A growing number of businesses will face challenges associated with legacy IT systems, according to Micro Focus.
With new channels being added to IT environments to enable mobile and Internet capabilities, A/NZ general manager, Kylie Kelly, said legacy IT will only struggle to meet the demands of today’s end-users.
In the scope of BYOD, Kelly expects growing pressure on businesses to enable approved personal devices to access the applications held on the mainframe.
“The issue then becomes whether the mainframe can handle the changes, and if a BYOD strategy adversely affects the mainframe set-up,” she said.
Many organisations have been led to believe their “green screens” or monochrome systems will not be compatible with employees' modern devices, prompting them to rewriting entire applications or purchasing a middleware solution.
Kelly said this way of dealing with BYOD tends to be time consuming, risky and expensive.
“Businesses need to rethink how they approach BYOD by looking for solutions that enable organisations to quickly modernise green screen applications on mobile devices,” she said.
The light at the end
Kelly admits that it may feel like BYOD “casts a dark shadow over existing operations,” but said it can be managed by finding a solution that has a low-risk approach to modernisation.
Read more: BYOD challenge not new, but pervasive: Arbor
“It should be something that allows new devices to ‘plug in’ to existing core application infrastructure and make your BYOD implementation a much more viable prospect,” she said.
Instead of viewing BYOD as a challenge, Kelly expects it to have a positive impact on the way companies manage their networks, devices and workforce.
“It is the future of workplace, and companies can turn this phenomenon to their advantage by having relevant security and integration policies in place,” she said.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.