Many enterprises are embracing the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model and setting practices to support the trend that has kept many IT organizations busy around the globe. In its second annual customer survey, Good Technology found that 72% of respondents were already formally supporting BYOD programs, a percentage significantly higher than the 60% level of support indicated in the company’s January 2011 survey.
Only 9% were not planning to support BYOD; organizations from the governmental and wholesale/retail sectors were the most likely to fall into this minority category. Good’s BYOD report revealed that 100 of its customers in various industries around the globe are supporting BYOD. 
Of the companies that already had BYOD models, half said that employees covered all costs associated with their devices including device and data plans. Good’s report found that 25% of respondents use a stipend to encourage participation and help cover costs, while 20% allow eligible employees to expense back mobile service costs. Nearly all of the latter required prior management approval and had a fixed cap on expenses to control costs.
Based on overall survey responses, Good estimated the broad industry average cost for a company‐owned device to be about $80/month.
Good’s report concludes that the influx of personal mobile devices into enterprises is changing policy drastically. Companies are supporting the idea that a formal BYOD program, combined with supporting solutions and policies to ensure security and compliance, is fast‐becoming the predominant model for enabling broad employee mobility across multiple industries and around the globe.
The report notes that the consumerization of IT is forcing enterprise IT departments to develop policies for regulating use and security of company information being accessed by employees’ personal devices. 
Companies already supporting BYOD policies tended to be large‐to‐very‐large enterprises on average: 81% had more than 2,000 employees, nearly 60% had more than 5,000 employees and 35% had more than 10,000 employees.
To further understand the survey and its findings, RCR Wireless News asked John Herrema, SVP corporate strategy at Good Technology, to answer some questions.
RCR Wireless News: Why are employees still willing to pay device and service plan costs to use their personal devices for work?
John Herrema: Many BYOD users were never enabled for “corporate” mobile access before and were already paying for “personal” voice and data service plans. So for those users, it’s really not about who pays for service—it’s about having the ability to be more productive and effective in their work and have the additional flexibility that mobility provides to get work done anytime, anywhere. For those BYOD users who may formerly have been provided a company-owned device, it’s all about choice. Just like the users who never had corporate access before, they are already spending money on their “personal” devices and whether they use that same device for “corporate” use doesn’t change their overall spending. 
RCR: The survey notes that more industries and countries are embracing BYOD. How would you evaluate BYOD adoption over the past years? And looking forward, what can we expect over the next 2-3 years?
JH: We’ve seen BYOD move rapidly from “proof of concept” in 2010 to formal support for the large majority of our customers in 2012. Over the next 2-3 years, we expect formal BYOD support to increase further among our customers growing from 75% now to more than 95% over that time. We also expect BYO support for smartphones and tablets to inevitably lead to broad BYO laptop support, especially as all devices become increasingly mobile and the line blurs between what we consider ‘tablets’ and ‘laptops.’
RCR: How has the boom of BYOD impacted the mobile management industry?
JH: The biggest impact has been the realization that management is necessary, but in a BYOD world, the key to managing security and compliance is less about managing devices and more about managing data and apps. Traditional models for managing devices based on locking them down, blocking apps installation and restricting an employee’s ability to use “personal” apps and services like iCloud simply do not work for BYOD. 
RCR: How has BYOD boosted the adoption of mobile cloud, mobile management solutions and mobile security tools?
JH: BYOD is all about enabling choice and mobility for many more employees than was previously possible with a model where companies could only afford to provide mobility to a relatively small subset of employees. Many of our customers now have BYOD deployments that now serve hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands more users, apps, and devices than they previously were dealing with. As the size and complexity of these deployments grows exponentially larger, it’s that much more critical to have management and security solutions in place that enable you to ensure control and security for business data and apps but not at the expense of the user’s personal experience or privacy.
