This blog post and its associated images have been reproduced with the explicit permission of TkXel , MarkiTech’s technology partner.
Written by,
Umair Maqsood, Heads Marketing, TkXel
Technological advancements have influenced all spheres of life in the last few decades. From shaping the needs of the customers to the production and supply of products and services from organizations, technology has played a major role in transforming global markets. In the recent years, Internet of Things (IoT) and Build Your Own Device (BYOD) has taken the technology world by storm.
Internet of Things is the conversion of objects into smart devices by enabling them to transfer useful information. In the coming years, Wi-Fi is going to be available everywhere which will make the use of smart devices easier. With the help of cloud networks, smart devices will be able to transfer valuable information to the cloud and enable timely usage of data.
BYOD is the method used by several organizations where employees are allowed to work on their personal devices using company’s confidential data. Though it has its advantages such as cost saving for the corporations, it brings the risks of losing valuable client data, misuse of confidential information and security breach.
Agility has become important for businesses and IoT and BYOD are thought to be the drivers of business agility. This blog will shed light on the importance of business agility and the role IoT and BYOD are going to play in it.
What is Business Agility?
Business agility refers to the ability of an organization to adapt to changes in its internal and external environment. For maintaining long term agility, it is important to ensure there is balance within the operations and the management is flexible to changes. In today’s rapidly evolving technology market, it is vital for corporations to incorporate agility in their businesses to survive.
Business agility urges businesses to walk at the pace of technology and the changes in their respective industries. Companies which are too rigid to move away from the use of proven methods of conducting operations often are left behind and lose competitive advantage. Innovation and business agility go hand in hand and lead to long term survival of businesses.
BYOD and Business Agility
Bring Your Own Device is the term which emerged in order to empower the employees and incorporate technology across all business areas. BYOD is a part of ‘consumerisation of IT” plan which allows employees to use the devices they prefer for the company’s work. It helps in improving employee productivity but puts confidential data at risk.
Owen Wheatley, an ISG director, stated that from the employer’s perspective, BYOD is an opportunity to enable a happy workforce, make employees more mobile and more motivated, with the associated increases in productivity and talent retention.
Consumerisation of IT is not limited to the use of personal tablets and smartphones for accessing company’s data. It also includes the use of online services such as online data storage, access to social media accounts and company’s web applications like webmail.
Even though there are security concerns, BYOD has enabled businesses to increase worker productivity and decrease operational cost by relying on the devices of employees. To cater to the issues of data productivity, companies have started rolling out BYOD policies which are helping in data protection.
BYOD has enabled corporations in making their business models more agile. The use of personal devices has resulted in bringing devices of all kinds at one place which has helped in assessing the viability of each device for the business.
For example, an employee using his personal MacBook is able to complete complex tasks in less time compared to the employee using company’s desktop system. This can help the administration in making wise purchase decisions if the company plans to buy new operating systems for the employees.
It is usually not possible for companies to update their system at the very instant when some new software or device is introduced in the market. It also results in a huge cost burden on the company. If an employee purchases new and improved device and wants to work on it, it will be beneficial for the company. Hence, using BYOD can help in improving business efficiency.
IoT and Business Agility
The law of nature is that those who evolve with it are the ones to survive and those who are reluctant to move along eventually die. The same rule is applied to global markets and the organizations which develop agility are the ones to survive. Similarly, companies cannot grow and develop in the modern technologically driven world by not making the best use of IoT for their businesses.
IoT apps and enabled products are making their way to the global markets and many organizations have started using them to monitor the performance of their products.
“In the next century, planet earth will don an electronic skin. It will use the Internet as a scaffold to support and transmit its sensations” said Neil Gross in 1999 and we are witnessing this now. From sensors monitoring infants for SIDS prevention to monitoring commercial products, IoT has made its way to the global market.
With the help of IoT, businesses are making use of rapidly evolving customer needs and incorporating them in their services and products. This is not only helping them in increasing their customer base but has also enabled them to stay ahead of their competition. IoT, hence, is playing a crucial role in increasing business agility.
Conclusively, IoT and BYOD have played an important role in making businesses flexible to the evolving market needs and technological trends.
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