Mobile Devices in Business – full steam ahead

My personal experience with respect to this topic is that mobile devices are usually assigned by businesses to employees who conduct a substantial portion of their job while they are out of the office.  My employer has provided  members of the IT Department with mobile devices due to their work not allowing them to sit by their office phone all day.  Mobile devices allows others to contact them when they need assistance to resolve issues they've encountered with their work related electronic devices during work and non-work hours.

Advantages of mobile devices are increased productivity by allowing people the freedom to connect and communicate with other staff, customers and vendors whenever or wherever they happen to be. Increased functionality such as video conference has enhanced the use of mobile devices. Also, businesses save on expenses such as space and facilities because people don't need a traditional office to perform their job.  Some disadvantages of mobile devices continue to be poor internet connections, security issues, costs associated with providing or replacing employees devices.

Another advantage of mobile devices is its ability to market a business’ products and services increasing its exposure by advertising to potential customers as people tend to look at their mobile devices more frequently.  This particular topic was discussed in a blog which was aimed at businesses having responsive websites which are designed to allow any type of device to access a company’s website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-long/why-your-business-needs-t_b_4267714.html 

According to the study Google conducted on smart phone useage at http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-studies/creating-moments-that-matter.html, one of its findings was that a large percentage of consumers who search for a local business with their mobile device (Smart Phones) will either call or visit that business within a short period of time.  While I realize this was only one study, given the way people use their mobile devices today, surveys done by other companies would probably result in similar statistics.

Based on the information I read and what I've observed, it is apparent that the use of mobile devices in business is only going to increase as more and more businesses see the various benefits and utilize them. However, the idea of "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) kept appearing during my search so I wonder if this is going to be the next big shift of the employee versus the employer bearing the expense of the mobile devices.      

Reference:

Mobile Device Image retrieved from Richard Adhikari Technewsworld 8/22/2011:  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mobile+devices&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=mobile+devices&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=A1ABCAE6B42326B2AEB0F85FE1BD2EB74389D090&selectedIndex=1