I began this series by looking at the importance of understanding generational differences and individual user requirements before SMEs embark upon a BYOD policy. My last post then looked into the costs of allowing employees to bring their own personal devices into the workplace. Here, I take one step further and examine how the BYOD trend is accelerating the rise of the Personal Cloud.

BYOD driving consumers' appetite to Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC)

The BYOD trend has become a clear indicator of something broader happening in the market – the advent of the personal cloud, where smart mobile devices and their associated apps are becoming more and more part of the enterprise communications space.

The first reaction people have when they have a task is often to ask 'is there an app for that?' Think about your own personal cloud on your device of choice – it may include iTunes music storage, DropBox file sharing, WebEx conferencing...the list goes on!

Consumers are increasingly synchronising using cloud-based services, building their own ‘Personal Cloud’. It is in this way that the personal cloud can provide users with a new level of flexibility with the devices they use for professional and private activities, ultimately enabling new levels of user satisfaction and productivity.

Three strategies to make the shift

There are three distinct strategies which enterprises can implement in order to support a shift to the personal cloud:

• Rethink Services – It's not enough to deliver specific communications services and apps for specific devices – every app should be available for every device. People switch between devices, locations and tasks, and they need flexibility and control over the services and apps they use to continue working seamlessly and efficiently.

• Evolve Networks – Supporting the personal cloud requires an intelligent network. SMEs should look to implement an Application Fluent Network (AFN) that can recognise different traffic types from different users and devices, and accordingly prioritise and monitor traffic.

• Adopt the Cloud – To support mobility and self-service consumption models, SMEs need a cloud-ready architecture to allow access to applications, services and other resources antyime, anywhere.

What does this mean for SMEs?

The advent of the cloud means that users can make their own choices about applications, services and content, encouraging a culture of self-service which users now expect in all aspects of their digital lives.

Cloud technology also offers significant cost benefits – unlike with traditional IT set ups, SMEs no longer need to spend time and money on running rooms full of energy hungry servers. It also means they can cut down on the amount they need to splash out on IT workers.

With the right approach to communications services, applications and network infrastructure, SMEs can strengthen and build on the initiative their employees have already taken to extend and augment their work capabilities, providing greater flexibility and mobility across the company.

This is the last of three blogs on the topic of BYOD from Manish. To view the previous entries please click here and here.