White Paper Overview: BYOD and Field Service

Jan 27, 2016 • Features • resources • white papers • White Papers & eBooks • BYOD • solarvista

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Solarvista)
Title BYOD and Field Service
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Synopsis

What are the key benefits and major challenges of implementing a Bring Your Own Device strategy for field service organisations

Overview

If we cast our minds back just a few years, the talk amongst the enterprise was very much centred upon the new emerging trend of Bring Your own Device (BYOD).

With the phrase being first coined by Intel in 2009 before quickly rising to prominence across the next few years, largely driven by organisations such as Unisys and Citrix who saw the early potential benefits of the trend.

However, the explosion of companies officially adopting BYOD policies never quite materialised in Europe as it was predicted it would and in certain circles there are even whispers that the trend may even be slowing down somewhat in what is perceived to be the BYOD heartland of the USA.

In this white paper we will review once more the case for and against BYOD reflecting on the further learnings we have seen in the last few years in terms of both challenges and successes

In this white paper we will review once more the case for and against BYOD reflecting on the further learnings we have seen in the last few years in terms of both challenges and successes of applications that have been documented, as well as exploring whether in the realm of field service, an inherently mobile-led environment, is BYOD is an option with merits.

Topics in the white paper include:

The attractions of BYOD

The rise in popularity of BYOD can be attributed to a combination of driving factors including the consumerisation of technology, the evolution of the Cloud Computing as a reliable platform in the enterprise and also a gradual shift in attitudes to the work/life balance (itself the result of the impact of technology in our working lives alongside the growing influence of Generation Y employees within the workforce.)

Significant benefits that can be drawn from a successful implementation of BYOD within the workplace which include:

Personal choice
Better work/life balance
Improved efficiency
No cost for equipment
Decreased support and training costs

The challenges of BYOD

Whilst the benefits of BYOD initially leap out and are in the most part fairly obvious, in reality the actual implementation of a BYOD policy within the enterprise is wrought with complex challenges such as:

Security
Increased support and training costs
Establishing BYOD policies around device usage

Overcoming these challenges and introduction of CYOD

One potential suggested solution to meet the challenges of BYOD is to move towards a Choose Your Own Device but is this really the magic bullet to get the best of both worlds?

Of course whilst the threat of cyber security increases, so to do the relevant solutions to overcome these risks. Let us be clear, despite the above issues BYOD is certainly not impossible to implement. It does however, require a lot more additional consideration than perhaps was deemed necessary in the early part of this decade when the hype around BYOD was at its highest.

One potential suggested solution to meet the challenges of BYOD is to move towards a Choose Your Own Device but is this really the magic bullet to get the best of both worlds?

BYOD, fit for purpose and the field service environment

Of course there is then the big question for field service companies – are the consumer devices selected by the employees necessarily fit for purpose?

In mission-critical environments such as field service, reliable real-time communications are key for optimum performance, and for proactive management of service-level agreements and compliance with key performance indicators.

Mobile field service workers need real-time access to their business applications and data, whether it is receiving the next job, navigation to an address, accessing a product or customer database and so on.

The perennial question of consumer vs. rugged is perhaps of even greater relevance when field service companies are considering BYOD policies.