According to Chevin, personal devices such as smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks and other devices used by employees on work business are several generations in advance of the “official” corporate IT.
Ashley Sowerby, managing director, said: ‘In the corporate world, we have many users running our software on Windows XP desktops that date back up to a decade.
He added that relatively few companies issued tablets to their employees yet Chevin know they are quite widely used to access its software.
In response, Chevin says that when developing its software, it often makes use of capabilities that are built into the device that are not found in any corporate desktop or laptop PC, a good example being GPS, helping to push forward product development.
Sowerby added that there was also an argument for corporate control over the use of BYOD devices, in particular from a security point of view.
He said: ‘The potential issue here is twofold. Firstly, if employees are using personal smartphones and tablets to access your fleet software, you have no control over who may try and access your system if those devices are stolen or lost.
‘Secondly, there is a virus issue although it must be said that there remain relatively few viruses aimed at any of the operating systems commonly used in BYOD devices.
‘However, there remains a strong case for modifying your corporate IT policies in order to take into account these possibilities and minimise their potential impact.’
