Rule #1 of Your BYOD Policy: Embrace Apps with Native Centralized Reporting

In the near future, virtually every enterprise company will need a strict Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy. The majority of enterprise-level companies now support or plan to support some sort of program that allows employees to bring a device of their choice to the workplace, but the regulations governing those policies are still evolving. CIOs’ fear of security breaches are very valid, and very understandable. Every company is just one major security disaster away from abandoning its  BYOD program.

Still, companies have to be careful not to spoil all the fun, or worse, negate the rewards that both employees and companies expect to benefit from. Some BYOD policy lists required that all devices must be physically inspected by IT, that employees must agree to physical device audits at any time, and that Mobile Device  Management (MDM) software must be installed to allow for remote wipe capability. 

With so many restrictions coming into vogue, it’s easy to imagine BYOD programs requiring as much oversight, if not more, than traditional IT programs. It’s also easy to imagine increasingly burdened employees deciding that they no longer seem to own the very devices they brought to work.

The ultimate solution may be placing fewer restrictions on hardware, while tightening up the kinds of apps that can interface with workplace data. Specifically, all mobile apps should somehow enhance the employee’s experience and make them more productive, while offering additional management insight into employee activity.

For example, I just had a chance to test our forthcoming Revenue.io app for the iPhone. Much like our mobile iPad app, it’s easy to see how this product will make my life easier by consolidating all the benefits of traditional mobile CRM data editing with context-specific data delivered into a superior communications experience. When incoming calls are routed to my iPhone, I’ll be able to see the marketing campaigns that led these prospects to me, along with existing Salesforce CRM data, social feeds, and more. I’m clearly biased, but I’d be excited to see Revenue.io on a BYOD-approved app list.

But those features alone shouldn’t qualify it for inclusion.  Thankfully, activity reporting is at the core of all Revenue.io products. In regards to our upcoming iPhone app, we’ve gone the extra mile by including Salesforce.com Automation features – which log every call, note, task, email and other activity performed on the device – with a company’s CRM.  At any time, management will be able to look at activity records for participating employees in their Salesforce.com org.

Curating a list of apps that meet both employee and IT standards will be instrumental in not only keeping both parties feeling good about the program, but also ensuring a more secure and productive environment.

2020 update: This post contains legacy content regarding Revenue.io features. For the most recent up-to-date information about Revenue.io, please check out our amazing solutions at www.revenue.io.