By Dell Guest Blog

gameplan

According to a survey conducted earlier this year at The Experts Conference, an annual gathering of global IT pros co-sponsored by Microsoft and Quest Software (now part of Dell), 66 percent of the responding companies provide some measure of BYOD support currently while an additional 16 percent are developing next-step policies for BYOD support. Only 14 percent of the respondents are holding the line with BYOD by requiring employees to use only company-issued devices. This number is expected to dwindle further as the inevitability of BYOD in corporate environments continues to gain more yardage.

BYOD also offers new and unique opportunities for VARs, especially when it comes to getting the CIO, IT director, security officer and other major stakeholders together to develop a winning playbook. Typically, IT is concerned about losing control while the security officer and CIO are anxious about the potential risks of corporate applications and data residing on mobile devices. Getting key players around the table to discuss business benefits, technology solutions and nagging concerns is the best place to start.

For Jason Przymus, vice president of business development for Deerwood Technologies, a Minnesota-based IT solutions provider and longstanding channel partner for Dell and Quest Software, helping customers get into the BYOD game means having early conversations with all the right decision-makers. “If we can involve leaders from the security, IT, desktop, application, user experience and executive ranks, we can help them see the bigger picture,” he explained. “Then they better understand where they are currently and most importantly, we can guide them to where they want to be.”

During these initial conversations, the Deerwood team often explains how it’s not so much about managing devices as it is about supporting and managing user experience and identities. “It’s a whole new way of thinking, and customers need to adopt a user mindset to be successful,” Przymus continued. “Many of our public sector and healthcare clients are ahead of the curve because they’re already focused on giving users what they need at their fingertips without compromising security.”

Before any BYOD kickoff, Deerwood takes a consultative sales approach to understand BYOD drivers and concerns. If security is the biggest hurdle, the team presents Quest One Identity Solutions, which ensure security and compliance across multiple devices while accommodating ever-changing end-user application needs. If managing scores of Windows 7 devices is the pain point, Deerwood suggests Quest ChangeBASE to assist with application readiness with discovery, compatibility and remediation capabilities to help clients assess the impact of BYOD across their physical and virtual desktop environments. Additionally, Deerwood relies on a suite of desktop virtualization solutions, including Dell vWorkspace and vWorkspace – MokaFive Suite, to support the varying workspace needs of diverse users.

“Everything is changing fast and it’s imperative for us to keep up, so we can offer clients the right guidance on how all these new user workspaces should be managed and optimized,” Przymus added. “Since we fully entrench ourselves in our clients’ businesses, we’re well-positioned to suggest complete, end-to-end solutions for managing all relevant aspects of BYOD.” Savvy partners such as Deerwood Technologies play a vital role as trusted advisers in this brave new world. Having both Dell and Quest on Deerwood’s team gives more depth and breadth to the solutions they propose.

As a longtime member of Quest’s Partner Circle and Dell’s PartnerDirect channel programs, Deerwood sees great potential in the blending of both programs as well as the shared commitment to competencies and specializations across Dell and Quest. “We’ve worked with Dell and Quest for many, many years and having these two market leaders come together is a win-win for us,” Przymus concluded. “We can offer more value, which increases our customer ‘stickiness’ while ensuring the solutions we recommend deliver far-reaching business benefits.”

Now more than ever, channel partners have unprecedented opportunities to help their customers get in the best field position to score big with BYOD and other major industry movements.

Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s annual platinum sponsorship program. Read all of Dell’s guest blogs here.