VARs urged to prepare for 'wear your own device' onslaught

Services-focused channel firms to cash in on "inevitable" opportunities to secure devices such as Apple Watch

Resellers have been urged to act now to help prepare businesses for the "inevitable" security issues which will be thrown up when wearable technology enters workplaces.

Network provider Ipswitch claims the "wear your own device" (WYOD) trend will arrive at end-user organisations sooner than they think and insisted channel firms should act fast to get ahead of the game.

Analyst Canalys said that in the first six months of 2014, the market for wearable bands grew a whopping 684 per cent compared with the same period a year ago adding that recently unveiled Apple Watch will dominate the market next year.

Ipswitch's UK and Ireland channel boss Stephen Demianyk said that as staff at end-user firms snap up the new technology, security risks will rear their heads for businesses.

"With wearables - especially the Apple Watch where there is a lot of brand loyalty - there will be a cavalry of people, especially millennials, who are really quick to adopt these devices," he said. "They are going to demand that they are able to bring their devices into the workplace and that is where the trouble is. BYOD was about laptops and phones, but wearables are much more discreet and small and can be stolen and lost a lot easier.

"C-level execs agree to policies [such as WYOD] but probably don't understand the potential problems they could have, for example, data security, leakages and privacy issues too," he said.

Demianyk admitted that resellers may not enjoy much traction selling the wearable devices themselves, the services opportunity is "massive".

"Generally it is not until something disastrous happens that [businesses] say 'we need a handle on this'," he said.

"There is going to be an awful lot more data flying around - have companies got the right infrastructure in place? There will be an obvious headache for IT managers... and that creates a massive channel opportunity for resellers.

"Consultants can go in and see the bigger picture and [answer] wider-reaching questions and can help with educating organisations."