Top 4 BYOD predictions for 2016
“Businesses of every size in every part of the world are becoming increasingly reliant on mobile devices for conducting business operations, and the mobile enabled workforce has become the new normal,” said Gary Greenbaum, Syntonic’s CEO. “BYOD is now mainstream and forthcoming legislation will continue to raise awareness for reimbursement and compliance issues surrounding BYOD.”
Here are 4 trends that may change BYOD.
First, underserved SMBs will be a focus of the major BYOD technology and service providers
In 2016, technology providers will recognize the SMB opportunity – one report indicates 61% of SMBs allow employees to bring devices to work – and bring to market scalable, self-service solutions to help SMBs experience the same BYOD benefits that have previously been reserved for large enterprises. The combination of Android for Work, updates to Apple’s iOS, enhancements to Microsoft Intune, and competition from new service and technology companies will help drive cost effective solutions into the SMB market.
Second, CFOs and CIOs will become primary stakeholders in managing BYOD
“BYOD provides a unique business function that impacts nearly every department in an organization – employees, HR, finance and IT. Shared concerns around value and security will bring the offices of the CFO and CIO together to achieve cost effective solutions on mobile technology,” writes the company. “The need to improve BYOD programs will foster a new understanding about the importance of having a mobile-device enabled workforce, and the benefit this has on improving business productivity. In 2016, CFOs and CIOs will become primary decision-makers for BYOD programs to ensure checks and balances between IT operations, finance, and employees.”
Third, world-wide BYOD usage will increase 2016, European BYOD usage will increase 30%.
“A recent forecast from IDC expects mobile workers will account for 72% of the U.S. workforce by 2020. In the U.S., mobile device split billing solutions will be driving force accelerating the adoption of formal workplace BYOD programs. Next year, we will see the availability of these solutions catch on in Europe, where adoption of BYOD has stalled due to more stringent laws around data security and privacy. Although the region has experienced a slower start, Syntonic foresees European workplace mobility picking up. Next generation BYOD security and management solutions will provide the ability to ensure personal privacy with selective wipe that is restricted to business data after an employee leaves a company. These solutions will lead to significant increases in BYOD adoption around the globe with Europe leading the way,” said Greenbaum.
Fourth, employee class action lawsuits for BYOD employee reimbursement will move beyond California.
The California Court of Appeals recently ruled that employers have an obligation to reimburse employees (Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service) for the business use of their personal mobile phone. Massachusetts has similar labor law and is likely to follow California’s lead by enforcing the same requirements for BYOD in 2016, suggests Greenbaum. Syntonic believes employee class action lawsuits around BYOD will be on the rise as employees increasingly advocate their rights to mobile reimbursement.
