From the beginning, the Bring Your Own Device movement has been a nightmare for CIOs. And recently many workers – once excited by the concept – are wondering if it’s worth it. Here’s a look back at CIO.com’s year-long coverage of this ongoing workplace conflict. Credit: Thinkstock For CIOs faced with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) challenges, 2014 has been a roller-coaster ride — one that probably made many sick to their stomachs. Of course, BYOD has been a nightmarish ride from the beginning, when employees empowered by cool consumer tech, namely iPads, iPhones and Android devices, wrested control from IT. Employees essentially demanded the right to use their devices and apps for work purposes. CIOs scurried to come up with solutions to safeguard corporate data on BYOD tablets and phones. On the technical side, they deployed tough mobile device management software that hindered the user experience. On the behavioral side, they enacted draconian user policies that infringed on an employee’s expectations of privacy. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe Both tactics upset BYOD’s Apple cart. So that’s how 2014 started, with warring parties. These three stories early in the year show a glimpse of this employee frustration: CIOs Face BYOD Hard Reality: Employees Don’t Care BYOD Widening Employee-Employer Trust Gap, Survey Finds What Is Going Wrong with BYOD in the Enterprise? This culminated into an outrageous idea of employees scuttling BYOD, instead going back in time to carrying two devices, including a corporate BlackBerry. That’s right, we said BlackBerry. Other employees decided to simply ignore the rules and do BYOD behind IT’s back, called stealth, rogue or shadow tech. These stories reflect employee-driven countermeasures: Mobile Workers: ‘I Want My Blackberry Back’ Workers Going Rogue With BYOD (and BYOA) Some CIOs didn’t back down. Instead they turned up the heat, threatening to put an end to BYOD stipends, firing employees who violated BYOD user policies, and even refusing to support BYOD all together. With the latter, there was a clear slowdown in adoption of formal BYOD policies. These stories reflect IT-driven countermeasures: BYOD Stipends May Soon Go Away (If IT Gets Its Way) Why One CIO Is Saying ‘No’ to BYOD CIOs in Europe Say BYOD Is Stalling BYOD Twists and Turns Keep CIOs Off-Balance Then things got really weird. In the latter half of the year, the California Court of Appeal ruled that companies must reimburse employees for work-related use of personal cellphones. It was the first binding ruling in the BYOD space, and CIOs scrambled for cover. These stories show the confusion and uncertainty of BYOD brought on by the ruling: Court Ruling Could Bring Down BYOD What California’s BYOD Reimbursement Ruling Means to CIOs BYOD Brings Corporate Contradictions So what will next year bring? It’s anyone’s guess. But there are signs pointing to a potential BYOD backlash coming from employees themselves — the same people that called for BYOD in the first place. Employees, even millennials, might be fed up with the blended work-life culture. They’re peeved that companies know their whereabouts and what apps they have on their personal devices. They’re a little tired of being essentially on-call at night, on weekends and over vacations. These stories hint at what’s in store for BYOD: Why Your Workers Hate BYOD BYOD Brings Bah Humbug This Holiday Season Related content news CIO Announces the CIO 100 UK and shares Industry Recognition Awards in flagship evening celebrations By Romy Tuin Sep 28, 2023 4 mins CIO 100 IDG Events Events feature 12 ‘best practices’ IT should avoid at all costs From telling everyone they’re your customer to establishing SLAs, to stamping out ‘shadow IT,’ these ‘industry best practices’ are sure to sink your chances of IT success. By Bob Lewis Sep 28, 2023 9 mins CIO IT Strategy Careers interview Qualcomm’s Cisco Sanchez on structuring IT for business growth The SVP and CIO takes a business model first approach to establishing an IT strategy capable of fueling Qualcomm’s ambitious growth agenda. By Dan Roberts Sep 28, 2023 13 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership feature Gen AI success starts with an effective pilot strategy To harness the promise of generative AI, IT leaders must develop processes for identifying use cases, educate employees, and get the tech (safely) into their hands. By Bob Violino Sep 27, 2023 10 mins Generative AI Innovation Emerging Technology Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe