BYOD – MAXimizing the MSP Opportunity

BYOD comes as no great surprise to anyone. Every single person in the IT industry and many beyond have been talking about this trend for quite some time now… We’ve all read that the use of mobile devices is going to take over desktop by 2014; we’ve also heard Gartner’s prediction that half of employers will make BYOD in the workplace compulsory by 2017… We’ve heard the facts & figures and discussed at great length what all this means to IT; what problems it could cause, how the industry is going to deal with this rising phenomenon, one thing we’re all certain of…BYOD means big things for everyone involved!

So, in April of this year GFI MAX conducted a survey of MSPs who are using GFI MAX RemoteManagement, to find out how THEY feel about BYOD and whether they are prepared for the opportunities it presents – because this is what makes BYOD important to us!

Interestingly however, this survey found that on average less than a quarter of respondents were already monetizing the use of mobile devices. This seems like a small amount when you consider how fervently everyone is talking about the subject, why would so many MSPs be missing out on the chance to get ahead of the trend?

Of those asked an average of 40 percent simply hadn’t considered the possibilities available to them for monetizing mobile and an average of 19 percent felt it was too much trouble or the margins were too small for it to even be worth considering. Could the problem then be that there’s too much discussion about the issues and not enough information about the opportunities offered by BYOD?

To help MSPs prepare for what’s to come, we will be writing a series of posts about BYOD on our new blog MAX-IQ; this series will look at what BYOD really means to the MSP, what opportunities it presents to them and how they can make the most of them. Not just discussing the issues but giving them helpful advice and offering ways to overcome these concerns.

We also asked our MSPs which tasks relating to managing mobile they felt they need help with, unsurprisingly over 30% felt a quick and consistent setup was where they most needed help but more than half suggested that security and user support where areas for concern.

To help MSPs tackle these issues, not only will GFI MAX be integrating a full Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution into MAX RemoteManagement very soon but we will also ensure that we include in-depth help and advice about all of these areas in our BYOD series.

The MAX-IQ blog is designed to be a useful resource for all MSPs to help them grow their businesses; whether just starting out or already growing. You will find everything you could need, from product reviews to how to guides, in-depth articles and much more besides.

At MAX-IQ it is important to us that we are providing MSPs with the tools and advice they need to grow their businesses. For this reason not only will we be welcoming input as to which areas they would like us to cover on the blog, we will also be looking to the MSP industry for special guest posts and insights from MSPs which we can share with our readers.

GFI MAX offers backup solutions and other offerings for MSPs.