What's next?
All of these studies, products, and efforts make it clear that BYOD is here to stay. So the question remains, how will this affect the evolution of engineering alongside BYOD? The bigger and most progressive companies are fully embracing the trend, and building support around the idea. Will everyone else follow suit?
Policies to ensure safe and secure use of personal devices will allow engineers to access more corporate data, which has obvious benefits when working in the era where time means everything. As part of wider access to information and expedited solutions, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other services, like RemoteFX from Microsoft and XenApp from Citrix, are enabling engineers to access programs that use high-end graphics and heavy processing loads straight from centralized databases or servers on their own devices, effectively trivializing hardware or OS requirements.
This means that tests and results from AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Abacus, Creo (now Pro-E) etc., can be performed and accessed by smartphones, laptops, and the like, by making centralized computers do all the heavy lifting. No matter where the engineer is, a new idea or solution can be put to the test immediately. This will result in more robust engineering practices, as well as engineers who are proficient in maneuvering between these services and programs, expanding their field of knowledge and expertise.
Some believe this expansion in knowledge and productivity will give rise to another BYOD movement: building your own device. As companies adopt policies on bringing your own device, some are calling for in-house engineers to build components specifically for their company.
Boeing, for example, is developing its own version of a secure Android phone. Union Pacific railroad had their own R&D labs, engineers, and contract manufacturers to build 8,000 radios they needed, saving $7 million to $8 million plus recuperating cost by selling these radios. Google is developing its own secure and secret servers for its employees. Other companies will surely follow suit and create servers tailor-made to support all those employee-owned devices and protect vulnerable information.
There was a time when my colleagues used the "company computer" for all their work. Over the past five years I found that everyone, including myself, swiftly took to using our own computers, devices, and Internet connections at the workplace. The affordable prices of desktop components, laptops, tablets, and the like certainly is the foundation of the departure of past norms. However, the majority of my associates said that it is privacy they want most. Their office desktops, from what they tell me, log every keystroke, every Webpage visited, and in some cases, take screenshots. To a lesser degree, their personal systems will run faster and have fewer issues for what they want to do.
I even use my own oscilloscope, data logger, and soldering station. Times are changing. The consumer world and the corporate business structure are inevitably merging. It will be interesting to see how companies react to these shifts of accessibility and redistribution of authority, as each member of the workforce integrates their work and technology with their daily lives, year after year. Likewise, the evolution engineering practices and how businesses use them will continue to transform the workforce and economy.
I just finished reading an article in WIRED about password security. If you consider this trend of personal devices at work combined with the general lack of security provided by password protection - it seems likely there will be more and more hacker issues arising in the future. I wouldn't be surprised to see some rather draconian protections put in place by companies as backlash. Great article by the way. You touched on a very relevant and timely workplace issue.
What always bugs me about "the cloud" is the fact that the cloud is still just computers somewhere remote. Systems that can fail, lose data. Some I.T. guy could spill a mountain dew on some harddrives, and there goes your mountain of work and files.
It reminds me of about 10 years ago when the Microsoft Hotmail servers went down, and a huge majority of people lost all their emails. This included me. I lost all the exchanges I had with a girl I just met at the time, who is now my wife. The loss has shaken my trust in the cloud.
The cloud is great for portability, but I wouldn't rely completely on it.
The division between one's personal existance and one's employment existance is a challenge indeed. Keeping personal separated from work, in my case, was helped a lot by the published management policy that everything done on company equipment was company property and not private at all. So when I chose to do work at home it was done on my computer and then transferred to the company system by removable media, which assured me that my system was kept separate from corperate examination. No, it was not quite as convenient as other methods, but good security is seldom as easy as ineffective security. We all need to remember that fact.
Good point on the dangers, Cabe. I guess the answer to that is keeping all of the file storage in the cloud. In many cases I've seen, the employee has alerted IT that they're using a personal phone.
Freedom from I.T. snooping, activity tracking, and control of work resources drive this trend. Like I said, my colleagues and friends all have gone down this route. Only using the work computer for things like email and file storage. Of course, some backlash will be felt. Banning use of cell phones. Perhaps even using a cell phone jammer (though they may be illegal now).
Only real downside is, what if your personal system gets broken or stolen along its lifetime. All one's unbackuped work will be lost. I imagine their job would soon follow suit.
Nice article, Cabe. There are a couple other aspects to this story that's I've seen anecdotally. For one, these devices let employees bring their own workspace. I expect more and more people will use these devices to work from home. Another thing I've seen is people are using their personal devices for work rather than using the devices handed out by IT. Many people would rather use their personal iPhone for work rather than using the company Blackberry.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 4
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
3 
