What's Your Definition Of BYOD: eBYOD Or cBYOD?

By Bob Ashenbrenner, President of Durable Mobility Technologies, LLC.

Lately we've been hearing about the value that the “bring your own device” (BYOD) movement brings to Utilities focused on achieving greater efficiency and cost savings in their service models. Most of the media coverage discusses the advantages of BYOD as they relate to improved customer engagement. Many articles even encourage utilities to work with their software suppliers to implement expansive BYOD capabilities as quickly as possible.

This is no surprise given how important data is to creating sustainable operating environments amidst rising consumer demand and aging transmission and distribution infrastructure. What is surprising, though, is the reason why these articles don't address the usually controversial debate about whether an organization should supply the appropriate devices to end-users, or let (even require) their employees to use their own personal devices. Quite simply, utility software vendors are using the term “BYOD” very differently than how it is used in other industries. They aren’t talking about employees bringing their own [smartphone, tablet, laptop] to work. They’re talking about the implications of allowing consumers to use or bring their own devices onto residential and commercial utility networks to facilitate smarter, more connected service models. Let me explain…