Bring Your Own App - why business leaders should sit up and take note

JOHANNESBURG - Jan. 28, 2014 - PRLog -- Far from being settled, done and dusted, the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend is an undeniable influence in business today and has forced decision makers in business to rethink their strategies governing access to information and mobility. However, the market has evolved and today the emphasis is on BYOA or Bring Your Own App – driven primarily by the desire to access important information at any time, from any point and leverage off functionality offered by mobile devices to perform tasks better.

Experts within the managed ICT services and development of management solutions areas of technology acknowledge that the development of smart mobile devices has revolutionised the workplace. However, rather than adopting a reactive stance and immediately initiating campaigns to contain any risk (perceived or real) associated with BYOD, companies should understand how BYOA has emerged as a force in the mobile world.

Robert Sussman, joint CEO of Integr8, says BYOD is based on access to information, on using mobility to enhance operations and the pursuit of work/life balance by converging personal and professional content via multiple devices – all of this is magnified by the introduction of app-centric mobility in the workplace.

The IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker report confirms that application development, as part of overall software market, grew between 5% and 6% year-on-year. Enterprise software application development is regarded as one of the faster growing areas of communications technology, driven by big data, big data analytics and application.

“Employees today want to be able to not only bring multiple devices into the workplace, but also want them connected to business systems to help them with their tasks and responsibilities,” said Sussman. “With mobility now firmly entrenched within the market and the workplace, it was only a matter of time before app development and integration formed part of the overall mobility scenario.”

He says that the advent of BYOD and now BYOA add a new dynamic to the traditional IT/ consumer relationship.

“In the past, IT has tended to group consumers together, irrespective of their individual needs or requirements.  That has now changed and the approach is to leverage off a far more aligned relationship that meets the needs of all parties, but always with the necessary security considerations in place,” he continues.

Leadership at fellow member of the Business Connexion (BCX) Group, Accsys, agrees. The company is a national supplier of people management software and hardware solutions within the HR, payroll and time & attendance space.

Recently, the Company differentiated its value proposition with the launch of PeopleWare Mobi, the first-of-its-kind Employee Self Service (ESS) mobile app to the Africa market.

Peopleware MOBI can be used from any location worldwide to authorise leave requests, sign-off overtime payments, approve training, and even "clock" into T&A using a mobile phone's GPS or WiFi geo-location capabilities.

The solution is designed to facilitate and process a number of HR functions, including leave management, authorise ESS requests and access payslip history.

Teryl Schroenn, CEO of Accsys, says the commercial possibilities of apps cannot be overestimated. “There is a great deal that can be done, that can be offered to the business – as long as there are clear policies in place and that security measures have been taken to ensure the integrity of information,” she concludes.