Bring Your Own Device Shakes Up IT Departments

Transcription

1 Bring Your Own Device Shakes Up IT Departments As employees quietly bring their personal devices to work, and forward-thinking companies respond, this win-win workplace revolution presents some challenges. An integrated bring your own device concept helps maximize the benefits while minimizing the risks. 1

2 The Facebook generation has been entering the workforce in waves for many years now. Having grown up with the ubiquitous availability of IT, its members accept and expect high levels of automation, 24-7 communication, and seamless connectivity as a way of life. With their more open attitude toward data privacy and a general disdain for controls and standardization, they come equipped with a plug and play mindset, experience in leading-edge IT concepts, and familiarity with devices such as the MacBook, iphone, and ipad and applications such as Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. For the Facebook generation employee, it is their personal IT experience that defines their baseline expectation of IT tools and services in the corporate environment. A well-designed BYOD strategy and implementation will ensure that personal IT devices boost employee productivity and satisfaction rates without increasing costs. Findings in a recent A.T. Kearney study appear to support this, indicating a clear trend toward the use of personal IT devices in the corporate environment, with almost 40 percent of respondents saying they use at least one personal IT device for business purposes. Clearly, the computer is no longer perceived as just the electronic means of getting the job done it has become a design tool that fosters personal expression and creativity, and not just in fields such as advertising and marketing but also in less conventional areas such as distribution. A fault line between IT standardization and IT personalization has started to emerge and requires management attention. So How Does That Work? For companies, it is difficult to reconcile people using their own devices at work against the practices and norms that have traditionally pervaded corporate IT: cost efficiency predicated on standardized hardware and software that is tightly controlled and governed. However, the number of companies whose IT departments are open to this new trend is rising, and they are beginning to accept a variety of IT devices and applications that are also used on a personal basis (see figure 1 on page 3). The umbrella term used to describe this concept is bring your own device (BYOD). BYOD encompasses a broad range of possibilities, from the simple connection of personal IT devices (such as tablets and smartphones) to the corporate network, up to complex funding models in which employees either receive a stipend for buying their own work equipment or contribute to any additional costs of a higher-value IT device in exchange for some personal usage rights. The result? Companies report improved productivity and efficiency and lower costs. For example, a software firm ran a global pilot in which employees chose their own company computer and the company supported each purchase with a payment of up to $2,000, on condition that an external three-year maintenance contract was part of the deal. From the pilot alone, the company was able to reduce device management costs by 20 percent and cut the budget for maintenance and upgrade tasks by 80 percent. 2

3 Figure 1 How personal devices safely access the corporate network 1 2 Within corporate network: access via separate firewall Outside corporate network: access via Internet (VPN) Notebook Tablet Smartphone Corporate IT 1 2 Internet Corporate PC Corporate PC BYOD firewall Secure corporate network Application Application Corporate firewall Cloud services Data Data Note: BYOD is bring your own device. Source: A.T. Kearney analysis For those successfully implementing BYOD initiatives, there are numerous benefits. Process times are shorter as employees use their devices outside their regular working hours and are consequently available after hours and out of the office to deal with basic tasks such as responding to s and attending video meetings. In addition, employees who have tools tailored to their needs as they perform their duties, rather than tools that meet company-wide standards, have a more positive attitude, and are more motivated and more efficient. A fault line between IT standardization and IT personalization has started to emerge and requires management attention. And because companies and employees share the cost of purchasing some IT devices, the burden on the IT budget is lower. Employees also benefit because they do not have to buy a second device for personal use. This assumes that their devices substitute, rather than supplement, the equipment already provided by the company. 3

4 The advantages of the BYOD concept are not, however, without certain challenges. These include the following: Protecting data. Less attention is often paid to the security of sensitive corporate data on private systems than on dedicated business IT systems, which exposes the organization to heightened risk. Furthermore, less standardization means more potential security vulnerabilities. Providing IT support. It goes without saying that users expect comprehensive IT support regardless of the heterogeneous system landscape. IT support teams obviously need to widen their skills and re-tool to address a more diverse IT asset base, a greater variety of device configurations, and more software incompatibilities and system conflicts quickly, competently, and cost effectively. Purchasing IT. Existing IT supply contracts will have to be recast, as fewer purchases make it difficult to obtain volume discounts on standard equipment and specifications. Smart Solutions Given the attractiveness of BYOD on the one hand and the significant challenges on the other, A.T. Kearney has devised an integrated BYOD concept that addresses five core areas to help capitalize on the benefits while minimizing the associated risks (see figure 2): Adapt the procurement concept. Defining a catalog of standard devices for various usage categories and including a list of high-value devices allows employees to choose their own devices and use them on a personal basis, and pay for any additional associated costs. The ongoing maintenance services for the redefined catalog is then outsourced to hardware suppliers. Figure 2 Focus on five core areas to boost benefits and reduce risk Procurement License and software management Architecture (IT security) Help desk Communications Source: A.T. Kearney analysis 4

5 Figure 3 Anatomy of a win-win situation how BYOD costs break down ($ thousand) Illustrative Savings to company: 13% Total savings: 22% Savings to employees: 40% Employees cost External SLAmployees cost 655 Company cost Internal service staff 131 Depreciation hardware Depreciation software 66 Initial cost to company Initial total cost Initial cost to employees BYOD cost to employees BYOD total cost BYOD cost to company Source: A.T. Kearney analysis Because a BYOD concept generally means cost savings for both the employee and the company when it comes to replacing workplace computers, the outcome is a classic win-win situation for everyone (see figure 3). Even if you continue to run with a full IT budget based on historic hardware costs, any additional costs for maintenance, for example, are likely to be offset by employees contributing to their share of IT costs. Improve license and software management. The company benefits from centralizing the packaging, distribution, provision, and management of software licenses for all applications. Define a comprehensive communications campaign. Implementing a communications campaign both within the company, for example in the form of IT governance guidelines, and outside the company, in the form of marketing measures, can highlight the company s innovative practices. This external marketing of a BYOD initiative serves to increase its appeal to young, qualified potential employees. Expand the IT help desk. Expanding the capacity of the IT help desk will be necessary to cope with the heterogeneous IT landscape and anticipated rise in user queries following the introduction of the BYOD concept. This usually means revised training, new support portals, wikis for self-help, and redefined service levels. 5

6 Alter the architecture (introduce virtualized work environments). The savings can only take effect at the workplace level when there is sufficient investment in a secure and capable IT architecture. Such investments should be seen in the context of the benefits already discussed increased productivity and efficiency and in the positive impact on the company s image. Making core applications such as Microsoft Office available to employees via the corporate intranet, either as a browser solution or a virtual application, has enormous advantages in that the company s actual application landscape is detached from the hardware-specific requirements of heterogeneous IT devices. These are equipped with an appropriate framework to ensure the secure access and use of enterprise applications. As the main applications and key data are provided over the Internet, IT security requirements and user-specific access and identity-management protocols are put in place. It is not simply a matter of providing access to data but also of safeguarding the use of corporate applications via the Internet. Getting Personal Pays Off Relaxing standardization with a successful BYOD concept begins with an analysis of the corporate culture to determine costs, benefits, potential users, and future IT requirements. Next, we make sure all statutory requirements regarding IT security, compliance, and tax legislation are addressed. Performing a pilot with select users is a good way to test the concept before going live. A well-designed strategy and implementation will ensure that personal IT devices boost employee productivity and satisfaction rates without increasing costs leading to a lasting advantage for companies and their employees. Author Robert Jekel, principal, Zurich robert.jekel@atkearney.com 6

7 A.T. Kearney is a global team of forward-thinking, collaborative partners that delivers immediate, meaningful results and long-term transformative advantage to clients. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors on CEO-agenda issues to the world s leading organizations across all major industries and sectors. A.T. Kearney s offices are located in major business centers in 39 countries. Americas Atlanta Calgary Chicago Dallas Detroit Houston Mexico City New York San Francisco São Paulo Toronto Washington, D.C. Europe Amsterdam Berlin Brussels Bucharest Budapest Copenhagen Düsseldorf Frankfurt Helsinki Istanbul Kiev Lisbon Ljubljana London Madrid Milan Moscow Munich Oslo Paris Prague Rome Stockholm Stuttgart Vienna Warsaw Zurich Asia Pacific Bangkok Beijing Hong Kong Jakarta Kuala Lumpur Melbourne Mumbai New Delhi Seoul Shanghai Singapore Sydney Tokyo Middle East and Africa Abu Dhabi Dubai Johannesburg Manama Riyadh For more information, permission to reprint or translate this work, and all other correspondence, please insight@atkearney.com. A.T. Kearney Korea LLC is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the A.T. Kearney name in Korea. 2012, A.T. Kearney, Inc. All rights reserved. The signature of our namesake and founder, Andrew Thomas Kearney, on the cover of this document represents our pledge to live the values he instilled in our firm and uphold his commitment to ensuring essential rightness in all that we do.