Buoyant Indian enterprises adopt BYOD big time

BANGALORE, INDIA: A recent study by Cisco and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) threw up some interesting facts on the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) trend in India. As it stands, 66 per cent of the chief information officers (CIOs) in the Indian enterprises encourage their respective employees to bring their own devices to work. About 44 per cent of them even let their staff pick and choose their own set of personal devices to execute their work at office premises.

The report went on to highlight some intriguing statistics, such as 72 per cent of security leaders and CIOs witnessing an increased demand for flexibility in using end-point devices. Around 59 per cent believed rigid policies around the end-points are frustrating business users.

Adoption of BYOD among the Indian CIO community is poised to get to 100 per cent in a matter of time. Atul Bansal, chief technology officer, of Sincere Consulting - which is into providing CIO-on-demand and help enterprises implement server and storage virtualization, and adopt cloud computing - says that in his previous capacity as the V-P of IT at Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd, the company had considered BYOD, as it provides access to the new generation of employees and is secure.

"It allows them to use their devices, after partitioning the requisite devices and incorporating security measures like Sandbox. They can carry their smartphone, tablet or laptop anywhere, and it is safe," he adds.

The burgeoning small and medium enterprise (SME) segment in the country, says Cisco, offers a major scope for adoption of personal devices, which has gone up by 25 per cent annually. Bansal is now toying with the idea at his start-up, once it reaches that capacity.

Keeping businesses agile

The four-decade-old multinational group, Essar, had a BYOD policy in place back in 2010, when the concept was still in its infancy - so far as the local market sentiments were concerned. Elucidating on its futuristic vision, CTO, N. Jayantha Prabhu, said at Citrix Synergy 2013 that more than catching up on trends, it was about keeping their business agile.

As its personnel have started globetrotting, the Essar Group equipped them with BlackBerry phones and let them connect to an internal social media application to carry out their daily chores from the comfort of their travel destinations.

At telecom major Spice Group, BYOD policy is in draft stage, informs its CIO Ajay Srivastava. "We will implement it soon, as we are considering a couple of models. Once we incorporate the company's security policy, the model will be highly beneficial, as the company doesn't have to pay upfront on the infrastructure and it will ensure mobility."

It is not only private organizations, but even among government enterprises that the traction is growing for adopting BYOD policies. About 52 per cent of the public sector allows employees to bring their own smartphones to work, and 50 per cent can use their own laptops, followed by tablets at 38 per cent, according to Gartner, Inc. "Vendors must also understand how the growing interest in BYOD policies and strategies may impact opportunities in the government sector. Security and governance may limit the pace and adoption," the report forewarns.

 

While it is true that the adoption is on the rise over the past few months and looks set to grow further, a few enterprises are still hesitant to jump on the bandwagon. "We are not interested in it, as our security policy doesn't support BYOD. We don't have the right climate now for BYOD policy implementation," divulges Ramesh Jannartham, GM-Corporate IT at Crompton Greaves.

The fact, however, remains that many companies are increasingly allowing employees to use even their personal smartphones for work, also known as the BYOD mobility deployment model, asserts HID Global. It states, "Using BYOD smartphones for a growing range of access control applications requires planning and a rigorous security assessment, along with an infrastructure that supports cloud-based provisioning of digital keys and credentials."

So, are you ready to join the BYOD legion?