TechRepublic weighs in on the BYOD question with 10 Myths of BYOD in the Enterprise. They cover some really excellent topics and questions that CIOs and IT professionals are asking, along with a few hints for how to deal with it when it comes, which it will.

Our favorite of the ten? Definitely the final one: You can prevent BYOD in your organization.

Why is it a myth? Even if you aren’t aware of it and don’t have a policy or plan in place, BYOD is already happening. Users–and by users, you should read “your employees”–are already bringing personal devices to work with them, unless there is a policy in place that says they can’t (and sometimes even then).

Some large corporations are embracing the change, eager to trade the cost of devices and data plans for the increase in complications for IT. Others are hanging back. One thing that can’t be denied is that everybody needs to get ready for a revolution in the way employee devices affect the workplace.

Hoping to apply a user-driven, social media model to the mobile application development field, App47 has released a new service, the App47 Developer Edition, that gives companies the ability to deploy and manage their own app stores for free.

These app stores, containing customized suites of mobile applications that enterprises can manage on their own, can help expedite mobile application implementation and deployment as well as facilitating management of those applications in a controlled environment.

We’re thrilled to see this exciting new tool and can’t wait to see how it impacts our industry. Check it out today.

In a world increasingly dominated by mobile computing, you can no longer be serious about running a successful business without being equally serious about the security of your data.

According to the New York Times, many large corporations, including Google, now consider it to be a matter of basic security to protect their data from corporate espionage in foreign countries through a variety of methods. Hacking of smartphones and tablets has become such a problem that according to the article, “McAfee, the security company, said that if any employee’s device was inspected at the Chinese border, it could never be plugged into McAfee’s network again. Ever. “We just wouldn’t take the risk,” said Simon Hunt, a vice president.”

Some large companies insist that employees leave their regular devices at home and bring temporary loaners with them during overseas travel to countries such as Russia and China, and do not allow employees to access corporate networks while overseas.

“We operate under the assumption that we will inevitably be compromised,” said Tom Kellermann, the CTO of wireless security company AirPatrol. Kellerman is also a member of President Obama’s commission on cybersecurity.

Not every business goes to China or Russia, but cybersecurity is an issue at home as well. Loss or theft of devices containing private customer data is a regular topic in the news, and companies suffer a loss of goodwill both from the public and from their customers when these problems happen.

When it comes to data security, prevention is priceless. Your proprietary data–customer records, financial statements, future plans, and more–is valuable largely because it is proprietary. Once it’s stolen, that value is gone forever.

Unfortunately, we see many companies suffering from carelessness as much as from theft. Lack of even basic security protocols leads to data being compromised through forgetfulness and loss of devices, accidentally giving things to the wrong people, and other slip-ups that in daily life would be harmless, but that in business could mean the end of a company or the loss of a crucial edge.

It’s time to get serious about protecting the information that makes your business special.

What do we recommend? To begin with, you can have a look at the free recording of our November webinar on Mobile Device Security. Or, try reading our white paper on how to draft an effective and protective cell phone policy. Still have questions after that? We’d love to talk to you personally about helping improve your policies and meet your corporate data security goals.

There’s a great little article over at Forbes.com today called “Three Ways Your Company Can Extend the Lifespan of its Mobile Devices.” You can (and should) go read the article in its entirety, but the overall message can be summed up pretty simply with one suggestion that almost nobody seems to be following right now. Why? Well, probably because following that advice requires you to remember one key piece of information that a lot of people don’t seem to have:

Mobile devices can be fixed by your own IT guys.

Now, that isn’t true without caveat. Some device providers have very limited warranties that may be voided by do-it-yourself repairs. Others make it difficult or even impossible to make repairs at all, enforcing planned obsolescence by making it impossible to remove or repair parts that traditionally have been, well, removable or repairable.

The real question to consider here,though, is whether buying repairable devices and training your IT team to perform those repairs is really worth the initial investment. With the rapid development of mobile technology, many end-users are likely to feel that repairing a damaged device isn’t worth it when a replacement also means a shot at an upgrade that may mean a dramatic improvement in convenience and ease of use.

For enterprises with simple needs that can be fulfilled by simple devices that allow repairs and upgrades to be performed by users, it may well be worth it to try and extend device lifespans. But for other companies, the disposable nature of devices today may mean that the cheapest and simplest answer is actually not repairing at all.

The Huffington Post has some predictions today on the major mobile trends for small businesses to watch out for in 2012. The article focuses primarily on marketing and development, making suggestions about app development and taking advantage of mobile search. However, an attentive CIO or IT manager should be able to look at the article and make some deductions about mobile device usage patterns in the workforce.

Case in point: when mentioning the propensity of the youngest generation of professionals to use YouTube as a search engine, HuffPo reminds enterprises not to neglect video as part of their online presence. We’d like to also remind you when selecting phones and data plans for your employees that many of them, especially the younger set, will expect to be able to access YouTube and Vimeo on demand (sometimes even for work-related purposes), and may or may not understand the details of data usage, or the difference between mobile internet and WiFi.

Be sure to read the rest of the list. It’s good stuff.

Gartner has released new research and predictions on the top IT trends and priorities among CIOs for the upcoming year. Still in the top 3 are Mobile Technology and Cloud Computing. They predict growth to remain flat this year in the United States.

With the slow recovery of the economy, enterprises are putting clear emphasis on increasing efficiency while reducing overall spend. Our telecom and wireless expense management solutions are perfectly placed to satisfy the needs of enterprises looking to reduce spend without losing access to crucial services and solutions. Have you scheduled your demo yet?

Don’t forget, even if you missed your chance to hear our Mobile Application Development and Management webinar, you can still listen to it by going here and downloading the recording!

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, is known for being a dedicated support of Apple products, going so far as to camp out in lines when new Apple devices are released. However, Apple probably won’t be happy to hear about his latest interview with The Daily Beast, in which he praises Android phones.

Wozniak recently camped out not for an iPhone but for a chance to get his hands on the pre-release version of Google’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and told interviewers that while he continues to think the iPhone is the better overall device, “I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do.”

According to Wozniak, voice commands work better on the Android, and the OS’s built-in navigation system, which functions like a GPS, is another advantage.

He also seems to think that Apple has misused Siri, the voice-recognition software that is the hallmark of Apple’s exciting iPhone 4S. He was a Siri user before the program was acquired by Apple and claims that it used to work better before the technology giant got their hands on it.

The final installment in our data security webinar series, Mobile Application Development and Management, will be held on January 18.

Build it yourself, hire someone to build or buy it–how to get the most of the technology you now have in your user’s hands. Learn about app deployment and how enterprise app stores can provide powerful security combined with a positive user experience for company-wide application management.

If you haven’t registered already, make sure you do!

Leadership at Advantix Solutions Group, a global leader in fixed and mobile telecom lifecycle management services, have signed an agreement to purchase services from inContact (NASDAQ: SAAS), the leading provider of cloud-based call center software and call center agent optimization tools. Advantix has selected the inContact contact routing platform to support its strategic customer service efforts.

Advantix specializes in optimizing, negotiating and managing complex telecommunications programs for enterprises ranging from startups to multinational corporations. As part of their services, Advantix provides helpdesk support to its clients for their mobile devices across the globe on a 24×7 basis. The organization sets aggressive goals to provide first-call resolution and a premium experience for over 300 distinct types of support calls. With the proliferation of mobile devices from tablets, to smartphones and beyond comes the challenge to maintain a high level of support while operating an efficient and high performing customer support team.

Due to this and their objective in 2012 to be recognized as the leader in their industry for customer experience and satisfaction, Advantix sought a best-in-class cloud-based solution to replace its legacy call routing and queuing platform.

They selected inContact for its powerful cloud functionality and highly customizable architecture that will enable Advantix to continue delivering superb first-call resolution while enabling powerful new capabilities such as:

• Self-serve and user directed support requests
• Integration with emerging platforms such as Twilio for next generation support
• Advanced skills-based call routing
• Deep integration with their Salesforce.com CRM service platform

“The move to inContact will enable us to provide an even higher level of service to our customers than our current best,” said Nathan Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Advantix. “inContact will provide much more sophisticated call management and reporting, while also making each call more efficient for our clients through CRM and knowledge base integration.”

Integration between the inContact and Salesforce.com platforms will also reduce time spent by Advantix contact center agents gathering account information, by automatically populating agent screens with the caller’s account information before the call is answered. The enhancement will reduce the overall talk time, thereby improving customer satisfaction levels. Additionally, Advantix will utilize the inContact automated call-back feature during peak call times to allow customers to hang up and “hold their place in line,” for an agent to call them back as agents become available.

“The power of the inContact cloud platform enables our customers to improve overall efficiencies and service delivery in their contact centers,” said Paul Jarman, inContact CEO. “By utilizing key features of the inContact system, such as CRM integration and automated call-backs, the overall experience of both the agents and customers improves significantly. We look forward to working with Advantix to meet and exceed their customer service goals in 2012 and beyond.”