In 1989, Back to the Future’s Marty McFly was transported into a 2015 world of flying cars, hoverboards, and smartwatches. 
The real world in 2015, 26 years on from the movie’s release, is not quite at the flying-car stage. But wearable technology is on the cusp of widespread adoption following the release of the Apple Watch, which enters an increasingly crowded smartwatch market that includes the Samsung Gear Fit, Microsoft Band and Moto 360.
Wearables in action
The use of wearables is accelerating across industries, including healthcare. In fact, Back to the Future star Michael J. Fox, recently announced his Parkinson’s foundation is working to supply patients with wearable devices to track their condition in real-time. Medics in Florida’s Hospital Celebration also advocate the use of wearable technology which has increased the time that caregivers can give to patients.
By using devices which are strapped onto patients and doctors, the hospital staff can track how much care individual patients need, ensuring that they get the help they need.
BYOC: Bring Your Own Challenges
Wearables will also provide a number of benefits to the enterprise world beyond allowing employees to check email notifications by looking at their wrist. For example, employers will be granted the opportunity to drill down into staff productivity, gaining insight into performance trends and inhibitors.
But wearables will create additional challenges to organizations already struggling to cope with the increased use of personal tablets, smartphones and other devices in the workplace. Businesses struggle to limit which devices employees and guests bring to work, so it might be prudent for them to review and strengthen strategies to ensure the integrity and security of company data.
IT Managers must also grant multiple users, including guests and employees, the flexibility they demand for using different devices, whether corporate-issued or part of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend.
Making sure your business is ready
Mobile will continue to evolve and adapt, and the number of devices, and applications on them, will continue to multiply. Providing enterprise-class access to all devices – and having a truly service-aware network that can be scaled up or down, depending on the number of devices in the workplace – can help organizations prepare for the wearable revolution.
As long as administrators maintain visibility over what is entering the network and what it is being used for, they will be able to control the potential complications the wearable trend might present. Once this control is in place, businesses could start to discover the true potential of wearable technology and reap the benefits of the myriad, as yet unimaginable, use cases.