Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use your own smartphone or tablet at work to communicate with internal employees or external customers?
Sure, at the time you were issued that then state-of-the-art company phone or laptop, you were excited. But now, compared to your current personal Android device, iPhone or iPad, the company model just seems so dreadfully cumbersome and slow. And you know that your department doesn’t have the budget to replace it at any time soon.
Or, wouldn’t it be nice if you could carry around just a single device, rather than remembering to lug around multiple ones?
What is BYOD?
BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device to work, a growing trend among businesses, is finding favor with both employees and company IT departments.
As your organization deals with budgetary cutbacks, BYOD just may be a way to save money while at the same time keeping your employees happy.
Two main benefits of BYOD
1) Increased worker satisfaction. The employee gets to use a device of his or her choice, which doesn’t require the knowledge of multiple (or outdated) operating systems, and is more likely to incorporate the latest technology.
2) Company cost savings. Rather than having to purchase and maintain new equipment every few years, according to the Good Technology State of BYOD Report, 50 percent of companies that have deployed BYOD require their employees to pick up all of the costs. Further, companies are not required to maintain hardware support desks to field questions like “How do I retrieve a file on this device?” Users are expected to develop this kind of knowledge on their own.
But what is the main risk with BYOD?
In a word, security.
Most users are, of course, not concerned with security on a daily basis. Their objective is simply: How do I get the job done as quickly and effortlessly as possible?
CIO magazine states that “company-issued IT typically comes with an acceptable use policy, and it is protected by company-issued security that is managed and updated by the IT department.”
So with BYOD, CIO magazine advises: “Make sure you have a clearly defined policy for BYOD that outlines the rules of engagement and states up front what the expectations are.”
Questions to ask before implementing BYOD
Before implementing BYOD, heads of IT departments will need to determine answers to questions like:
· What happens if an employee’s device is lost or stolen?
· What happens to the data if the employee leaves the company?
· Is company data interacting with other applications on the employee’s device, such as consumer depositories like Dropbox?
· Will we allow all devices, or will the employee need to choose from a list of company-approved devices?
· Will we pay for a portion of the purchase price for the employee’s device, or a part of their phone bill or Internet access charges?
Before deciding to participate in a BYOD program, the employee may need to answer a question like:
· Am I willing to allow my company to delete all data on my phone at their discretion?
Two additional BYOD concerns
With BYOD, employees can now carry work with them everywhere they go. A temptation of the employer may be to then expect them to work any place and at any time. However, the City of Chicago found out that by issuing police officers BlackBerrys and then pressuring them to answer work-related calls and emails on their own time, the city is now facing a lawsuit in federal court to pay the officers millions of dollars in overtime back pay.
On the employee side, according to CIO magazine: “People misplace their phones all the time, and so they’ll take every measure to find it before calling IT to hit the remote swipe. Their reluctance to report the lost phone could span days, even weeks – meaning for all that time, corporate data could have been compromised.”
BYOD: is it right for you?
While employees can feel they have more control on how they communicate at work, BYOD can save money for your organization. If your IT department hasn’t considered the use of BYOD, have them be sure to do so. Just weigh the benefits versus the risks and determine an upfront implementation plan.