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Reaching the Tipping Point for B.Y.O.D – Impact on the Enterprise

Contributed Article by Danny Allen, chief technology officer, Desktone

The first time I really started to notice the proliferation of tablets was at VMworld a few months ago. It seemed as though tablets outnumbered laptops by 4 to 1, which reinforces the emergence of the consumerization of IT. Consumers are making an end-run around enterprise IT departments by bring in their own devices for use within the company's four walls. This concept of B.Y.O.D. - Bring Your Own Device - will reach a tipping point in 2012.

A few factors will contribute to making 2012 the year B.Y.O.D. impacts the enterprise:   

1)      Tablet and smart phone explosion: Hot deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday aside, the prices of tablets and mobile devices continue to drop. Consumers can now get an internet-enabled tablet for around $200. Regardless if a company provides consumers with a tablet or other device or not, it's likely that consumers will want to use the new iPad they bought for daily work tasks. Plus, there are plenty of enterprise-class applications to support business objectives - i.e. Dropbox to share files with colleagues or google docs for collaboration - further enabling consumers to cut IT out of the process and use their device of choice.  

As an aside to increased use, consumers may also expect that within two or three years, tablets or smart phones may be free with vendors monetizing devices based on service. Data and service costs will then go up. If that's the case, enterprises may see even more employees selecting the device of their choice and expecting the company to foot the bill for service.  

2)      MacBook use in corporate environments: I don't think companies to provide tablets for all users any time soon, but do expect a surge in Mac laptop use in the enterprise instead of PCs. Partly because of usability, partly because more and more consumer are using Mac at home and are used to the environment and OS, some experts suggest we're entering the post-PC era. This is the concept of a more personalized computing environment.  No longer does the computing device belong on a desk or in a briefcase; it's a more familiar way of interacting with technology with all the simplicity of a light switch and the mobility of the wristwatch.  

Some companies may even consider switching to Macs instead of migrating to Windows 7. Some, but not all...  

3)      Windows 7 migrations: Desktone has been informally surveying IT administrators and found that 1 in 5 do have a Windows 7 migration planned - and just in time as support for earlier Windows versions is quickly running out. Though the transition will likely be easier than many IT departments expect, it is a major OS overhaul that could be increasingly complicated in large organizations, disparate work environments or companies with limited IT resources.  

As the B.O.Y.D. tide rolls in, IT departments will have no choice but to adapt or the security of the corporate IT environment and the productivity of end users will be on the line. In many organizations, IT is being seen as an impediment - not an enabler.  

To meet consumer B.Y.O.D. demand, IT departments will need to present the corporate desktop - and access to all applications and drives - on a tablet or mobile device.  This is possible by implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), an approach that is especially prominent in IT environments that have a high percentage of remote workers or companies in the technology space. Over the past few months; however, VDI has seen a boost of adoption in other sectors as well - healthcare, for instance. When considering VDI, a Desktops as a Service (DaaS) approach has been well received by companies that understand the benefits achieved from deploying virtual desktops, but do not have the upfront resources to build the infrastructure or the expertise to manage a complex virtual environment.   

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About the Author

As Chief Technology Officer, Danny Allan is responsible for developing Desktone's technical and service delivery strategy. Allan educates IT organizations and solution providers on how to design and deploy hosted virtual desktops and is responsible for the service delivery operations. He joins Desktone from IBM where, as Director of Security Research and a member of the Security Architecture Board, he co-authored the IBM Secure Engineering Framework and helped define the software security strategy. Earlier, Allan held several senior customer facing and technical strategy positions with Watchfire. With 10+ years of technology and security experience, Allan has published several whitepapers and articles, participates in industry working groups, and has spoken at more than 60 industry conferences. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University.