Reasons You Should Invest in Enterprise Mobility Solutions
In the past few years, the abbreviation BYOD has become the main synonym for corporate mobility. This is the use of one’s own gadgets in the workplace. At the same time, the use of corporate devices for remote work, the so-called COPE, remained in the shadows. To some extent, this is due to the fact that in order to implement the COPE strategy in the company, it is necessary to buy a device, hire service personnel and resolve issues related to information security. And in the case of BYOD, everything is simpler: an employee brings his gadget, and the owner of the company does not know which one it is and how it works. The firm only provides service. But in both cases, you need to find a reliable enterprise app development company to create software.
Why has BYOD become more popular, but is gradually losing ground?
The choice between COPE and BYOD is closely related to the challenges facing companies. BYOD technology gives the user the ability to work from anywhere, anytime, and most importantly, from anything. That is, from a device with which the user can comfortably carry out the tasks assigned to him. When we talk about the COPE solution, the situation changes. Another goal arises, namely the need to standardize the user’s mobile workstation. What is it for? First of all, to save time. The downtime of an ordinary office worker does not play a big role. But when we talk about employees in the fields, those who need to do their job exactly on time, a prerequisite is the predictability of their actions and the precise operation of the devices they use. Here, the failure of a BYOD tablet can clog the business process that brings the company money.
In an area where tough business processes take place and there is a clear timing, it is necessary to make standardized decisions. If it is not time that is more important, but the quality of performance, then that is another story. Quality often depends on the convenience of the tool we use.
When is it better to use COPE?
There are areas of activity, business tasks for which BYOD is simply not applicable. As a rule, these are cases when it is important to ensure the safety and reliability of a large number of users with typical applications. BYOD is not effective when the cost of downtime is very high. For example, in the work of sales representatives. That is, in some cases, it will be correct to use BYOD, in others – COPE. By the way, the overwhelming majority is still BYOD oriented.
Is the demand for corporate mobility growing? What are the factors driving this demand?
Today, demand is growing, and the market is introducing mobile technologies in the following areas:
- Organization of secure access to e-mail.
- Implementation of legally significant document flow on mobile devices.
As a rule, companies with more than 500 employees are concerned about these issues.
About 75–80% of companies used BYOD in 2018, and 25–20% used COPE. But already in 2020, the situation has changed a lot. The trend of moving to corporate devices continues. At the beginning of 2021, the ratio was already 60% to 40%. Among the followers of the second strategy, we find companies of 1000-1500 people and even 2500 people.
Can you single out the industries in which it is most logical to use only COPE? For example, what strategy should banks choose?
This is COPE, because for banks, protection comes first. At the same time, even if you have a commercial mobile application adapted for local networks, each bank still adjusts the package to the needs of the business. This rule applies to all financial institutions. Experts advise using the same approach to scientific institutes and those companies that are very concerned about the safety of their developments. As for software products, their creation should be entrusted only to specialized companies that provide enterprise software development services.
