Both BYOD and IoT are business disruptors. If your company is prepared and ready, these disruptors will be great; they’ll shake up the company and present a new way of doing business. If you aren’t prepared for these initiatives to come into your enterprise, they will present challenges and exhaust your IT staff.
BYOD is well on its way to solidifying its position in business offices and companies are adopting BYOD management policies. This emerging market trend is growing in popularity with 79% of employees saying it allows them to do their job better. IoT and its business implications are still relatively new, but its benefits aren’t going unnoticed. The ability to learn from large amounts of in-depth data present huge business advantages.
IoT Network Needs
In the Internet of Things or IoT environments, data is gathered through the connectivity of large amounts of smart devices to a network. This connectivity can put a large strain on a company’s network as it means a higher bandwidth consumption, additional security concerns, and additional storage requirements. To capitalize on IoT and big data, a network needs to be prepared for these needs.
To ensure efficient, secure, and reliable IoT platforms and data feeds, a flexible and scalable network infrastructure is a must. Choosing the appropriate network protocols and topologies requires consideration of several factors including, but not limited to, device type and location, power consumption, budget, coverage requirements, and application needs. Each of these factors will influence your network decision.
BYOD Network Needs
While BYOD offers several benefits, there are often additional costs associated with it to prepare a company’s network for an onslaught of employee devices. One frequently overlooked cost is an increased use of Wireless LAN. In the majority of offices, Wireless LAN is set up to manage and facilitate a small number of devices used for visitors, presentations, or meetings. BYOD management brings strain to a network like that, requiring increased capacity limit and a network update. Instead of having to accommodate a few devices, offices have to provide data for multiple devices that are being used much more frequently.
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Controlling network access is also a concern when implementing BYOD initiatives. The use of personal devices in businesses does affect IT infrastructure. Eighty-one percent of employees use their personal laptops or tablets for work related tasks, meaning company resources are being used, but they aren’t being monitored.
This introduces the possibility of rogue employees taking advantage of the company network. There are networks that do require login credentials, but most employees have the knowledge to use the data to log in on their personal devices. To combat this issue, network security should be strengthened. Your business needs to have control over the usage of employee’s personal devices.
BYOD and IoT are here to stay; they offer too many business advantages to dismiss. What you need to do is prepare for them if you haven’t already. Each of these has different network requirements to make them successful. ACSI has successfully assisted customers in energy, government, K-12 and higher education prepare and implement BYOD management software and IoT platforms in their environment. Call us to learn more.
