For all of the numerous business gadgets we have at our disposal, sometimes, the simplest approaches are usually the best. BYOD, or bring your own device, is something that many young companies use, predominantly for the reason that it saves them money. And while there are so many benefits to this approach, there are plenty of downsides also. So, if you are considering implementing this into your workplace, let’s break down BYOD.
How It Can Benefit The Business
Apart from the financial aspect, the bring your own device policy can help in terms of familiarity. For example, if you have employees that use their own tablets or laptops and have their own shorthand with the device, this translates directly into productivity. And while money is saved exponentially from the employer’s perspective, the money that is saved can be implemented in other ways. For example the various cloud computing solutions that can ensure that the devices are in keeping, not just with the BYOD policy, but secure within the working environment. And while there can be issues with this, if you implement an appropriate policy that is followed to the letter, you will see how it makes the lives of your employees easier.
The Overarching Concerns
Technologically speaking, the compatibility issues can cause disarray. Conflicting platforms, issues with access rights, or devices that don’t use a specific protocol, not to mention numerous others, can cause a headache for the tech department. Not only this, the issues you have with your employees sharing data on a personal level have to be addressed. As already mentioned, if you have a BYOD policy that is followed properly, and the consequences of not following it are communicated, this can help in one respect. When you are dealing with sensitive data, it’s important that you communicate to your employees, not just what will happen to them, but to the business. When you think about the employees that leave the work environment and have devices on their person that contain sensitive data, they are leaving themselves open to data theft in a personal sense.
Bring your own device policies, on the face of it, are a great way for any company to save money. But when you are thinking about the impact this can have on the business, the financial approach doesn’t dictate everything. BYOD can be a great way to encourage employees to make the work more mobile, especially for those people that work from home, but from a technological perspective, you have to invest a bit more to ensure that the information is secure. In many ways, the ideal solution is to have every device vetted, but this can throw up more issues in terms of your employees’ rights to privacy. And when dealing with sensitive data, in many ways, the best approach is consistent communication. Ultimately, we cannot watch our employees 24 hours a day, but what we can do is provide a very strict policy, one that is continually updated. BYOD can be a boon, but we have to be very careful.