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BLURRED BOUNDARIES:Don’t Fall Behind - Embrace IT Consumerization Now!

WHITEPAPERBlurred Boundaries: Don’t Fall Behind - Embrace IT Consumerization Now!

Blurred Boundaries: Don’t Fall Behind - Embrace IT Consumerization Now!

www.easyvista.com

The “consumerization of IT,” in a nutshell, is an emerging trend where IT products and services have their origins in the consu-mer market and eventually spread to businesses, institutions and government. This trend runs contrary to the historical model where organizations led the way in technological innovation.

The beginnings of this “consumerization” movement lie in deve-lopment of personal computers, mobile phones, the advent and proliferation of the World Wide Web among a bevy of other techno-logical possibilities. The current continues to flow heavy. This para-digm shift has put organizations on their toes as they must consider if and how they want to incorporate any number of these products and services into their current IT systems, policies and procedures.

Employees and customers are the lifeblood of the consumer move-ment. Laptops, smart phones, tablets, web services like Dropbox, social media and open source software have all become threats to the traditional model of the closed IT circuit. Businesses are almost forced, at this point, to answer the simple question: Do we want to embrace this new trend? Regardless of the answer, a plethora of subsequent queries arise that again, place an IT department in a precarious position.

Financial resources, organization/IT department sophistication and consumer and employee demand will eventually lead to the answer for your business. This discussion will provide your orga-nization with a high level overview of the forces, technologies, concerns and advantages that will assist in clearing up the blurred boundaries produced by the “consumerization of IT.”

Shifting ParadigmThe IT world is changing quickly and we have to be prepared. The number of mobile devices and internet connections has increased exponentially. In fact the purchase of mobile phone connections are increasing more rapidly than the purchase of any other consu-mer product.

What does this mean for business? It means that the way IT depart-ments work must change and must change fast. If you choose not to alter the way you do business with the people you support, you will either be forced to change eventually anyway by playing catch-up or you will lose control of IT.

It’s likely that you currently face some disconnection from the bu-siness. Aren’t all IT departments trying to “align with the business” and “prove their business value?” IT wants to become more than just a cost center, but proving the value is difficult. Add in addi-tional technology that IT doesn’t support, such as various mobile devices and cloud programs and watch the barriers that currently exist between IT and business get worse. No IT department wants that!

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers “Entertainment & Media Outlook 2013-2017” report:

• By 2017, Americans will be more likely to have a mobile internet device than wired home broadband

• 2013 is the first year that consumer spending on inter-net-connected smartphones, tablets and other devices will surpass home broadband service fees

• By 2017, 87% of the population will have mobile internet devices

• Mobile internet access spending will top $54 billion in the US this year

And, according to ABI Research:

• The more than 10 billion devices wirelessly connected to the Internet today will increase to 30 billion by 2020

Facts:

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Collaboration and AcceptanceAcceptance that the IT world is changing is the first step. You hear about the change, you read the numbers, but accepting it into YOUR organization is tough. Allowing mobile devices to access your network poses potential security risks. Changing your policies will be challenging. Changing the psychology of the people who work in IT is sometimes impossible. Regardless, it’s going to happen with or without your support.

IT Consumerization is not all about mobile, cloud and social me-dia. It’s also about organizations encouraging and supporting the strengths of employees. With this comes the acceptance of varying tools. Your employees may use a Mac at home rather than a PC, or they may have video editing software at home that offers ad-vanced functionality. The comforts found at home are now desired in the office. Employees want their “stuff” to work “their” way. This may be in opposition with your policy. The question of producti-vity arises. If employees have the tools that work best for them, will they be more productive? Of course. Don’t you want to make the workplace feel less like “work?”

The “How” PolicyHow you embrace the Consumerization of IT in your business will determine the policy type you implement. When it comes to a BYOD policy, there are several routes to take. Whether you enforce a strict lockdown policy, a free-for-all or a hybrid guided structure, a policy is needed.

Depending on the size of your organization, the vastness of a BYOD policy will vary.

In many organizations security of data is an issue. If your employees use cell phones for telephone calls and texting, there is likely little risk to your network. However, if they are accessing email that is on your network or synchronizing company data, then legitimate risks may arise. For example, a sales representative may want to sync their contacts and calendar with their mobile device. The se-curity risk lies not only in how IT supports a bevy of devices and the varying demands for data synching and accessing documents, but more importantly in who owns that data if the employee leaves the organization.

The Strict Lockdown PolicyResource and budget issues often result in stricter BYOD poli-cies. More devices result in more support issues which in turn re-quire more specialized technological intelligence. For example, I once worked for a company who only supported Blackberries for email access. This was a huge problem for me as an iPhone user. Regardless, I replaced my iPhone with a Blackberry since I didn’t want to carry two phones. I returned the Blackberry within 30 mi-nutes. The usability was terrible and I couldn’t accept this as my sole connection. I chose to keep my iPhone and only access email from my laptop. From a business standpoint, this is a terrible thing. If iPhone’s were supported, my productivity would have increased. Email access would have been available to me 24/7 regardless of whether I had my laptop with me or not.

Perhaps your IT department is limited by resources and budget. This is not necessarily their fault. Senior Management needs to step in and provide IT with the flexibility they need to properly support their users. Without the right support from upper management, a strict policy that limits certain devices and applications, regardless of the negative effects on productivity and convenience, may be necessary.

The Free-For-AllIt’s also possible that an organization doesn’t worry about the risks that come with IT Consumerization. In fact, they embrace the advantages, such as the cost of hardware shifting to the user. The business may also benefit from the latest features and capabilities that the employee has on their personal devices. In addition, the typically slow refresh cycle of the organization doesn’t impact the employee. It’s likely that the employee upgrades their hardware more often.

Regardless, the employee is satisfied and in turn, productivity goes up.

Your IT department may either not implement a policy or put a very loose policy in place. It may not matter to your IT department that everyone has a different smartphone, especially if IT believes that all of the wicked things that can happen are controlled by your se-curity software.

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If your BYOD policy is loose, be sure to document the policy sur-rounding compliance and ownership of data. The employee’s lap-top, smartphone and tablet will likely have extensive company owned data. Retrieving this data or even knowing where it exists is problematic. However, documenting the policy that governs how that data will be retrieved if the employee leaves the company is crucial.

The Hybrid Guided StructureThe hybrid approach offers benefits that will please most employees and ease the stress BYOD puts on IT resources. A hybrid structure includes a mixture of company-owned and employee-owned hard-ware. Organizations that adopt a hybrid guided approach to BYOD are managing the evolution toward employee-owned devices even-tually representing 100% of the hardware used in the workplace.

Developing a policy today will set your organization up for success as employees move closer and closer to 100% BYOD. Continuing to offer standard company-owned devices will provide those who are not technologically savvy outside of the workplace options and the means to do their job. At the same time you are supporting the demands of those who are more productive using the technology they use at home.

As any policy, a Hybrid Guided Structure does come with limita-tions. Your IT department may choose to only support devices with Android or iOS as those are the most popular amongst your em-ployees. However, this may place limitations on those users with a Blackberry. Your IT department may only offer support for set-ting up email on these devices and require the employee to contact their carrier for additional support. However, the limitations are balanced by the benefits. You have accommodated the majority of your employees desire to utilize the device(s) they want.

Another valuable practice is to standardize approval processes. Regardless of whether the device is company or employee-owned, put an approval process in place to manage who is accessing your network via their device. This process should be per device in order to manage data ownership should the employee depart the com-pany.

All of this must be detailed in a written policy, including the rights of IT to wipe lost or stolen devices of all corporate data (with or without deleting the employee’s personal data).

With a hybrid structure, IT gets the best of both worlds. They control and monitor policies for BYOD and company-owned devices, com-pany data is secure and employees are happy.

For any successful BYOD structure, you’ll need solutions that help you support your policy. Solutions that are accessible anytime and anywhere, solutions that allow employees to request devices and support for devices as well as solutions that secure those devices.

Ultimately a BYOD policy is a comprehensive policy that spells out the rights of the company and employees. Although a BYOD policy may appear to limit users and strain productivity, it is important to find balance in the benefits of BYOD and the company’s security. Consumerization is here and fighting BYOD will only cause unpro-ductive and unhappy employees. Collaboration is necessary and embracing a “How” policy (“How will we support BYOD”) rather than a “No” policy is essential.

If you’re not already embracing the IT Consumerization trend, you should start today!

If your BYOD policy is loose, be sure to document the policy sur-rounding compliance and ownership of data. The employee’s lap-top, smartphone and tablet will likely have extensive company owned data. Retrieving this data or even knowing where it exists is problematic. However, documenting the policy that governs how that data will be retrieved if the employee leaves the company is crucial.

The Hybrid Guided StructureThe hybrid approach offers benefits that will please most employees and ease the stress BYOD puts on IT resources. A hybrid structure includes a mixture of company-owned and employee-owned hard-ware. Organizations that adopt a hybrid guided approach to BYOD are managing the evolution toward employee-owned devices even-tually representing 100% of the hardware used in the workplace.

Developing a policy today will set your organization up for success as employees move closer and closer to 100% BYOD. Continuing to offer standard company-owned devices will provide those who are not technologically savvy outside of the workplace options and the means to do their job. At the same time you are supporting the demands of those who are more productive using the technology they use at home.

As any policy, a Hybrid Guided Structure does come with limita-tions. Your IT department may choose to only support devices with Android or iOS as those are the most popular amongst your em-ployees. However, this may place limitations on those users with a Blackberry. Your IT department may only offer support for set-ting up email on these devices and require the employee to contact their carrier for additional support. However, the limitations are balanced by the benefits. You have accommodated the majority of your employees desire to utilize the device(s) they want.

Another valuable practice is to standardize approval processes. Regardless of whether the device is company or employee-owned, put an approval process in place to manage who is accessing your network via their device. This process should be per device in order to manage data ownership should the employee depart the com-pany.

WHITEPAPERBlurred Boundaries: Don’t Fall Behind - Embrace IT Consumerization Now!

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About EasyVista:

EasyVista™ Inc. is a leading provider of Cloud-based IT Service, IT Asset and Organizational & Customer Service Management solutions. The Company serves customers in every vertical sector and has direct operations around the world with offices in the United States, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

With tier 1, multi-lingual support and Network Operation Centers wor-ldwide, our award-winning Cloud based approach and unique service

management codeless design environment, EasyVista Neo al-lows companies to transform IT services for the 21st century. Our mission is to empower organizations to streamline and sim-plify the management and control of in-house, out-sourced and Cloud-based service management. We are the broker of Service and Support for New IT, we are Service Management by Design.

She partners with the leading IT Service and Asset Management analyst organizations, has worked in the field delivering IT Ser-vices for a prominent university and managed Product Marketing for top IT Service Management vendors such as Numara Software, BMC software and currently EasyVista. Building a strong network of industry relationships with continuous collaboration ensures Ms. Cullivan stays on top of the IT revolution.

Ms. Cullivan holds a Masters Degree in Information Management from Syracuse University and a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Rela-tions from LeMoyne College

About the authorElisabeth Cullivan is a results driven IT professional with extensive experience in IT product marketing and product management. Pro-duct and solution positioning, messaging, go to market strategy, thought-leadership activity, customer success initiatives and glo-bal product launch execution augment her extensive portfolio of market leading achievements.

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