How Many Devices Does Each Employee Use for Work?

girl_in_coffee_shopPeople are working anytime, anywhere.This is part of what’s driving an increase of the usage of data across mobile networks. This has a lot to do with more reliable networks and cheaper carrier data plans, in addition to the proliferation of devices.

The ubiquity of public and private wi-fi, whether secure or not, is also allowing people to work from anywhere at any time on multiple devices. You can see this for yourself by walking into a popular coffee shop — take note of how many people are using their laptop or tablet (or both!), in addition to having a smartphone on the table at the same time.

Telecommuting on the Rise

Being connected to the workplace is easier than ever before. Many businesses are allowing BOYD or COYD, and in many cases, both are available. This, combined with new enterprise applications, has increased the proliferation of telecommuting, or remote workers, providing flexibility for workers and employers alike. This flexibility may translate to multiple devices, possibly even three or four, being used for work-related activities.

For instance, telecommuters could be using their personal laptop or tablet at home in addition to their company-issued PC or laptop. These workers may also be using their mobile smartphones for more than just phone calls as a way of conducting business while on-the-go or working from home. Unified communications systems mean that you can take and make calls anywhere, with any device, using your work number. Workers are no longer chained to a desk.

Challenges of Multiple Devices

This increased flexibility comes with a few challenges for IT Asset Management (ITAM) and security. First, IT asset managers would need to keep track of many devices and keep up with software licenses for each and every one. Despite the advantages, this does equate to more work. Second, IT Security must ensure that to the data stored on each device is secure, and that the network and application access is all secure.

And, of course, you must be concerned with the end-of-life of these devices. The more devices used by each employee, regardless of the benefits, the more difficult it can become to manage all of them. If the device is owned by the employee, how do you make sure that all corporate access, applications, and data have been removed from the devices? And if a mobile device is company-owned, how do you ensure that it gets back to the company securely and in good condition? This adds some new logistics challenges to the asset manager’s task load.

At the end of an asset’s useful life, whether its BYOD or CYOD, or corporate-owned and assigned, ITAM leaders can partner with a good ITAD company to ensure it’s done right and to make it less of a challenge.

file-2717090997

More From Our Blog...