While businesses and employees alike have grown increasingly comfortable with the bring your own device workplace, there is every reason to believe that the growth in this paradigm won't be slowing down any time soon. Just as in years past, 2016 will play host to the continued expansion of BYOD policies across all industries and regions. Here are the key BYOD trends business leaders can expect to see throughout 2016.
High, Steady Growth
A study from IDC predicted that starting in 2016 and going to the end of 2020, the population of mobile workers in the U.S. will increase from 96.2 million to 105.4 million at a steady yearly rate over that timeframe. By the end of the forecast period, mobile workers will comprise 72.3 percent of the overall workforce.
The main drivers of this growth will be familiar to those who have already instituted BYOD in their companies — higher productivity, lower total IT costs and innovative business-friendly features like near-field communication, voice control and biometric security.
Solutions For Small and Midsized Businesses
Enterprise mobility management firm Syntonic found that SMBs will be a major focus for mobile solution vendors in 2016. This market has been consistently underserved, as IT budgets are typically tighter for smaller companies. Vendors will bring SMB-focused solutions to these businesses that are cost-effective, scalable and easily managed.
CFOs and CIOs Will Work Closely Together
Through its research, Syntonic also found that chief financial officers and chief information officers will need to work more closely together to manage both the technical and financial sides of the BYOD workplace effectively. Businesses adopt BYOD policies to keep costs low and avoid putting undue strain on limited IT resources, so to meet both goals will require cross-departmental collaboration.
If your business is considering implementing a BYOD policy, or is looking to expand on an existing one in 2016, it's important to ensure that your employees' devices are compatible with your systems. If you're still reliant on legacy infrastructure, a reliable Web-based terminal emulator can make it easy and inexpensive to give your users access to older mainframes even with new devices.