BYOD, or Bring Your Down Device, is the name of a workplace policy that allows employees to bring their own laptops, tablets, and mobile devices for professional, work-related purposes. This can be advantageous to many businesses as it helps to cut costs on equipment and technology while increasing employee productivity. Although the cost responsibility is being shifted to the employee, they are generally happy to do so because they are afforded the opportunity to use the devices they prefer and are familiar with. While Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are expected to grow, there are several benefits and challenges that businesses need to be aware of when implementing this policy.
Some of the advantages of a BYOD policy include:
- Employee satisfaction. Employees are able to use the devices they are accustomed to, resulting in increased productivity. For example, if an employee is used to working on Mac computers and their employer provides solely PCs, they may struggle to find their way around and accomplish tasks in a timely manner.
- Ability to work from anywhere. With everything on the same device, the need for flash drives and transferring files back and forth is eliminated.
- Reduced costs for the company. The company is not responsible for providing and maintaining the equipment, saving money for the employer.
Some challenges of implementing a BYOD policy include:
- Companies lose much of the control over the devices and how they are used. Through Network Access Control, IT is able to monitor and track activity on all devices connected to the network. This is lost in a BYOD system.
- Privacy and security are more vulnerable. Employees that have sensitive data on their personal devices run the risk of leaks.
- Companies need to make sure they are compliant. If your company is required to comply with mandates such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, or GLBA, you will need to ensure that the information security requirements are met.
If your company is considering adopting a BYOD policy, but you don’t know where to start, we can help. Contact us for both the strategic insights and infrastructure know-how.
