Mobile World Congress increases BYOD options
This year’s Mobile World Congress is on in Barcelona this week. It sees the likes of Microsoft and its Windows Phone, plus the many Android device makers, announcing new or improved mid-range devices that pack in many features of what were formerly high-end, expensive models. More memory, better processors and bigger screens make these more usable and attractive as a working device. Also, the recent range of business software launches for mobiles means that more people are tempted to try them out for bring your own device (BYOD) schemes.
As a business, having your workers able to use documents that are stored in the cloud, business contacts, and address emails wherever they are can be a big benefit. It saves investing in laptops or tablets, gets issues resolved faster and with data stored in the cloud and protected by password or fingerprint ID, there is less risk of them losing their phone and having valuable data go missing.
While Windows Phones are all prepped for business, users can use all Microsoft’s apps and storage features with the current Windows Phone 8.1. Sony, LG, Motorola and ZTE, among others, have a huge range of Android devices and they all support Google’s Lollipop Android 5.0. Lollipop in turn runs Samsung’s Knox, a business security feature to protect data stored on user’s own phones. Apple has its own security features for business, and Microsoft’s popular apps are now available for both iOS and Android.
This means that it is now safer for workers to use business data on their own phones, and the apps make checking documents and performing light revisions almost as painless as on a desktop (especially with a larger-screen device). For larger businesses, solutions like Hypori’s ACE platform, which was built with support from the American Department of Defense, help protect business data by separating the physical mobile device (no matter the brand and OS) from any sensitive applications and data.
These latest moves means there is less reason for businesses to be averse to the idea of BYOD, and should see the increasingly mobile workforce come of age for knowledge workers, sales forces and marketers who have been eager to try it out.
