People use mobile devices in a business and personal context, and this convergence trend is increasing, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
Companies are playing a crucial role in encouraging their employees to go mobile, and in determining how they do so. “However, several issues require considered attention and amicable resolution - such as costs, manner of use, ease of use, storage, quality, security and privacy,” says PWC southern Africa's communication leader, Johan van Huyssteen.
“In order to enhance their own productivity, organisations often look to the adoption of mobile services by their employees. They define what technology services they will support, who will have access to company-owned mobile devices, what expenses they will reimburse and the restrictions on how these services can be used. They do so to ensure cost-effectiveness, security and capability,” he says.
In terms of cost and subsidising mobile devices, Van Huyssteen says: “Younger employees are the ones who more frequently use mobile devices for both work and private use, but they are the ones most in need of financial assistance. In contrast, it is the more senior but less mobile employees who tend to receive the most subsidisation.”
Although employers do tend to dictate mobility policies, Van Huyssteen says employees have increasing influence on corporate policy. “Companies do listen and try to ensure both corporate and private needs can be reasonably accommodated.
“But realistically, the interests of the individual may not always be perfectly aligned with those of the corporation, and the co-mingling of personal and corporate information on a single device can raise significant issues.”
As application-rich devices become the norm for corporate use, employees may be reluctant to continue privately funding a second device for personal use, he says. They would revert to the company device as the cost-benefit perspective of two devices becomes less attractive. “This then increases the risk of misunderstanding as to control over use, during convergence between business and personal use.”
The use of a single converged device also raises the issue of security. “Employees, in the interests of protecting privacy, put great emphasis on password protection. Again, corporations will view the risk differently and will want the capability to 'wipe' a lost mobile device clean, to avoid a breach in security,” he says.
Companies and employees need to develop an accommodating relationship as their technology requirements increasingly converge. “A good corporate policy means a competitive edge for the employer, at the same time satisfying the private and social interests of the employee.”
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