Aug 19, 2014 : Use the Cloud to Encourage BYOD

📅 August 19, 2014 - The concept of BYOD (bring your own device) is becoming more popular in business these days. There are a number of reasons for this. For example, many businesses may need to cut costs, and more professionals than ever are already carrying mobile devices to work with them anyway. According to a report by Tech Pro, as much as 62 percent of companies allow BYOD, and that number is expected to continue to grow. Companies that want to make the most of this newfound employee mobility can leverage cloud services to make it happen.

As more professionals bring their smartphones, tablets and laptops to work, the need for company services that extend beyond the walls of the office will become more prominent. Company applications need to be accessible from anywhere in and outside of the physical buildings. Utilizing virtualization along public, private and/or hybrid cloud applications can make this easier to achieve.

While you could rely on standard self-hosted web applications, these will require you to maintain and support them, particularly as mobile technology changes. You might have to support as many as 3 laptop operating systems and at least 3 mobile operating systems. On the other hand, an experienced cloud service provider that specializes in mobility can ensure that your apps are always compatible with the platforms you need. Even a private cloud model that relies on standardization of platform support will make it easier to support true employee mobility.

BYOD is likely here to stay. In order to accommodate your employees' devices and also ensure that those devices are secure, it is imperative that you develop a BYOD policy. That policy should include methods of off-site access, and cloud hosting is an excellent method to consider.