It’s probably a futile battle, but it could save BYOD software costs long-term
Windows 8 mobile devices could cause headaches for IT departments if employees start bringing them in expecting to do work with them.
As my colleague Colin Neagle says in a story on the subject, supporting these devices could be a bumpy road, quoting Aaron Suzuki, CEO of SmartDeploy, which helps enterprise customers migrate operating systems. “If you can get a Windows 8 device for cheaper than you can get an iPad and it does cool stuff, everyone’s going to get one,” Suzuki says. “So now you have everyone bringing their cool Windows device to work and it does all these things, and they’ll start saying ‘load up my work apps’ and expecting [line of business] applications to work on that platform,” Suzuki says.
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If the platform is a Win 8 it could create a situation exactly similar to those created by employees bringing their iPads to work. There’s high demand for their use, they are used covertly if they are not supported and they create work for the IT department if they are sanctioned.
This holds on Windows 8 machines if they are so-called Windows on ARM (WOA) devices because these devices support only Windows 8 Metro style applications – not the traditional business apps that have been supported by Windows 7. So far the only exception is a handful of Office applications that are being rewritten to work on WOA devices. It’s to be determined whether suppliers of mainstream business apps will rewrite them so they do run as Metro apps. And if a business wants to run a proprietary app on WOA devices, that would represent an investment, perhaps significant, to write new code.
There is a way around this, but it’s not a likely scenario.
Windows 8 also runs on x86 machines, and when it does it supports any app that runs on Windows 7, Microsoft says. So if the Windows 8 BYOD machines workers start using on the job are based on x86 processors, the problem of coming up with freshly written apps disappears. It still leaves all the traditional BYOD extra work – securing the new devices, giving them secure access to the network and managing whatever company software is loaded on the machines. But it doesn’t create a whole new realm if problems.
The likelihood of workers buying these x86 devices is slim. If they are buying them as less expensive iPad alternatives, they are likely going to buy consumer versions that set battery life as a priority, which also likely means the WOA version. The one that is unfriendly to business apps.
A campaign now or even a simple FYI email might have some influence on what Windows 8 mobile device workers buy for their personal use if they are already thinking when they make the purchase that they will be trying to do work on it. But it’s not likely. People are going to buy those machines because they are a good deal and because they fit their personal agendas. So good luck with that unless the performance and price of x86 machines are comparable to WOA mobiles.
But that memo could also note that any of these Win 8 devices, even if they are sanctioned, won’t support much in the way of business applications. Not that similar arguments have done much to curb the unsanctioned use of iPads.
