BYO...laptop?

BYOD..."Bring-Your-Own-Device" seems to be the biggest strategy that companies are now trying to master. Employees expect to be able to bring their own mobile phones, laptops and tablets into the office setting without having a "company device" to also manage but having the convenience of using their own device from home. Sure this seems quite convenient, and maybe cuts some costs here and there, but what does this really mean for companies?

We have outlined some new challenges that will come with this policy from The Globe and Mail's article that provides some more insight on how BYOD will change your business:

 Some issues that IT may run into:

- Employees expect the same degree of advanced technology and services integration in the workplace that they already experience in their personal life

- Employees may threaten you "give me the advanced technology that I know I can have, or I will do it myself"

Aberdeen Group found that the top 20% of performers (defined as Best-in-Class organizations):

- provide mobile access to almost all employees

- recover all but 5% of lost or stolen mobile devices
- improved their personal speed of decision-making by 14% over the prior 12 months, 3.5 times the improvement of Industry Average

Is your company in this top 20%?

If your business has not thought about BYOD or even a mobile strategy as a plan for the next coming months, you are sure to face some struggle with the new demands of the "tech savvy" employee.

To find out some more benefits and reasons to Go-Mobile, check out our previous posts on mobility and our event slides from a previous event we held in Waterloo based on building a mobile strategy NOW!

 

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Best Workplaces in Canada Second Year in a Row!

Today it was announced that Ideaca was recognized for the second year in a row as 2012's Best Workplaces in Canada - Medium organizations. Best Workplaces in Canada is ranked using the results from employee surveys and comments. This year, we ranked at number 17 surpassing last year's number of 69! What an amazing accomplishment and an outstanding achievement for Ideaca and our employees!

The full list of companies will be posted in today's Globe and Mail and also can be viewed here.

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Virtual Shopping, the future is here!

After a day of hard, excruciating work, most people are just interested in going to their homes and doing what they do best - relaxing. However, for many people, a hard day’s work isn’t completely over until you make a visit to your local grocer.

Imagine, having to push your way through a large crowd to try and get to a relatively available check out, only to be forced to wait for an extensive period of time in a long, endless lineup. That thought has propelled the latest development in mobile technology – Virtual shopping! According to the Globe and Mail's article Virtual shopping gets real at Toronto subway station, these mobile devices are increasingly becoming more elaborate and intuitive to a point that they can also do our daily shopping, as proven by Tesco (a multi-national supermarket) and Samsung.

Adapted in South Korea by Tesco and Samsung, ‘virtual 3D’ stores were installed in subway stations across Seoul, South Korea which allowed commuters to simply scan the QR code of the item that they desire with a mobile device. When those customers arrived at their homes, their items would have been shipped – and possibly even delivered - to them within the same day. This technology has been recently adapted by the online retailer well.ca, who has launched their version of ‘virtual 3D’ stores amongst Toronto subway stations, forecasting a possible change in retail marketing as we know it.
 

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Onshoring US Manufacturing - Strategies for the Future

A recent article published by The Globe and Mail indicates that large US manufacturers are reverting their offshoring business strategies. Larger manufacturers like Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. are now finding that the benefits of lower wages accrued through offshoring strategies are offset by higher material costs and logistics. Here are some interesting things to keep in mind:

• The US unemployment rate of 8.3% stands as a significant barrier towards full economic recovery from the economic downturn of 2007 - 2009;
• The resurgence of US manufacturing added 50,000 new jobs during the month of January;
• As some manufacturers begin transitioning their business processes by onshoring what was previously offshored work, CEO's will be looking to fill approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs;
• According to The Institute for Supply Management, US factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months at a reported index rating of 54.1 (ratings above 50 indicate expansion).

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