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Why BYOD Needs Unlimited Wi-Fi to Be Successful

Welcome to the world of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), which has the potential to increase employee satisfaction and performance while also reducing up-front expenses for equipping the mobile workforce of the future. Allowing employees to choose and use their own mobile devices can result in immediate cost savings and instant increases in work performed.

Smart enterprises, however, know that the devices are cheap but the wireless networks they run on are expensive—and as such they are devising not only BYOD guidelines but Bring Your Own Network (BYON) policies as well, to rightsize the wireless mobile access costs for the employee tasks that need it.

Bring Your Own Device Empowers Employees

Why BYOD? As more corporate apps and other resources relocate to the cloud, it makes sense to allow end users to access data and applications whenever they want and wherever they are located. Allowing them to choose their own devices empowers employees and makes them more amenable to working longer and more productively from previously unconnected places.

While many enterprises are rapidly embracing a more mobile workforce, the big unsolved problem for many is the cost of wireless network access, and figuring out who pays for the mobile access. Cellular data plans are still notoriously hard to figure out, and with “unlimited” options going away there is the potential for cost overruns when users exceed their plan limits. Without a clear plan for purchase of mobile access, employees may make costly decisions (all in the name of “getting things done”) and pay for them out of pocket or bundle them into travel expenses, pushing connection costs into a budgetary black hole. Some users may go the other direction and not work when they are remote if they think mobile access costs are too high.

iPass Unlimited: The Solution To Cost Effective, Reliable Mobile Access

Whether employees pay the bill for their own smartphone use or whether the company provides prepaid plans, the key for a successful BYOD deployment is to make the network access component as clear as possible. From simple educational steps (like knowing when to switch from cellular to Wi-Fi) to full-featured solutions like the iPass Open Mobile Platform—which provides enterprises with the means to enforce expense and security policies while gaining visibility into device mobility needs enterprise-wide—there are many ways to allow enterprises to embrace the benefits of BYOD without fearing the hidden or sometimes confusing costs of network charges.

It’s clear; no BYOD plan is complete without a BYON companion. Enterprises need to control mobile access costs for all workers, develop policies for the use of corporate and end-user devices and differentiate between the level of support for wireless costs by employee groups as appropriate. With a solid, smart menu of choices, employees can be confident they are staying within guidelines while having the freedom to work where they want to, on the device of their choice. The bottom line: you will need BYON to make BYOD a success.

What’s Included in “Why BYOD Needs Unlimited Wi-Fi to Be Successful”:

  • Executive Summary
  • You CAN Take It With You… (And You Should)
  • Bring Your Own Catch
  • From Fax Machine To Apple Watch, In The Blink Of A Google Glass
  • Networks For Your Net Worth
  • Making BYON as Easy as BYOD
  • Pay It Forward, To Move Forward
  • Conclusion: Don’t Worry About the Device. Do Worry About the Network.

 

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