Ignore BYOD At Your Peril

Bring your own device (BYOD) is here. Not coming later, here now.

There has been much written about the consumerization of IT in the workplace, but in short, it refers to how the technology we use at home now drives how we want to work.

Our houses are full of smart devices - phones, tablets, laptops, and a myriad of other connected entertainment devices. We have a rich internet experience with online TV, gaming and the explosion of Music As A Service (think Spotify and Pandora) and Movies As A Service.  With such easy access to so much content at home consumers who, funnily enough, are also employees, are demanding more at work.  And the IT department is struggling to keep up.

How many of us have heard of, or experienced, executive magpies?  You know the people I mean;  the executives that pick up a new gadget duty-free while returning from a conference that, the next day, they want connected to their enterprise IT systems.  

With the explosion of BYOD, this is no longer limited to traveling executives.  It happens every day now as people expect to be able to use the technology they use at home, at work.  Every employee, customer, supplier, or partner of yours wants access to your systems on any device, at any time, from any location.  But, despite the exponential growth in BYOD, the real wave is building like a tsunami on the horizon. The next five years will see a whole new level of demand from your stakeholders. 

Why?  Because schools are leading the charge.  I was pleasantly surprised, and instantly awake when at the 2013 Wellington College open day the deputy principal made the following statement: "BYOD, "he said, "was the single biggest revolution in education - bigger than the introduction of the PC." 

Why is BYOD such a big deal in the classroom?  When a student has unfettered internet access on any device, anywhere they can find more information of a higher quality, more quickly.  They can visit discussion forums, find reference material and read opinion pieces.  They can ingest, digest and act on information in ways that we mere plebs will struggle to comprehend.

It is this push to have unlimited connectivity in the classroom that should serve as a huge wake-up call to businesses.

These kids are about to enter the workforce.  They are the grads you will be hiring in the next few months.  

And when you hire them they will demand a different, higher, level of service from your corporate services than the Gen-X or Gen-Y people you currently employ.  They will expect to have a wealth of information available, on-demand, at light speed.  They won’t delineate between internal and external systems.  To them it is just information – the source is not relevant.  

They will expect to work, collaborate and contribute at any time of the day, especially while sitting in boring Gen-X run meetings.  They will also expect to download a song or update a social media feed when it suits them.  They will expect real-time, frequent internal communication, and they will expect to be able to respond to it instantly.

Their connected worlds will blend into one. There won't be a work life and a personal life to balance, but rather just a life.  I life lived online.

And if you don’t allow them the access they crave on the device they desire you will lose them.  That could be a disaster for your business if it depends on hiring the best talent to fuel innovation and creativity.


BYOD is here now and if you are not prepared to take steps to harness the power it brings, your business could be just working out its notice.  Or worse still, it may already be dead.

Cheers!

He Should Stay 'Sir Douglas'

There has been a lot said of Sir Douglas Graham, even before the Court Of Appeal rejected his, and his fellow directors, appeal against their convictions. 

But in my opinion Sir Graham should not be stripped of, nor pressured to give up, his knighthood. 

Yes, he was found guilty of making untrue statements in the prospectus of a finance company  for which he was a director, but it should be noted that the Judge said at the time, "I am satisfied that the accused genuinely believed in the accuracy and adequacy of the content of the offer documents when they were issued" but "the alleged offences are ones of strict liability so the Crown is not required to prove any form of mental intent to distribute documents that were false or misleading".


Two things about Sir Douglas stand out for me:

1. According to Susan Wood on Newstalk ZB today, Sir Graham himself lost $2 million dollars when the finance company collapsed.  $2 million dollars is a lot of money.  He didn't fleece investors for $2m which he pocketed, he lost his own money.  Yes, he signed off untrue statements, but as the judge said, not to intentionally rip anyone off.   It was a mistake, a costly mistake, and he has been tried and found guilty and will be punished in the courts as a result.

2. Sir Douglas earned his knighthood by leading New Zealand into an era of unprecedented healing and reconciliation.  Our Nation's history includes some very tragic and regrettable events.  Events where people, citizens of New Zealand, were subjected to some horrendous crimes.  Executions without trials, property confiscation, and illegal imprisonment.  It wasn't always one way traffic, but in the end there were definitely winners and losers.  Sir Douglas was the man who lead the parties through a process that began reconciliation.  Apologies were made, forgiveness was given, compensation was paid.

Sir Douglas managed to achieve things that no previous Minister had been able to do.  He earned his knighthood by being a humble, honest and decent man working in the service of all New Zealanders. In my opinion he has failed as a director, and he will be punished by the courts just like his colleagues.  But the work that earned him his knighthood will live on for generations.  That fact can never be changed.

It won't surprise me if he does give it up, or it is stripped.  New Zealanders are all too easily lead by a sensationalist media that is looking for a headline, and what better than seeing a mighty man fall. 

I hope he doesn't give it up, and I hope John Key resists the demands of the merciless media who call for Sir Douglas's head.

Sir Douglas, thank you for what you did to help heal the wounds of our nation.  We are indebted to you.
 
Cheers!