The Future of BYOD – Tweet Jam

By Patty Donovan, The Open Group

On Tuesday, September 18, The Open Group will host a special tweet jam to examine the topic of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) and current approaches to managing it.

With the number of mobile devices expected to exceed the number of people on earth by the end of this year, the concept of BYOD, has reached a fever pitch. There are several forces driving the BYOD phenomenon. Most notably, the Consumerization of IT has shifted hardware provisioning power away from IT departments to individual employees, who often now have better devices and software at home than they do at work. By using their own devices and software tools—whether superior or preferred—they can conceivably be more productive and save their employers money by not needing to invest in new hardware themselves.

Companies large and small are trying to figure out how to support the BYOD demands of workers without it becoming detrimental for their business. While the benefits of BYOD seem clear to many business decision makers – happier, more productive employees, lower hardware costs, etc. – the trend has created a new set of issues for IT and compliance professionals. These include managing the devices, dealing with a variety of platforms, software and applications, as well as the glut of Big Data that they create, and addressing issues surrounding device security and employee privacy/data ownership.

Please join us on Tuesday, September 18 at 9:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. BST for a tweet jam that will discuss current approaches to managing BYOD. We welcome Open Group members and interested participants from all backgrounds to join the session and interact with our panel of experts. To access the discussion, please follow the #ogChat hashtag during the allotted discussion time.

And for those of you who are unfamiliar with tweet jams, here is some background information:

What Is a Tweet Jam?

A tweet jam is a one hour “discussion” hosted on Twitter. The purpose of the tweet jam is to share knowledge and answer questions on a chosen topic. Each tweet jam is led by a moderator (Dana Gardner) and a dedicated group of experts to keep the discussion flowing. The public (or anyone using Twitter interested in the topic) is free (and encouraged!) to join the discussion.

Participation Guidance

Whether you’re a newbie or veteran Twitter user, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Have your first #ogChat tweet be a self-introduction: name, affiliation, occupation.
  • Start all other tweets with the question number you’re responding to and the #ogChat hashtag.
    • Sample: “Q4 BYOD poses a lot of interesting questions regarding data ownership, especially within the enterprise #ogChat”
  • Please refrain from product or service promotions. The goal of a tweet jam is to encourage an exchange of knowledge and stimulate discussion.
  • While this is a professional get-together, we don’t have to be stiff! Informality will not be an issue!
  • A tweet jam is akin to a public forum, panel discussion or Town Hall meeting – let’s be focused and thoughtful.

If you have any questions prior to the event or would like to join as a participant, please direct them to Rod McLeod (rmcleod at bateman-group dot com). We anticipate a lively chat and hope you will be able to join!

Patricia Donovan is Vice President, Membership & Events, at The Open Group and a member of its executive management team. In this role she is involved in determining the company’s strategic direction and policy as well as the overall management of that business area. Patricia joined The Open Group in 1988 and has played a key role in the organization’s evolution, development and growth since then. She also oversees the company’s marketing, conferences and member meetings. She is based in the U.S.