Bangalore June 3 2012 : The hot new trend of BOYD – Bring Your Own Device -- seems poised to change the connected environment at home and office -- and give a renewed fillip to indoors mobile networks. Multiple studies in recent days have testified to the emergence of a new trend that seems set to sweep the working environment world-wide, even while triggering a mini revolution in the ‘connected’ home. And almost as a corollary, this may push the networking industry to rethink strategy of indoor connectivity, with a new emphasis on wireless and mobile solutions.
BT Study: A study report released, late April 2012 by British Telecommunications plc (BT) found that BOYD is making progress within the corporate environment, with 60 per cent of employees using personal devices for work. Interestingly, India is one of the countries with some of the highest usage – 80 percent, second only to China with 92 percent. The BT research also shows that 82 per cent of companies say they already allow BYOD or will do so within the next 24 months. BYOD is a relatively recent trend where employees are allowed -- and even encouraged -- to bring personally-owned devices to work place and use them to access company resources like email, file servers, and databases. The study was based on survey of more than 2,000 users and decision makers across 11 countries, including India.
CISCO Study: Another study, whose results were released in mid May 2012 by Cisco, seemed to strengthen the BT results, finding that most organizations world-wide are now enabling “Bring Your Own Device” in the enterprise, with a staggering 95% of respondents saying their organizations permit employee-owned devices in some way, shape or form in the workplace. This study also concluded that the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012. Cisco says BYOD is perceived by most respondents to be a gateway to greater business benefits. Over three-fourths (76%) of IT leaders surveyed categorized BYOD as somewhat or extremely positive for their companies, even while seeing significant challenges for IT.
Says Padmasree Warrior, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Cisco: “While most companies are dealing with the onslaught of personal devices in the workplace, they need to think more broadly. There is a very real risk of spending all of your time and energy simply addressing the BYOD craze and not really unlocking the true value of a mobility strategy. By allowing employees to ‘work their way,’ you can attract and retain greater talent and increase worker productivity while making sure your data is secure. Providing a superior mobile experience doesn’t have to compromise your IT budget or the way you do business.”

The thumbs up given in India to BYOD has multiple implications for both employees and employers. Many young IT professionals no longer look to their employers to provide them with the latest tools of connectivity—they go out and buy them as soon as they become available, because devices like smart phones and tablets are perceived as lifestyle statements and empowering devices. This creates the ironical situation that employees often possess a better class of connected device than what the employer is willing or able to provide. This is why canny corporates and savvy professionals have joined to make BOYD a win-win situation for all. They have also created a challenge: Providing a seamless connectivity environment at home and office ( and often on the transportation between home and office).

BICSI – the world’s largest professional association supporting the information technology systems (ITS) industry and covering the full spectrum of voice, data, audio & video technologies across both wired and wireless networks -- numbers among its members a roll call of the world’s largest, most respected companies in the connectivity business – and BYOD is their latest challenge and opportunity. Even as the buzzword takes firm hold of the business community, the early fruit of innovation flowing from BICSI member companies are reaching the stores:

· D-Link has just unveiled a starkly simple router designed with the home or mobile user in mind, working like a USB stick and no larger than a small power adapter.The D-Link all-in-one Mobile Companion (DIR-505) has an Ethernet and USB port, allowing users to convert their fixed home network or mobile USB dongle into a wireless network securely. The router will do everything you'd expect, with the added perk of sharing multimedia files wirelessly if you plug in a flash/hard drive to iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. It has four mobile modes, acting as a router, WiFi Hot Spot, Access Point or repeater. The same company has also launched this month a router that is four times faster than the fastest 802.11n router – and is cloud-enabled to boot. The DIR-865L Wireless AC1750 Dual Band Cloud Router ies in with the company's cloud services for remote management and can be controlled via the mydlink portal or from the mydlink Lite app running on any iOS ( that is, Apple iPhone or iPad) or Android device.
· Cisco is offering a set of “Smart Solutions” which help transform the workspace, providing end-to-end BYOD lifecycle management. The solutions secure data with unified policy, powerful collaboration tools, and simplify operations with proactive management.
· CommScope’s In-Building Wireless Solutions are helping shape the mobile future, with a comprehensive product portfolio that serves 2G, 3G, and 4G wireless networks. Says Ispran Kandasamy, CommScope’s Vice President for Asia Pacific Sales and the holder of a number of key patents in network technologies: “It is no longer a case of either-or, of wired or wireless.. today the only thing that matters is the application”. And with the burgeoning demand for bring one’s own devices to work, the application is increasingly a canny mix of fibre and ether – or wired high speed links up to the apartment or office, and seamless wireless networks within, that are device agnostic.

Says Dileep Kumar, Chairman, BICSI India District: “Between them, BICSI members in India are crafting innovative solutions that will help take BOYD from tentative concept to a satisfying and enriching reality for enterprises and knowledge workers in India. It comes as no surprise that India is one of the first and nimblest geographies when it comes to empowering the employee’s own device. And it should come as no surprise if some of the most compelling solutions to fuel this trend flow from the Indian end of global and local networking players”.