On our sister site, myITforum.com, we are running a single-question survey to get a better, real-world understanding about how many of you are investing time and resources into implementing BYOD.
You can still get your own input in here…
Survey: How’s that BYOD implementation going?
As you can see, the results are interesting, so far.
While many are still researching the benefits, and others have already implemented BYOD fully or partially, a little over 28% say that BYOD is not going to happen within their company. Does that surprise you?
Frankly, it doesn't surprise me at all. As someone who stays pretty closely connected with the actual community (i.e., the people who actually decide whether or not a buzzword technology thrives), I don't hear the same things that are being professed by vendors or analyst groups, like Gartner. In fact, the majority of the time, what I hear is completely contrary to what is being promoted along the industry wires.
A week or so ago, I posted up an article talking about an alternative to BYOD called COPE. If you missed it, you can still catch it here:
Since that article was posted, I've received numerous responses over Twitter and in email showing support for COPE. I've heard from some folks who are already implementing COPE instead of BYOD. COPE makes sense. COPE means you only need to alter a small portion of your mobile support strategy instead of investing extra time, money, and resources into revamping it completely.
All this said (BYOD survey results and public support for COPE), my weekend reading surprised me a bit when I came across the following article:
COPE Receives Big Blow from Gartner, BYOD Gains Momentum
The surprise was not that Gartner was once again backing a vendor-led push, but that the article was so closely aligned with what I have been covering recently. If you jump straight down in the article to the first boldened headline "BYOD drives innovation for businesses" and read that first paragraph, you'll see that pretty much tells the entire tale behind the Gartner/BYOD relationship: it's a moneymaking opportunity. Sure, the paragraph starts out using the word "innovation" but it digs directly into a BYOD prediction by Dell, followed by a call for MSPs to make money like it's a get rich quick scheme. Based on that, I half expect to start seeing BYOD infomercials on early morning TV.
For sure, BYOD is an untapped industry and yes, there's money to be made. However, one sensible individual in the article, Mani Gopalaratnam, provides a refined and more logical statement:
"Gartner's prediction of BYOD as a norm for over 50 percent of employers is based on the current perception of cost reduction. But the hidden costs of information security and lack of control are going to change the BYOD model significantly," he said. "A model like COPE will be more adoptable and will begin to change the landscape in the near term."
What's your take? Is Gartner still relevant enough to help the BYOD momentum? Will COPE win the day? I'd really love to get your help in determining the truth.
Jump out and make sure to participate in the survey:
Survey: How’s that BYOD implementation going?
Have some insight or ideas of your own? Leave them in the comments.
