I speak at many mobile tech and wireless industry conferences, and I'm often asked about important mobile technology trends to watch out for.
My current favorite relates to what we do at NetSfere and it's BYOMP, an abbreviation I've coined that hasn't gone mainstream yet. It's closely related to the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend that has been in the news extensively for the last four or five years.
BYOMP stands for Bring Your Own Messaging Platform.
It's the challenge that enterprises face when employees use their favorite mobile chat and instant messaging apps to conduct business.
In doing so, they exchange proprietary company and customer information using software that has not been vetted or approved by Corporate IT. Many of these apps are not secure, so there is a risk of a cybersecurity breach, either on the device, over the networking lines, or on the app company's server.
Michelle Maisto of Information Week smartly noted that the "old struggles over BYOD have been replaced with application struggles, as employees use favorite mobile messaging apps for enterprise purposes."
Well put, Michelle. This is the BYOMP challenge in a nutshell.
Why BYOMP Is Important
As I write this, security concerns are the primary driver in acquiring a more robust enterprise messaging solution, but what is more interesting to me is how organizations change after they implement a secure enterprise messaging solution like NetSfere.
Once a scalable, reliable and secure messaging platform is deployed, messaging moves from rogue outlaw status to being the de facto way that people communicate effectively and efficiently within an organization.
Part of it is simply that email has become overwhelming, with many employees now receiving over 100 emails per day. This email overload makes it hard to pick out what's important, and there is often a delay in responses.
Messaging solves for both of these issues, so it's no surprise that employees are moving to messaging solutions without waiting for IT to take care of it for them.
But what is interesting to me is that once IT finally steps up with a sanctioned messaging solution, productivity and collaboration kick into a higher gear.
I've seen this happen many times with our NetSfere customers, and the CEOs and CIOs I speak with are very surprised at this significant and often unexpected benefit to organizational performance.
So, for me, BYOMP is the mobile technology trend to watch this year, even if I am the only one who calls it that.
It's an important one, and you'll see a big rush this year and next to regain control of enterprise messaging and reap the many benefits that come from secure enterprise messaging solutions like NetSfere.
Are there other noteworthy mobile technology trends to watch out for?
Absolutely. I've got six or seven others that I think are very important for consumers, small and middle market businesses, nonprofits, large enterprises, carriers and government agencies.
I'll talk more about these mobile technology and wireless industry trends in the future.
Stay tuned, and, please, if you have any feedback or questions about the BYOMP trend, leave a comment below.