The New IT Era – BYO IT Device

A supportive and innovative internal IT Team or external consultancy adds value across many aspects of a well performing business; without them we would be lacking the applications and tools required to service the changing needs of our customers.  What is considered less often is that how they manage the internal systems and desktop environment directly impacts employee’s feelings around a company’s culture.  Most of us have sat at our desk at some stage without the correct or updated tools required to do our jobs efficiently and questioned our usefulness.  While the last few years have seen new challenges for our IT cousins with the likes of managing employee internet access to online trading sites and personal social media pages there is a new change in the wind... the BYO IT device.

In the US alone there were 26 million iPhones opened on Christmas day and this count does not include iPad's, iTouch’s or similar devices from other manufacturers.  In NZ terms, we could see over 50,000 more internet capable devices being brought into the workplace as the New Year commences.  The key question is “is this to the benefit or detriment of employee and business productivity?”.  The more I consider this question that more I believe that it is one of those things (like social media), that unless employers embrace it, they will be the ones that are left behind.

Two solutions we have seen successfully implemented involve allowing employees more choice and freedom, both adopting the same methodology that became popular a few years ago with car allowances:

• One company gave their employee’s a monthly phone allowance to cover both their calls and data usage, thus giving the employee their own choice of phone and plan without having to carry two mobiles and whilst having ready access to the internet.  From the business’ point of view it reduced the management and headache of reviewing and managing staff mobile bills and productivity was gained by the employees having remote access to email and their sales CRM application.  A similar solution could also work well for tablets and other devices.

• An Australian based company went all out and for all new employees they offered a one-off payment of $3000 to cover the purchase of a selected range of laptops, mobile phone and home printers.  As these items became personal to the user they found that after the initial setup by their IT team was complete, the on-going support was minimal.

Obviously it depends on the type of role and business and this needs to be carefully considered when reviewing your IT policy, however wherever possible and practical, by supporting and empowering employees to choose communication solutions to fill the companies need and work for them personally, surely the end result will be a positive impact on company culture? Food for thought.

^DB