Behold, The BYOD Office of the Future!

One of the biggest trends in the modern office is employees bringing their own personal devices to work (BYOD). Many businesses are making changes to their IT infrastructure to make room for BYOD. With BYOD growing in popularity, it's appropriate for businesses to ask where this trend is heading. What will a fully evolved BYOD office of the future look like?

Can BYOD Totally Replace Traditional IT?
Currently, office workers are bringing in their personal devices to complement their workstations, but considering how every new device is more powerful than the last, it won't be too long before a mobile device will be able to replace a workstation. At this point in the development of technology, a new phone can't replace a new PC; but, a new smartphone can actually stack up nicely against an older PC when it comes to performing critical tasks, especially in comparison to a PC that's 5-to-10 years old.

How old are your company's workstations? Are you cycling them out every three years as recommended by the manufacturers? If you're like one of many businesses hit by the economic recession, then chances are that upgrading your computers hasn't been a priority and you're getting by with older equipment. If you're due in for a technology upgrade, then you should take a look at the newest gadgets that are blurring the line between PCs and mobile devices, many of these devices may be able to handle your workload.

The past few years of technological development have seen less of an emphasis on making PCs more powerful, and more attention given to mobile technology, like improving cloud services and designing mobile apps that seamlessly work with their desktop counterparts. Even now, a business has the capability to virtualize their entire IT infrastructure by hosting it to the cloud, and essential tasks, like editing files, browsing the Internet, sending e-mails, and making phone calls, can simultaneously be accomplished on newer devices. A virtualized network can be accessed from anywhere by any device, which can make a workstation obsolete.

Replacing a clunky workstation with a sleek smartphone sounds great, but what are some realistic obstacles keeping businesses from making this switch? For many workers, the usability of their PC over their device is the only thing keeping their workstation employed. With mobile devices, it can be frustrating to type a detailed e-mail and do heavy Internet browsing on a small screen. A PC comes with a big screen, keyboard, and mouse: Advantage PC.

Yet, smartphones can do what a PC can do, and by definition, any device that's programmable, and has CPU and memory, is a computer. If the only thing keeping a user from making their mobile device their primary computer is screen size, then this problem can easily be remedied with a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard, along with a dock or port that will allow for a device to connect with a monitor. This kind of setup will essentially turn your device into a laptop that can be transported in your pocket.

What will the Office of the Future Look Like?
Looking into the future, an office operating around BYOD is a strong possibility. A worker would bring in their personal device and sit at a desk that has a keyboard, monitor, and mouse with no PC tower. The worker would then dock their device to the equipment and access all of the company's data from the cloud through that thin client. All the technology in the office would operate wirelessly over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which would eliminate the cost to maintain a traditional IT infrastructure. In the office of the future, the server room would be emptied and used instead to store battery packs for flying cars.

While it's true that not every business may be ready to ditch their servers and go wireless, it's important to at least consider this eventuality as you upgrade your network piece-by-piece. You can gradually virtualize your old inefficient server units into new ones. You can begin to migrate your business applications to the cloud and make them accessible to mobile devices. You can also upgrade your wireless routers to boost your Wi-Fi signal in preparation for the new wireless devices that will be added to your network.

BYOD and the cloud is making possible an exciting vision of what the future office can look like, but BYOD shouldn't be adopted lightly. There are many security risks associated with having unapproved and unscanned devices accessing your network. Before allowing for BYOD, you will need to have strong security policies in place. If you would like help enacting security solutions to make BYOD safe, or if you would like help giving your office a competitive edge by virtualizing your network to the cloud, then call us at (703) 821-8200.