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Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) is the one topic that has remained top of mind for everyone in IT this year. For some it equals freedom, for some it is a nightmare waiting to happen. 

Regardless of whether you view BYOD as a savior or a demon, there has been some great research put together on the trend. We here at Xigo decided to assemble that data and share some cold hard facts and figures around BYOD for all of you. And we decided to present it to you in an infographic. Because we’re nice like that.

For instance, did you know that by 2015, there will be more than 15 billion network connected devices?  That equals more than two devices for every person on the planet!   How will IT departments manage that—especially in a BYOD world?

Or how about how many employees and students would accept a lower-paying job as a trade-off to be able to use a device of their choice?  You’ll be surprised at the numbers.

So read on and learn all about the numbers behind BYOD…and how best to manage it.

http://www.xigo.com/byod/

This week’s blog post is coming to you from Dimension Data’s Global Technology Director, Nadeem Ahmad. This blog was actually posted last year but we thought it was worth re-blogging since the content is so timely and relevant.

Results from a Dimension Data visual communications survey showed that 46.4% of polled organizations reported between 10 – 20% of their employees work remotely, and 21.3% of people are travelling 3-5 times per week.

To support this growing mobile workforce and to help stay competitive, it’s more critical than ever for enterprises to incorporate the latest technologies to help employees stay connected and be as successful as possible.

In this post, Ahmad provides some key considerations to help enterprises determine their mobile requirements and develop the most effective enterprise mobility strategy.

When you’re done with that one, take a look at one of our other recent posts that provides some good tips and best practices for managing mobile expenses in the enterprise.

According to a recent survey, 85% of hospital IT departments allow doctors and staff to use personal devices at work. Furthermore, we also know that doctors are 250% more likely to own a tablet than other consumers. It’s now clear that BYOD in healthcare has arrived and is here to stay.

Despite many organizations’ best efforts to create tight security policies around the mingling of work and personal information, recent studies and anecdotal evidence have shown that it is still occurring. Along with enforcing HIPAA regulations and ensuring that patient data is not accessed outside of secure, approved systems, strong policies must also be put in place when healthcare professionals are using their own devices to manage the costs and risks associated.

Xigo has met with its clients and come up with a few additional rules (beyond HIPAA compliance and device/network security) for healthcare IT departments either deploying BYOD, such as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, or being forced to consider it by employees.

Six rules to consider when it comes to managing BYOD in healthcare organizations:

1. Educate Doctors and Nurses About Appropriate Usage of Devices
   Ensure that smartphones and devices are set up properly so that personal and professional information is not mixed together. We’re not even talking about patient information here—that should never even be a possibility—but rather inter-office communication, timesheets, etc.  This will ensure that important information is not lost and healthcare institutions are not incurring expenses when personal applications are used during work hours.

2. Manage Smartphone Applications—They Can be Distracting and Costly
   There are thousands of smartphone applications available for purchase these days. These apps can be very costly for healthcare organizations. Make sure your policies are set prior to launching BYOD programs. Certain applications may need to be turned off or blocked during work hours to avoid unnecessary distractions and costs.

3. Not all Providers Offer Appropriate Plans for Healthcare Organizations
   Healthcare institutions should do the necessary research to understand all the various providers and plans and choose the one that will best support their organization’s specific needs.

4. Renegotiate Wireless Contracts
   With the influx of tablets and smartphones, wireless companies are constantly changing their corporate service plans.  Data and phone plans should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure health organizations are not paying for unused services and are fully maximizing their mobile spend.  Greater use of Wi-Fi in the healthcare facility can help to mitigate expenses.

5. Track Unused Devices
   More often than not, unused devices can go unnoticed but not canceled. It is essential to track hospital issued devices to ensure you are not paying for ones that are sitting in a drawer.

6. Have a mobile expense management (MEM) plan in place before implementing BYOD
   Mobile expense management software can help organizations manage these devices and service plans, track monthly expenses, budget for new devices and see real-time updates of your mobile expenses.  This software can prevent waste, fraud and bill shock from being an issue in your organization.