Last week I wrote about HTML5 and its impact on apps. One other potential impact of HTML 5 is that it will be less important that your IT department “hands out” specific devices to its employees. I remember just a few short years ago that Dialogic (like many companies) was a Blackberry organization. It just so happened I had the luck of having the first employee in the company who wanted to put his iPhone onto the Dialogic network (yes, you know who you are Vaughn). There was much consternation from IT, but it happened because IT knew that employees using their own devices for company purposes could not be stopped forever so they eventually embraced it.

So yes, BYOD is already here, but HTML5 may tip the scales for those organizations that are still resisting. After all, BYOD is cheaper from a perspective of not having to actually pay for a device for the employee, since the employee doesn’t necessarily want to walk around with a personal device and a work device. So just put the work stuff onto the personal device they already have! Apparently 65% of organizations already allow this. But there may be hidden costs such as security issues, or application development issues. And there are companies responding to the security issues from BYOD.

Many companies have specific applications that their employees use, such as Salesforce.com or some HR type applications, or some other applications which may be home grown, like access to intranet locations. All are designed to work on wired devices like laptops, and some are also designed to work on mobile devices. In some cases, the application developer may have had to make a choice as to the type of device, be it Blackberry or iOS or Android. Maybe you’ve been lucky and the app is available for all three. But either way, it will be cheaper with HTML5 and more importantly, the business productivity apps will be accessible for all devices. So BYOD resistance is ultimately futile.