivity. Adopting BYOD enhances a reduction in the cost incurred to procure IT equipment and the maintenance cost. This is due to the fact that adopting BYOD phenomenon shifts the cost of purchasing laptops, tablets, Smartphones, and iPads to the employees. These devices would be purchased by the organizations in circumstance that they fail to adopt the BYOD policy. The companies also stand the chance to save large sums of money in case employees agree to incur the maintenance costs. Furthermore, most employees are likely to take proper care of their own devices as opposed to company equipment thereby reducing the cost that would have been incurred to maintain such devices. Gartner (2013) through a press release suggests that BYOD enhances innovation for CIOs and the entire organization. This is enabled by expanding the number for mobile application such as time check-in and check-outs, punch lists, time sheets and HR apps that enhances employees’ self service in the laborforce. Allowing the employees to use their own devices in the workplace enhances numerous constructive opportunities compare to the traditional mode of communications such as email (Gartner 2013). Issues and Costs Although BYOD phenomenon enhances productivity through job satisfaction and business agility, the research conducted by (Dell Inc. 2013) indicates that lack of thorough strategy, technology and well sated policies may cause adoption of BYOD phenomenon to exhibit security threats, increased costs and managerial issues. Foremost, the adoption of BYOD in both service and product based organizations raises much concerns over the data security. The risk of data leakage and malware practices among the users is always associated with the concept of BYOD. The fact that this fundamental s of this phenomenon grants employees the privilege to access the company data on their personal devices has result in serious challenges both at the present and future times. For instance some workers may deliberately choose to betray the organization and sell most some of its innovative production strategies to the rival companies. Similarly, it is very much possible that the employees may forget their gadgets at different insecure locations (Dell Inc. 2013). For instance, tablets, phones or laptops being used to access crucial company information may be forgotten at the back seats of a taxi and at transport terminals such as bus stations or airport lounge. Furthermore x-employees can present serious security threats to their former organizations. Since they have the means of accessing the database of their former companies, they can log in and extract crucial information that would jeopardize the integrity of their x-companies (Dell Inc. 2013). There are could be challenges concerning maintenance of the employee devices which they use to work for the organization. This implies that there could confusion regarding the extent to which the organization should repair or maintain the personally owned devices. For instance, if the device crashes or breaks, should the IT department of the organization take the responsibility or the employees should be left to take the device to PC (personal computer) expert for repair (Intega IT 2013). According to the report released by ADTRAN inc. (2012), a provider of telecommunication equipment for both networking and internetworking, adoption of BYOD phenomenon can be costly especially due to the demand for higher bandwidth to handle the increased number of personal devices being used within the company’s network. The proliferations of Wi-Fi enhanced devices require high scale of local area network (LAN) and wireless LAN. Basically, adoption of BYOD results in double or three times increase in the number of mobile devices that are being used within an organization. This implies that the devices will scramble for the limited wireless bandwidth. In turn, this leads to the crippling of organizational information. As a result, the WLAN based on the traditional hardware controller cannot accommodate the huge pool of mobile devices. This means that adoption of BYOD forces organizations to incur expensive costs in upgrading and maintaining WLAN hardware controller system. Similarly, the organization would be forced to deviate from the traditional security measures and upgrade the security control measures. Although adoption of BYOD is associated with reduction in operational costs since purchase and maintenance costs are shifted to the users, the organizations may in the long run incur huge costs in reimbursing BYOD employees. In this scenario, employees can file monthly expenses on their wireless devices and bill the company. This imposes even grater challenges since with BYOD phenomenon organizations cannot itemize the expenses incurred on the wireless devices for business and for personal use (Waterfi and Dilworth 2014). This implies that organizations are incurring extra cost to pay for employees personal bills they incurred in their wireless devices. According to Intega IT (2013), adopting BYOD programs overlooks costs associated with help desk support. Implementing BYOD polices places the IT personnel at a fix where they are charged with the responsibility of offering support to the BYOD employees yet they do not control the activities of the users regarding wireless device usage. On the other hand, shifting BYOD support to the shoulders of the employee would also be costly to the security of the organizational data. For instance, incase of device failure or breakdown, the employees would get personalized assistance from available PC experts for their laptops and Apple stores for their iPads and Smartphones. This implies that an organization automatically losses the battle of controlling persons who have access to their database. Approaches and Solutions Liaising and working closely with IT sector, the management of the XYZ Company should devise data protection mechanism to combat the security threats posed by adoption of BYOD phenomenon (Forrester Research, Inc. 2012). Such mechanisms should be centralized and aimed at removing the company information from the devices of the employees before they leave the company. For instance, the company should adopt methodologies that would enhance the security of the devices used by the employees such as Mobile Device Management software. Additionally, the company should carefully consider the nature of data that which they allow their employees to access freely (Waterfi and Dilworth 2014). This implies that organization should only grant access to the information that pertains to the departmental needs to allow traceability and accountability incase of an anticipated occurrence (Forrester Research, Inc. 2012). Proper evaluation and investigation evaluation of the devices that are being used by the employees is also a vital strategy. This will create a room for mitigating every risk situation, and aid in identification of both trusted and suspicious devices (Alleau & Desemery 2013). The management in conjunction with the IT department should strengthen the security systems by drafting and enforcing security policies. This should encompass setting of security pin, encrypting the devices used in the organization and actions to be taken incase employees unsuccessfully attempt to login in beyond predetermined maximum times (Alleau & Desemery 2013). To effectively deal with situations where an ex employee becomes a threat to the organization, an organization should revoke the access to the entire IT infrastructure whenever an employee leaves the company (Kaneshige, 2012). Similarly, I would advice both the management of the XYZ Company to bear full responsibility of maintaining the devices being used by the employees to do their work. This is due to the fact that since the employees use their own devices, they are capable of extending their work beyond the normal working hours even at the comfort of their homes. This implies that they devote more of their time working for the company. Therefore, repairing, maintaining or even replacing their lost devices would be viewed as a motivational factor (Dell Inc. 2013). Regarding the high costs associated with adoption of BYOD organizations like XYZ Company should embrace ADTRAN’s Bluesocket virtual WLAN (ADTRAN inc. 2012). The technology will eradicate the scale and costs constraints linked with the WLAN hardware controller system. Additionally, the technology enhances cloud and visualization based software solutions. One ADTRAN’s Bluesocket virtual WLAN can handle 1500 applications for mobile devices, support 48, 000 users and magnify the WLAN bandwidth ten times (ADTRAN inc. 2012). The report released by Meru Networks (2013) provides another dimension of enhancing data security referred to as Smart Connect. The core pillar of this technology is to simplify access to the organizational network 802.1 times and improve Wi-Fi provision to the wireless devices under common IT policies. This licensed option eliminates the security barriers that impede the adoption of BYOD policy. Smart Connect principle advocates for formulation of appropriate identification details which include proper names and passwords that employees use to log in with to access the web portal (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012). This creates room for the organizations to monitor the network usability and grant access to only the authorized users. Furthermore, Smart connect platform has unique features which improves the end user experience Meru Networks (2013). For instance, integrated portal for end-users which are customizable provide ease of access without requirements of additional server details. Additionally, Smart Connect is designed in such a manner that it has the capability of monitoring and user access from a single point. This implies that user access can be monitored at any time irrespective of geographical location. If the XYZ Company intends to implement BYOD policy, it is advisable for the management to invest in help desk support to prevent involvement of a third party technical breakdown of the devices used by its employees. This can be attained by equipping IT professionals with necessary resources they require to provide support to the BYOD employees. However, if the company does not have the capacity to do so, I would advice the CEO and the CIO to look for a specific external help support. This will enable traceability and accountability incase the company’s data are jeopardized (Kaneshige 2012). Recommendations As employee-owned mobile devices such as Smartphones, tablets, iPads and laptops find their way to the offices and workplaces, it is recommendable that organizations should comprehend the fact that adoption of BYOD policy may not be easy and their will be serious challenges and risks involved. However, the numerous roadblocks should not prevent organizations from full realization of the benefits associated with implementation of BYOD phenomenon. In this case, I suggest that XYZ Company should not focus on what will happen if they implement BYOD policy but should put more attention on how they can effectively cut the costs, boost employees’ involvement and elevate efficiency so as to adopt the policy and fully enjoy benefits associated with it. The XYZ Company should primarily evaluate the need to proactively implement BYOD policy. In essence, this entails acknowledgment of the fact that business planet is being transformed by the emerging tends and technologies that are shaping the scope of business performance. Many employees work at their level best if they granted the liberty to choose their own devices to work with. Therefore, XYZ Company should expand should expand its deployment of BYOD policy to enhance flexible mechanism for employee ton access the company information in their devices. This will enhance employee productivity through job satisfaction and enhance cost reduction as well. To approve the business case for deployment of BYOD, policy the company should measure advantages and impacts of the program. For instance, the argument that implementing BYOD policy enhances employee productivity which in turn increases the organizational revenue should provide vital basis for analyzing the impacts of the policy. Other wide ranges of benefits which can constitute the basis for adoption of the program include elimination of training costs, and reduction in replacement and maintenance costs. The company should weigh theses benefits against the retrogressive impacts of then policy such as reimbursement costs, the impact of virtual device infrastructure and help desk associated costs. It would be advisable for the management of XYZ Company to embrace creation of awareness. This implies that the company should alert its employees on the risks involved by them being allowed to access company information from their personal devices. It should be clearly communicated to the employees that careless use of their devices may have serious implications to the organization such as security breach. List of Reference Adtran Inc. 2012, ADTRAN Announces Cloud-Ready BYOD Network Suite for More Efficient Scaling, Retrieved from: < http://www.virtualizationconference.com/node/2295541 > [ 28th October, 2014]. Alleau, B. & Desemery, J 2013, Bring Your Own Device: It’s all About Employee Satisfaction and Productivity not Cost. Retrieved from: < http://www.capgemini-consulting.com/resource-file-access/resource/pdf/bringyourowndevice_29_1.pdf> [ 28th October, 2014]. Bill, M 2012, “BYOD security challenges: control and protect your most sensitive data”, Journal of Networking Security Vol. 2012 (2),pp 5-8 Buser, C 2011, How Workers Can BYOD Without Risking Data, Networks Retrieved from: [ 28th October, 2014]. Christian, C 2014, Tips for Mitigating BYOD Security Risks, retrieved from: [ 28th October, 2014]. Dell Inc. 2013, Dell Unveils Global BYOD Survey Results: Embrace BYOD or Be Left Behind [ 28th October, 2014]. Forrester Research, Inc. 2012, Enterprises Achieve a Wide Range of Benefits by Deploying Bring-Your-Own-Device Programs, Retrieved from: [ 28th October, 2014]. Gartner, Inc. 2013, Gartner Predicts by 2017, Half of Employers will Require Employees to Supply Their Own Device for Work Purposes [ 28th October, 2014]. Intega IT 2014, Calculating the True Cost of BYOD: The Hidden Costs of Bring-Your-Own-Device, Retrieved from: < http://www.intega.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Calculating-the-True-Cost-of-BYOD.pdf > [ 28th October, 2014]. Kaneshige, T 2012 “BYOD: Five Hidden Costs to a Bring-Your-Own-Device Programme,” Computerworld UK, Retrieved from: < http://www.computerworlduk.com/in-depth/mobile-wireless/3349518/byod--five-hidden-costs-to-a-bring-your-own-device-progamme/> [ 28th October, 2014]. Meru  Networks  Inc. 2013, BYOD  Best  Practices Requirements  and  Challenges, Retrieved from < http://www.merunetworks.com/collateral/white-papers/wp-byod-implementation-whitepaper-for-wlan-security.pdf> [ 28th October, 2014]. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012, Bring your own device: Agility through consistent delivery, Retrieved from < http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/increasing-it-effectiveness/assets/byod-1-25-2012.pdf> [ 28th October, 2014]. Reddy, AS 2012, Cognizant Research Center, Making BYOD Work for Your Organization, Retrieved from: [ 28th October, 2014]. Staten J & Cullen, A 2011 “BT 2020: IT’s Future in The Empowered Era,” Forrester Research, Retrieved from: [ 28th October, 2014]. Waterfi, MR & Dilworth, CA 2014, “CA BYOD: Where the Employee and the Enterprise Intersect”, Employee Relations Law Journal, vol. 40(2), pp 22-36. Read More