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Hi Philippe,
Great post, I share some of your opinions and I would like to add some things to what you said, at least in the Portuguese market reality.
Regarding what we see in some of the biggest companies in Portugal, the users usually have two devices: their personal one and the company device. And they usually keep them until they are able to stick to the company device with the personal benefits, so that the personal SIM Card is not needed anymore. And in here I would like to focus the SIM card aspect of all of this, because if possible the user will use its own device with the company SIM so that he can have his prefered device. So, BYOD on its best.
Now, the processes will be the drivers to all of this. If my daily tasks include reading e-mails, checking information on the web and acessing company portals / custom apps, maybe I’ll buy an iPhone. But if I am working on the maintenance field force, maybe I would like another device, like a tablet with some specific capabilities that can improve my job.
So, in the end, it’s BYOD if the process allows it. Probably the iPhone user will not bring it to the company’s reality if it’s not needed. It may be his personal phone, but there will not be the need to manage it.
In my meetings with customers everything starts in mobilizing their business, in terms of processes and people. Where does it hurt? What do you want to improve? After that, we need to chose the device, making it ideal for the use cases identified. It’s a natural selection that will also be reflected on users that have their own devices, they will only use them in the enterprise if they are useful for their tasks. Again, if it’s on the back pocket and they play Angry Birds at lunch, it’s not a company problem.
Managing the devices is a problem that we need to address, definitely, even though I will not focus on it in this post. But regarding apps, in terms of enterprise mobility + BYOD, I would like to pose the question: Why develop native apps and not leverage some other technologies (like HTML5 and Phonegap). Develop once and deploy anywhere, that’s the whole concept and in terms of app management it simplifies some things.
So, BYOD and apps for them all.
But, as I’m probably lacking more information, please let the discussion begin
Best regards.
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Sergio I am going to go straight to the question that you posed =)
I believe that there is no absolute when it comes to that decision.
Before I get into the details of that I would like to point out that there is NO Develop once and deploy anywhere, even with HTML 5, different phones have different browsers that are VERY different from one another. I believe Phillipe also shares this vision on his blog posting saying that HTML5 is not the savior.
My point of view is that we need to have the knowledge to understand each situation and be able to make the right call for each case, I would never propose a web application for a truck worker delivering boxes, or for a van sales, there are some performance requisites here can could never be achieved using a web application.
As I see today we have 3 major options when choosing the right solution for each application.
1. Web apps – They bring the best cost-per-platform ration, but they are limited to what the browser allows you to do and you never get the best UX, also, in most cases they require you to be online 100% of the time.
2. Native Apps – They give you 100% control of what you are doing and that can be key in the success of some applications, but the costs and complexity of enabling consumerization are exponentially high.
3. “Middleware” solutions – For the lack of a better term to describe theses guys, some may say development accelerators. I’m talking ehre about PhoneGap (wich is a HTML5 wrapper pretty much). Titanium, RhoMobile and other. If you look at the concept that these guys are offering it looks like a no brainier, be able to have the portability together with control over platform specific features. But as of all “Middleware” solutions you end up stuck with the limitations that each platform brings.
As professionals I believe that we need to understand where each of these approaches is the best fit for the solution we are analyzing.
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Felipe – Agreed. Very much in line to the conversation I recommended to Sergio
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Sergio – Many thanks for your insights. In regards to the SIM issue you describe, wouldn’t the MDM solution be able to tell whether the employee is using an approved device? With regards to the HTML% debate, let me point you to this page: http://bit.ly/mha9Gv
Cheers,
Philippe
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hi Philippe,
Mobility is about people -therefore MDM also gets companies talking across departments and boundaries. Not just about policies and risks but about improving the quality of their data and their ability to effectively respond to dynamic and changing demands.
The next wave of mobility will further automate data integrity ensuring accuracy at the point of capture and decision. When done effectively, this will be achieved with user acceptance, motivation and empowerment.
In turn, competitive advantages will be achieved and industries revolutionized as is the case in courier delivery with automated Proof of Delivery.
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Cal – How do you see MDM getting people talking across boundaries? I would argue that MDM is geared primarily (if not exclusively) towards the IT department.
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Philippe – MDM vendors have rapidly moved into application management and improved understanding of user needs. Therefore the discussion increases management involvement in the possibilities. Tablets have helped grow the awareness and thinking.
So my point is now finance, HR, marketing, operations and IT all have some basis for new discussions. Mobile helps break down the silos.
Social networks similarly creating new discussions. A focus on the customer and how to ‘listen’ – mobile is key.
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Cal – I completely agree with you that MDM vendors have broadened the scope of what their systems can do. No question of that. My question to you though is now when will the MDM vendors stop calling themselves MDM vendors? When will they call themselves what they truly are, which is EMM vendors?
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BYOD In The Enterprise: It’s Actually NOT About The Devices
In any case, let me stop rambling and get on to today’s missive. I was on the phone today with a member of the EMF community who was asking me my thoughts about BYOD – you know, the whole Bring Your Own Device (a.k.a. the consumerization of enterprise mobility) trend of people bringing in to the workplace their smartphone or tablet of choice.
Let me cut to the chase and just repeat (part of) the title of today’s missive. It’s Actually NOT About Devices – at least I don’t think so anymore.
Do we need mobile device management? Of course we do. But if you think about why we need mobile device management – and the broader portfolio of what you would include in enterprise mobility management – you start to realize (hopefully) that it’s not about the devices. It’s not even about the apps or the data. It’s about the processes and the people. That’s what you are TRULY mobilizing (or at least I will argue that’s what you should be thinking about).
Now that said, enterprise mobility management – which at the end of the day is all about securely managing mobile devices, applications, data, expenses, etc. should be considered IMO the means to the end of mobilizing processes and people within the workplace. See, it’s like all the other stuff we talk about in IT….and the end of the day, it’s actually NOT about the IT.
So now that we agree that it’s not about the devices – you do of course agree with me don’t you
– why is BYOD so important? Because of risk management. BYOD is great because people who get to choose devices that they love, will be on them a lot more than the devices that they are forced to use. The latter is simply not a practical reality in the world of (enterprise) mobility.
So great. These people are going to be on their devices constantly, playing Angry Birds, checking in on Foursquare or Facebook….and filling out travel expense forms, logging in to SharePoint or the CRM system. That’s why you need to have a risk management system in place….and that’s therefore why you need to manage mobility – meaning the data, the apps, the expenses, and yes even the devices – in your workplace, regardless of who owns that device.
So if we actually don’t care about who owns the device….shouldn’t we stop talking about BYOD?