Mobile World Congress increases BYOD options

This year’s Mobile World Congress is on in Barcelona this week. It sees the likes of Microsoft and its Windows Phone, plus the many Android device makers, announcing new or improved mid-range devices that pack in many features of what were formerly high-end, expensive models. More memory, better processors and bigger screens make these more usable and attractive as a working device. Also, the recent range of business software launches for mobiles means that more people are tempted to try them out for bring your own device (BYOD) schemes.

As a business, having your workers able to use documents that are stored in the cloud, business contacts, and address emails wherever they are can be a big benefit. It saves investing in laptops or tablets, gets issues resolved faster and with data stored in the cloud and protected by password or fingerprint ID, there is less risk of them losing their phone and having valuable data go missing.

While Windows Phones are all prepped for business, users can use all Microsoft’s apps and storage features with the current Windows Phone 8.1. Sony, LG, Motorola and ZTE, among others, have a huge range of Android devices and they all support Google’s Lollipop Android 5.0. Lollipop in turn runs Samsung’s Knox, a business security feature to protect data stored on user’s own phones. Apple has its own security features for business, and Microsoft’s popular apps are now available for both iOS and Android.

This means that it is now safer for workers to use business data on their own phones, and the apps make checking documents and performing light revisions almost as painless as on a desktop (especially with a larger-screen device). For larger businesses, solutions like Hypori’s ACE platform, which was built with support from the American Department of Defense, help protect business data by separating the physical mobile device (no matter the brand and OS) from any sensitive applications and data.

These latest moves means there is less reason for businesses to be averse to the idea of BYOD, and should see the increasingly mobile workforce come of age for knowledge workers, sales forces and marketers who have been eager to try it out.

Mobile World Congress increases BYOD options

Windows 10 for phones will boost worker productivity

The recently announced Windows 10 smartphone technical preview (http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/02/12/announcing-the-first-build-of-windows-10-technical-preview-for-phones-2/) is causing great excitement among gadget enthusiasts, but the real benefit will be to mobile, knowledge and other workers. They will soon be able to run almost fully featured Microsoft Office, productivity and unified communications apps on their phones, with seamless transition of documents, web content, messaging and other data to their desktop or laptop, swapping devices seamlessly.

With documents and contacts stored in the cloud, working on the commute, in a hotel or on a plane is becoming easier, increasing the availability of your workers and key staff and improving their productivity. Boosting communications between staff will help projects run smoother and help get decisions made faster as key reports are easier to find and talk about, by video chat, messaging or VoIP call. Naturally, Microsoft has apps for all these features, from Skype to Outlook and Lync, but it is also playing nice with iOS and Android, to encourage bring your own device (BYOD) schemes at work. Microsoft is also supposed to be bundling its apps with major future Android device launches, like the Samsung Galaxy S6, to further encourage take-up.

Currently, the Windows phone beta only runs on select Lumia devices, but the full launch will come with a range of new hardware from Microsoft (since it acquired Nokia) and hardware partners like Samsung and HTC. With a full range of tablets, portables, ultraportables and two-in-one devices, 2015 will see a major effort to get business users upgrading to new hardware and Windows 10 across all devices.

That’s all part of Microsoft’s plan to get users both upgrading and back into using its services, with many having moved on to Google, Amazon, Oracle or other business software providers. Whatever hardware and applications you use, switching to Microsoft’s will be an easy and seamless choice come the full launch of Windows 10, with handy tools like OneNote now fully free to use.

Also, Microsoft continues to buy companies that can help improve its offerings. It recently acquired N-trig, makers of the best tablet pen technology around, to make sure that Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 and future Surface tablets all benefit from a truly professional experience. Roll that all together and the Microsoft ecosystem will soon be a compelling place to be and work.

Windows 10 for phones will boost worker productivity