With mobile technologies constantly developing and adoption ever increasing, property managers are under pressure to adapt to this mobile push by integrating mobile solutions into their work environment. Although this pressure to change may seem like a burden, many property managers are finding that mobility is increasing both productivity and tenant satisfaction.

This rise in mobile has led to two options for property managers: supply employees with devices for mobile applications or embrace a BYOD (bring your own device) strategy.

In the past, BYOD was a nightmare for managers, who originally had to coordinate devices with different operating systems and maintain control over access. Today, however, this strategy has matured and become increasingly popular. With the rise of smartphones and tablets, operating systems have perfected their ability to host mobile applications and make them easily available via their app store. The competition between the three main competitors in the device market- Apple, Android, and Blackberry -has guaranteed that most mobile applications will be available to all of these devices. With this access to all devices, managers can avoid spending large amounts of capital on uniform devices for their employees and choose a mobile application that is available for download on their personal devices.

In a recent webinar, Building Operations in Your Pocket, Building Engines addressed the BYOD trend:

“There’s this trend called BYOD so bring your own device.  People have iPads they have iPhones they have Android phones and BlackBerry Smart Phones and they carry them with them all the time so enterprises are starting to recognize that mobile workers in their organization have this power that they’re carrying around in their pocket. And they want to leverage that power so a major trend that organizations are recognizing that there’s a lot of unused power if they don’t have a mobile application that can be accessed by these things.”      –Matt Brogie, Owner of Mobility CIO

With this ability to capitalize on resources that are already available to them, property managers gain an upper hand.

Overall, a BYOD strategy has many advantages:

• Lower costs – you don’t need to supply each employee with a device
• Minimal training needed – people generally know how to use their own device
• Easy installation – most mobile applications can be quickly downloaded by employees from an app store
• Increased productivity – files can be accessed virtually and communication is instantaneous
• The ability to see tenant feedback instantly and quickly address issues for higher tenant satisfaction

As the mobile movement continues into the future, property managers will need to keep up with the latest trends, but for now it is safe to say that BYOD is a strategy that will save you both time and money while increasing productivity. We’d call that a win-win.