Technology is so important to the success of your business that it’s really quite difficult to imagine it functioning without it. This prompts organizations to spend a significant portion of their budget on technology. However, some organizations are hoping to offset these costs with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, in which employees bring their own devices to the workplace for work purposes. This has various strengths and weaknesses, but if done right, you can help your organization save money.
What is BYOD?
Bring Your Own Device basically consists of businesses allowing their employees to bring devices to the office to use for their daily responsibilities. This development has been interesting to say the least, as mobile devices are now powerful enough that even consumer-based smartphones and tablets can handle business use.
The Benefits
It doesn’t matter whether the device is a smartphone, tablet, or laptop; mobile devices can provide various benefits to businesses that choose to utilize a BYOD policy. Employees are simply more productive with devices they are more familiar with. Surprisingly enough, they are also more likely to keep their device in proper working order. This is personal investment at its finest; if an employee has a personal connection to the device, they will be more likely to keep the device in nice shape and will enjoy using it more often.
On the employer’s side of things, BYOD is a huge money saver. This means that the business won’t need to procure the devices and can instead allow employees to bring them to the workplace if they feel they need them. This prevents businesses from investing in devices or data plans that aren’t going to be used.
The Downsides
Compatibility can be a major point of contention for BYOD, as can security. Regarding compatibility, your devices will need to work with a variety of hardware and software found on your network. If the device isn’t compatible with your network, your organization will have to procure the device for them rather than using BYOD. Security is also critical, as an employee probably isn’t going to feel 100% comfortable with giving you access to their private device, whether it’s for remote wiping purposes or simply securing certain apps or information found on it. Plus, you have to worry about when the employee leaves the company, taking the information found on the device with them. Remote wiping is the solution, so it becomes an issue of whether or not the employee will accept this as a term for using BYOD.
A BYOD Policy is Key
If you want to make sure your employees’ mobile devices don’t become a big problem, having your employees adhere to a BYOD policy is the best solution. This gives your employees a clear outline of what they are handing over when bringing their own devices to the workplace. A comprehensive BYOD policy goes a long way toward protecting data and infrastructure from nefarious threats.
If your business needs help with access control and mobile device management, call Business Solutions & Software Group’s IT professionals at (954) 575-3992.
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