So BYOD…what’s your BYOS strategy? 16 September 2014 Posted in Blog
When we use the acronym BYOD in our industry, it immediately conjures up visions of “lower cost” and “ease of acceptance.” There are clear cost advantages to BYOD from lower purchase prices to no purchase price if the employee uses their personal device. But what are the potential impacts to your business ?
The issues around BYOD have centered on security: What happens if that device is lost or stolen? Recently The Miami Herald published an article where the author recounted a recent theft of a personal iPAD used for company business. She was able to contact her service provider and have the contents of the device remotely cleaned. With the removal of the company contents on the iPAD, she also lost all personal information stored there as well. Securities firms are gearing up to address the issue of security. One CIO recently described the BYOD landscape as the “Wild West” –where the rules are being rethought daily to address current issues.
One thing we seem to have overlooked in the transportation industry when addressing BYOD for our drivers is service. That’s right, BYOD also has a component of BYOS (Bring Your Own Service). How will you service your driver’s device if and when he needs help or is lost or stolen? Yes he is using his personal smart phone to do messaging, wow, what a great concept….until it doesn’t work and your driver calls for help. Your reaction? “Take your device to the nearest store and get someone to look at it”–but is that practical? And what happens in the interim to the load you need information on, or the tracking you need to maintain? What about the out of route miles and time associated with replacement? Service is critical when there are problems.
Trucking executives are clamoring for mobile communication providers to offer a strategy for BYOD, and while there can be cost savings on hardware, there are serious issues with not just security, but service. How, when, who, where? So BYOD users…….what’s your BYOS strategy?
