Today's Top Stories While some headline writers have had fun with the recent California Appeals Court decision about employer phone call reimbursement ("Could Ruling Bring Down BYOD"), an analysis of the court's decision suggests a much more limited impact on BYOD. Last week, a California Appeals Court ruled that employers must reimburse employees for personal mobile phone call charges related to work. The court ruled that reimbursement must be a "reasonable percentage" of the employee's overall phone bill. "We hold that when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them. Whether the employees have cell phone plans with unlimited minutes or limited minutes, the reimbursement owed is a reasonable percentage of their cell phone bills." While the court's ruling is one of the first legal decisions on BYOD, it will be limited in its impact, even if it survives further appeals. First, the decision only affects California employers, so its national significance remains to be seen. Second, the ruling only pertains to cell phone calls, not data use, which tends to be the most expensive item on a cell phone bill. Third, many employers already reimburse employees for personal cell phone use related to work. So the ruling would be a matter of ensuring that the reimbursement is "reasonable." The National Law Review advises companies to review their BYOD policies to ensure that if the ruling takes effect, they are ready to comply. The ruling is subject to further appeals and does not become final for 30 days.
For more:
- see the court's ruling
- read the National Law Review article
- check out the CIO article
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Perhaps it comes as no surprise, but the smartphone has just edged out the laptop as the top business tool among young entrepreneurs. According to an article at Information Age, "more than half of young entrepreneurs believe a smartphone is as important to running a business as a car or laptop." Citing recent research from OnePoll commissioned by Xero, the article notes that "52 percent of the 500 young people questioned rated a smartphone and a car or van as the top essentials for business, closely followed by 51 percent who needed a laptop." The survey also reveals bad news for PC makers, who continue to suffer a decline in sales growth. Only 27 percent of respondents cite the PC as a top business tool today. "This survey is telling us that the desktop is dead--the new generation want the ability to access all files and documents, speak to customers and associates and run an enterprise from anywhere, whether it is in the street or half way up a mountain," the article quotes Xero executive Gary Turner as saying. "This accessibility is going to be a really key development in the future of business." The survey also confirms that social media is an important business tool, with nearly a third of respondents (32 percent) saying that having an established social media network is an essential tool for organizations today.
For more:
- check out the Information Age article
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Enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly adopting mobility, with 70 percent of companies surveyed by IDC having undertaken some type of mobile initiative. However, few of these firms have a clear strategy of how to use mobile devices effectively in the workplace, the survey finds. "With the growing momentum of the trend of bring your own devices (BYOD), companies can no longer ignore mobile devices in the workplace," says Ian Song, research manager for enterprise mobility at IDC Asia/Pacific. "But very few organizations understand the value proposition of mobility for their businesses, which is about enhancing and driving business growth, not just to make employees happy," Song adds. The survey also finds that Asia-Pacific firms are putting more emphasis on mobile security and management, with 80 percent of respondents having either implemented or tested mobile security and management products. Most firms tend to favor a mobile device management (MDM) solution rather than a more comprehensive mobile enterprise management (MEM) approach. "The average cost per user for MDM solutions is USD$28 in Asia/Pacific on a perpetual basis, while the average cost for MEM solution is USD $36, which is only USD$8 more. Clearly, pricing is a factor, but the large impetus here might be a general lack of understanding on differentiation between MDM and MEM," Song concludes
For more:
- see the IDC release
Related Articles:
Are the days of the mobile phone gold rush in China over?
Asia-Pacific region continues strong adoption of mobile technologies
Cellular M2M connections to triple in Asia by 2017, predicts IHS Read more about: Mobile Security, Asia-Pacific region
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