SPONSORED CONTENT – With the increasing popularity of the “bring your own” trend, more and more customers are turning to their channel partners for advice on how to implement a strategy that makes sense for both their business and their employees. As these discussions become more frequent, there is a real opportunity for partners to bring their IT leadership to the table and position themselves as the go-to resource for future IT strategy.

The best “bring your own” strategies are developed with an understanding of how every device plays a role. Although the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend has gained momentum in terms of mobile devices, where does the PC fit in? An understanding of Canadian sentiments towards Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) will help resellers address customer concerns and develop appropriate IT strategies for hardware management.

According to a recent HP Canada survey of over 1,000 Canadian small business owners and employees about the “bring your own” trend, BYOC is not a popular choice, with 78 per cent of small and medium-sized business owners and managers indicating that they have no intention of adopting BYOC policy in the near future.

But what is the underlying cause of Canadians’ cautious attitudes towards adopting BYOC? The motivating factors behind these sentiments provide valuable insights for resellers looking for alternate “bring your own” solutions, like cloud-based applications or virtualization, for their customers.

The survey indicates security concerns are a major factor preventing Canadian SMBs from adopting BYOC, as noted by the 71 per cent of respondents who said they would not allow employees to use their own computers at work. Another important factor, cited by 48 per cent of respondents, includes legal and HR issues, such as what to do if an employee leaves the company and who is responsible for wiping the device clean of sensitive information.

At the end of the day businesses are looking for the right technology solutions to meet their organizational and employee needs – and employees aren’t asking for BYOC. Seventy-one per cent of those surveyed stated no factors would entice them to bring their personal PC to work. For a majority (63 per cent) the main reason is the desire to keep their professional and personal lives separate.

The key take away from these findings that partners can advise to their clients is that for employees, work-life balance isn’t as much about turning work off once they leave the office, but having the ability to be flexible with when they access work information. As a result, for some organizations, looking at ways to move more aspects of the business such as file storage, email and software applications like Customer Relationship Management tools into the cloud could be more beneficial than adopting a BYOC policy.

As new technology trends like “bring your own” continue to emerge, a deep understanding of how these trends will impact clients will allow resellers to help guide long-term technology strategies and provide the right solutions – whether advising a BYOC policy or new cloud-based solutions.

Guest blogs like this are part of ChannelBuzz.ca’s annual sponsorship packages. Find out more here.