The proliferation of device-as-a-service (DaaS) recently has paved the way for the mainstream enterprise adoption of bring your own device (BYOD), according to Brian Gatke, Insight’s Director of Product Management and Customer Success.
DaaS offers customers a device – PC, laptop, etc – usually bundled with software and services on a subscription basis for a monthly fee. In recent years it has been a hot topic in the channel, but adoption from enterprise customers was slow. Much like other areas of IT, the pandemic has accelerated DaaS adoption, but there are other factors now driving that trend, said Gatke (pictured above).
“We have seen a huge uptake in DaaS; it was a combination of the COVID impact and people wanting to get out of managing endpoints,” he told UC Today.
“Like many things in IT, DaaS was premature - it got a lot of excitement, but it was viewed as a lease, and it had a rough start for years. But now we're selling a lot more of it, we're partnering with our OEMs to provide device, maintenance, Lifecycle Services, SaaS software licencing, and just bundle it all together and subscribe it.”
Customers now see the financial benefits of the DaaS model, which in turn is leading to many conversations around BYOD, although it may take up to three years before the BYOD model sees mainstream acceptance because of employee hesitancy, Gatke added.
“I really believe BYOD is finally going to become prominent with DaaS, at that point you are changing the game,” he elaborated.
“It furthers the MSP; the fact that clients will be more open and dependent on providers will cement the personal computing style enterprise is trying to achieve. The user is joining on their personal device or a corporate provided device and they're now able to seamlessly go through their environment of work and personal apps, and productivity platforms”
The BYOD hesitancy is “heavily influenced” by employee choice at the moment and the line between personal and professional devices is becoming blurred, he added.
“The misconception is that companies are jumping on it because it's less expensive – which it is,” Gatke stated.
