We hear about and write more frequently about the infiltration of mobile devices into your industrial HMI world. It's hardly a stampede, but it is a very hot topic in the IT world right now. I suspect that before you realize it, some of your manufacturing customers will wonder about and eventually ask you about Smartphone HMIs for the machine. And, some might want to let their employees use their own mobile devices. Crazy? Maybe. But, maybe not.

Here's an excerpt from a new whitepaper that summarizes what some big companies are doing about what's known as "Bring Your Own Device."

Thou Shalt Allow BYOD

The rapid proliferation of mobile devices entering the workplace feels like divine intervention to many IT leaders. It’s as if a voice boomed down from the mountain ordering all of the employees you support to procure as many devices as possible and connect them to corporate services en masse. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was born and employees followed with fervor. 

There’s no sense pretending it isn’t happening or saying, “We don’t let our employees do that.” The truth is, they’re doing it already and will continue to burrow noncompliant devices into your network with or without your permission. Forrester’s study of US information workers revealed that 37% are doing something with technology before formal permissions or policies are instituted.

1 Further, a Gartner CIO survey determined that 80% of employees will be eligible to use their own equipment with employee data on board by 2016.

2. This raises the inevitable question: how will you support workforce desire to use personal apps and devices while allowing them to be productive in a secure environment that protects corporate data? The Ten Commandments of BYOD show you how to create a peaceful, secure, and productive mobile environment.