BYOD: Apples, Berries & Androids in the Office

by Carol Ko and Cesar Bacani, 11 May 2012

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topics:
Business Expense Management Technology

tags:
smartphones tablets telecom expense management

Look around you. Do you see the iPads, iPhones, Samsung Tabs and other tablets and smartphones blinking on office desks as they are being recharged? Have you noticed business-suited travelers in airport lounges doing their expense reports on their tablet computers? Are you reading this article on your own tablet yourself?

BYOD, short for Bring Your Own Device, is gaining wide popularity in Asia Pacific as more employees work on the go and mobile devices are constantly upgraded in terms of functionality, processing speed, access to wifi and telecom networks, and availability of business apps.

A February 2012 survey by Aruba Networks shows just how pervasive BYOD is becoming. The study of 1,200 IT professionals in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN found that 46% of companies allow their employees to bring their own devices to work, with full or limited access to corporate applications and data.

“No cost savings”

In theory, it’s a trend that should make CFOs happy. Like cloud computing, BYOD is touted as transforming capex into opex, since companies can let employees use the device they have already purchased themselves and just pay for or subsidise telecom and data subscriptions and roaming expenses.

But it seems that savings, in fact, are not happening. “Gartner does not see [much] cost savings from BYOD,” says Song Chuang, who is research director in the mobile and client computing group at Gartner, an IT research organisation. “Cost is not destroyed; it is simply moved around. The perceived savings are wiped out by support overheads, loss of enterprise discounts and so on.”

“From our client interactions, BYOD hasn’t been driven by financial reasons,” he adds. “Instead it is driven by employee demand, and a willingness on the part of the enterprise to improve productivity and employee satisfaction.”

CJ Desai, Senior Vice President, Endpoint & Mobility Group at IT security firm Symantec, agrees. About half of Symantec clients, mostly in heavily regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare, understand that there’s a cost to the company with BYOD. “But they still want to provision these devices,” he says.

The other half do not want the headache of IT maintenance and the associated cost, but they still allow BYOD not only because employees want it, but also because they recognise the productivity gains. “I have talked to many customers globally and I have not met anyone that told employees they cannot bring a device to work or that the company will not provide a tablet or a smartphone,” says Desai.

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