Half of Offices to Mandate BYOD by 2017: What This Means for Business Centers

Published on May 15, 2013 - By Mike Sullivan

IT departments at companies large and small are waking up and smelling the BYOD. Bring Your Own Device, that is.

IT departments at companies large and small also understand that employees are using their devices for both work and play.

For all the “bring your own device” trend predictions, here’s one that business centers should pay attention to: Gartner’s estimates 38 percent of companies will stop providing devices to workers by 2016 and half of companies will mandate BYOD by 2017.

What exactly is BYOD? Gartner defines it as an alternative strategy that allows employees, business partners and other users to use a personally selected and purchased client device to execute enterprise applications and access data. Gartner also includes PCs in the BYOD mix.

“BYOD strategies are the most radical change to the economics and the culture of client computing in business in decades,” said David Willis, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “The benefits of BYOD include creating new mobile workforce opportunities, increasing employee satisfaction, and reducing or avoiding costs.”

Gartner said BYOD is most prevalent in mid-size and large organizations. Gartner reports that BYOD does increase risks and changes expectations for CIOs, and security is the top concern for BYOD. That said, IT is catching up to the trend. More than half of organizations rate themselves high in security of corporate data for enterprise-owned mobile devices.

How does this impact your business center? This is in line with the mobile workforce trend. As more employees tap into BYOD, they are likely to carry their work with them everywhere they go. This will eventually lead to more mobile working opportunities – and more mobile working expectations. In other words, companies mandating BYOD is just the first step. The next step is greater expectations of always-on employees.

How can your business center best serve mid-size and large corporations as the BYOD trend continues gaining momentum? What can your business center do to attract more mobile workers? What are your competitors doing?

Checking out the competitive landscape is good place to start. And not just in your own industry, but also in the hospitality and restaurant industries. You could be an early adopter in the quest to attract mobile workers. Beyond Regus, no other major business center brand has thrown down the gauntlet – and Regus’ approach isn’t the only one.

The bottom line is this: BYOD and mobile working are becoming an increasing reality. There are many different ways you can leverage these mobility trends, from your technology infrastructure to your workstation arrangement. Take some time now to do your market research and come up with your strategy before the competition gets ahead of you.

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