Wearables to copy BYOD adoption pattern

Stephen Demianyk says the clock is already ticking on the wearables opportunity

The countdown to the launch of the Apple Watch has begun. I'm not that excited about the launch of the watch itself; I am far more interested in the impact it is going to have on network infrastructure and security in businesses.

Furthermore, I'm starting to get very interested in the window of opportunity it represents for the channel.

You see, although wearable technology has been around for some time now, the related adoption rate has been more of a gradual trickle than a flood.

Obviously, with Apple knocking on the door we can now expect to see them appearing in businesses, services, homes and public facilities.

Remember BYOD? The policy that every business didn't know they needed until it was too late? Businesses were totally unprepared for the impact of multiple, personally owned devices joining the network.

You could argue that the same applies to wearables. By the end of next year, staff, stakeholders, customers and suppliers will be into Wear Your Own Device (WYOD) roaming on and off corporate networks in the blink of an eye, often without a thought from the user as to the suitability of the network being used.

Corporate and personal confidentiality will be more easily compromised and network managers will need to have a completely transparent view of traffic on the network in order to manage its performance, stability and security.

No matter how briefly it is connected, any wearable device on the network poses a security risk. In the wrong hands, wearables could lead to a serious data leak.

In addition, the sheer number of new devices flitting on and off the network is likely to cause data management problems. Data loads will have to be monitored more carefully within datacentres and bandwidth should be tracked to avoid bottlenecks.

Short of having front-desk staff frisk all visitors and confiscate their devices, resellers need to start to advise their customers to begin the process of preparing their networks for WYOD. Therein lies the opportunity for the channel in wearables.

A successful consultant will already be talking to customers and advising them to dust off their BYOD policies and start the process of updating them to include wearables.

There is opportunity for the taking across consultancy, services and training, as well as sales of complementary products.

In fact, I'd urge you not to just think product, and to think about more of a broad package to address WYOD. This will enable your customers to be one step ahead of the regulators and anyone with malicious intent. If done well, this will ensure wearables do not become a problem for businesses.

In terms of where to start, think by sector rather than by technology type. Any business that handles sensitive information, such as financial, legal and healthcare organisations, will be quicker to listen.

The same goes for organisations that are heavily regulated. For example, the public sector should be a warmer lead than most. As for the rest of the market, it may take a little longer.

An Apple Watch announcement is just the beginning but it does mark a new chapter in network performance monitoring and security, and an opportunity for the channel.

Stephen Demianyk is UK and Ireland channel manager at Ipswitch