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The answer to the BYOD question is Virtualization.
If you missed the BYOD battle royal between Heather Clancy and me or my awesome win on said debate, you can read my summary of the debate and the issue, “BYOD: The inevitable reality.” But, you might ask yourself after reading the debate entries and my summary of it, “Why did Ken win the BYOD debate?” It’s a legitimate question because you, the readers, voted that BYOD is a fail. Heather did a great job of pointing out some weaknesses of the whole BYOD idea. The reason that I won is simple–and it really had nothing to do with me or my arguments–BYOD is the inevitable result of a new workforce. And, the answer to the question of BYOD is virtualization. |
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Comments (19)
Don't know if the ultimate answer is virtualization per se, but device-agnostic applications are already among us. Anything that can be built using HTML5 and CSS3 is, by definition, device agnostic.
I still say the answer to BYOD is "no".
On BYOD he remains semi-stupid.
If it ever becomes "mandatory" to BYOD, I guess an e-machines laptop will have to do for work.
No, he's a complete and utter moron. That hasn't changed.
How are you going to access a virtual machine if you don't have any hardware to do it from? Any company that thinks I'm going to spend my own money to bring my own machine to work is nuts. What happens when someone (perhaps the janitor, or a coworker) steals the monitor or some other part? Is the company going to buy me a new one?
Ken, you're a moron. You should be doing a different job, like cleaning toilets.
How are you going to access a virtual machine if you don't have any hardware to do it from? Any company that thinks I'm going to spend my own money to bring my own machine to work is nuts. What happens when someone (perhaps the janitor, or a coworker) steals the monitor or some other part? Is the company going to buy me a new one?
Ken, you're a moron. You should be doing a different job, like cleaning toilets.
I BYOD because I can, and I want a greater measure of control over my working environment as well as physical control over my data. Dropbox helps me with the latter (and provides a backup my company doesn't perform). My drive is encrypted.
Quoting:BYOD vs MYOD (Mange Your Own Device
Personally, my ideal situation is company supplied hardware and software but chosen and managed by me personally. That is what I have now. Any complains? Not at all.
I do run Linux Kubuntu and occasionally use Win 7 in VBox for very few specific necessary apps. And I do get to work from home too.
Steve --
I BYOD as well, but I work independently and I would resent mightily an employer who
a) required me to provide a device and (as some do)
b) required me to set it up in a certain way, with specified anti-virus (hey! Linux guy!), etcc
I BYOD as well, but I work independently and I would resent mightily an employer who
a) required me to provide a device and (as some do)
b) required me to set it up in a certain way, with specified anti-virus (hey! Linux guy!), etcc
@Fettoosh: I work remotely for a small company, and that's exactly what I do (MYOD). They bought me a Thinkpad as soon as I started work (no cheapness here), as well as a bunch of other equipment I needed, got me a company credit card so I can buy anything else I need, but I do the management myself. So I can pick whatever Linux distro I want, do virtualization however I want, etc.
A company that's too cheap to buy your equipment for you is a company that's too cheap to bother working for. If they can't afford $500 or even $2000 for some decent equipment, how do you think you're going to be treated in terms of salary, raises, bonuses, etc.? If you're that hard-up for employment, go get a 6-month contract somewhere; those pay much better, though they're short-term, but usually they get extended anyway as long as they like you.
A company that's too cheap to buy your equipment for you is a company that's too cheap to bother working for. If they can't afford $500 or even $2000 for some decent equipment, how do you think you're going to be treated in terms of salary, raises, bonuses, etc.? If you're that hard-up for employment, go get a 6-month contract somewhere; those pay much better, though they're short-term, but usually they get extended anyway as long as they like you.
This topic is fairly apt for me, recently a company I do various software development contracts for has offered to purchase me all new equipment, after I told them one of my machines had bit the dust and that some software I was working on for them would be delayed by about a week.
Now I can't afford to replace them myself as I currently have no money due to various medical treatments in the USA costing an arm and a leg, but we were unable to recieve the medical procedures we needed in the UK at the time, so my wife and I moved to USA after selling everything we had to finance it, thankfully giving up everything I owned was a resounding success and I have lovely 3.5 yr old boy to prove it, when somebody tells you that their is more to life than money its not just some cheesy overworked cliche its a truism.
But it does mean a lot of my equipment is now nearing end of life, what im trying to figure out is should I accept this offer as im fairly sure its going to have some hidden strings attached somewhere down the line, I know this as I used to be their lead developer and I know how they operate. I don't have any worries regarding control, they couldn't care less if im running Linux or Windows as long as the work gets done.
But I had planned to begin replacement of my gear myself once I landed a couple of more contracts could take me about a year in the current climate, so the question im left with is, do I wait in the hope of landing a couple of contracts or go with their offer and accept that they may want the soul of my second born child somewhere down the line.
What would you folks do ? Or are doing? And is your childs soul on the line :)
Im veering towards the waiting and nursing my equipment along a bit as I don't normally feel comfortable being indebted to others but as my father (a retired accountant) always says beggars can't be choosers.
PS: If I should take the devils route how do i convince them a $500+ Nvidia Graphics card is genuinely required for development purposes and not Battlefield 3 :)
Now I can't afford to replace them myself as I currently have no money due to various medical treatments in the USA costing an arm and a leg, but we were unable to recieve the medical procedures we needed in the UK at the time, so my wife and I moved to USA after selling everything we had to finance it, thankfully giving up everything I owned was a resounding success and I have lovely 3.5 yr old boy to prove it, when somebody tells you that their is more to life than money its not just some cheesy overworked cliche its a truism.
But it does mean a lot of my equipment is now nearing end of life, what im trying to figure out is should I accept this offer as im fairly sure its going to have some hidden strings attached somewhere down the line, I know this as I used to be their lead developer and I know how they operate. I don't have any worries regarding control, they couldn't care less if im running Linux or Windows as long as the work gets done.
But I had planned to begin replacement of my gear myself once I landed a couple of more contracts could take me about a year in the current climate, so the question im left with is, do I wait in the hope of landing a couple of contracts or go with their offer and accept that they may want the soul of my second born child somewhere down the line.
What would you folks do ? Or are doing? And is your childs soul on the line :)
Im veering towards the waiting and nursing my equipment along a bit as I don't normally feel comfortable being indebted to others but as my father (a retired accountant) always says beggars can't be choosers.
PS: If I should take the devils route how do i convince them a $500+ Nvidia Graphics card is genuinely required for development purposes and not Battlefield 3 :)
On BYOD, I take the position that if the company wants a job done, they'll supply the devices necessary to do so. But, if the employee wants to excel, they'll bring more to the table.
With the economy at a less-than-ideal point, we're all screwed. Companies are not investing in equipment and software. They're eliminating jobs and settling for what productivity they can get.
@Koriel: I don't know what "strings" could possibly be attached. In my case, the "strings" are simple: if for some reason my company decides to terminate my employment, I'd have to box up their equipment and send it back to them (at their cost, of course). I don't see how that's unreasonable, considering it is their property after all. As long as I don't get too attached to it, I don't see the problem. Obviously, this means I don't want to use their equipment as my primary gear; all my personal data and such is on my own PC and backup hardware, not theirs, and their equipment is mainly used for work-related stuff.
This has nothing to do with "indebtedness"; I don't owe my company anything for this hardware, as it isn't mine, I'm only borrowing it. I just have to give it back if and when they ask, that's all. It's no different from working in a cubicle, except in the cubicle case when your employment ends, you just walk away from the equipment.
This has nothing to do with "indebtedness"; I don't owe my company anything for this hardware, as it isn't mine, I'm only borrowing it. I just have to give it back if and when they ask, that's all. It's no different from working in a cubicle, except in the cubicle case when your employment ends, you just walk away from the equipment.
Thanks for that info Grish.
I think I will probably nurse my equipment a little longer as I prefer to own everything outright, in the meantime I will carry on as is, which is if they need a bigger than normal contract done then I borrow equipment from them on a per contract basis. Its a bit of pain as the stuff has to go back forward between USA and the UK but thats life.
I think I will probably nurse my equipment a little longer as I prefer to own everything outright, in the meantime I will carry on as is, which is if they need a bigger than normal contract done then I borrow equipment from them on a per contract basis. Its a bit of pain as the stuff has to go back forward between USA and the UK but thats life.
> Its a bit of pain as the stuff has to go back forward between USA and the UK but thats life.
Can't they just set up a lease with a local leasing company?
Can't they just set up a lease with a local leasing company?
@jdixon
Unfortunately its not just PC's, they are a manufacturing company with their own custom built gear that needs to be shipped, they are in the process of creating duplicate equipment so they can leave a test setup with me on a permanent basis and still have their own testing facilities in the UK and possibly another one in Houston.
And even though the shipping back and forward at the moment can be a pain its still liveable with, if it means I make some money and once their new set of test gear is built it will ease the shipping problems.
Unfortunately its not just PC's, they are a manufacturing company with their own custom built gear that needs to be shipped, they are in the process of creating duplicate equipment so they can leave a test setup with me on a permanent basis and still have their own testing facilities in the UK and possibly another one in Houston.
And even though the shipping back and forward at the moment can be a pain its still liveable with, if it means I make some money and once their new set of test gear is built it will ease the shipping problems.
> ...they are a manufacturing company with their own custom built gear that needs to be shipped...
OK, that explains it. Thanks for the explanation Koriel.
OK, that explains it. Thanks for the explanation Koriel.
koriel: as Grishnakh says, you can take their machines. if you are concerned about your private data, use your own harddrives, then in case you really need to give the machines back, you can take out the drives and be confident that your private data does not leak. i use borrowed machines too. my personal homedirectory is on a removable drive.
greetings, eMBee.
greetings, eMBee.
@eMBee
Yep, I considered that myself as a possible option, thanks.
Yep, I considered that myself as a possible option, thanks.
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