Enterprice Application

Why businesses should not be scared of BYOD

Simply mentioning the idea of bring your own device (BYOD) is enough to make some business owners tremble. Sure, there are many touted benefits to having employees use their own devices at work (greater productivity, more job satisfaction, reduced costs, etc.), but even all those advantages are not enough to convince some companies to adopt it.

BYOD is definitely trending upward, with roughly half of all organisations adopting it, but those that are staying away often feel like their BYOD fears are justified. There is certainly nothing wrong with being concerned about the effect BYOD will have on a business and its employees, but a close examination of the issues will show that businesses shouldn’t be afraid of what BYOD brings to an organisation.

One mistake many companies make when adopting bring your own device is simply allowing workers to use personal devices without adequate preparation. Diving into the pool without checking the water, so to speak, can be quite a shock, and it may end up causing problems for businesses looking to embrace BYOD. For that reason, businesses should do extensive preparation work before officially implementing BYOD policies.

Business leaders should talk with employees and managers to get input on what they expect to get out of BYOD and how they intend to use it. Employees should be trained and taught how to properly use personal devices while remaining productive and keeping data secure. This training should continue periodically even after BYOD has been adopted.

Connected to the issue of preparation is the need to experiment. Allowing BYOD across an entire company may cause problems, which is why it’s a smart move to do a test run first. Running a small trial with a limited number of employees can help businesses and IT departments get a better feel for how the policies will work company-wide. This also gives them the opportunity to work out any problems or hiccups within a smaller area. A test run can also help managers figure out which devices may cause compatibility issues, which may force organisations to limit certain platforms before taking BYOD to the rest of the company.

Without a doubt, one of the chief fears of business leaders related to BYOD is security. For all the convenience using personal mobile devices provides, it also means employees are using potentially unprotected equipment to access sensitive company data. In addition to that, businesses are also worried about devices getting lost or stolen.

Luckily, there are numerous ways organisations can address these concerns. Mobile device management (MDM) is one of the main methods companies use to gain tighter control on devices and ensure greater protection. Through MDM software, IT workers can make sure each device has sufficient antivirus and malware protection.

MDM can also help organisations respond quickly whenever devices go missing by remotely wiping the device of all valuable information which could damage the company if leaked or stolen. This can also be the case when an employee leaves the company, whether voluntarily or through termination. As in all cases, these policies should be clearly communicated to employees before implementing BYOD since many workers feel uncomfortable giving their companies that much control over their devices.

At the same time, some business leaders may worry about overburdening their IT workers. BYOD often represents a much larger workload for IT, which may lead to added pressure and stress. Companies should respond by shifting that burden more on the employees themselves and their managers. While IT can still deal with the technical aspects of BYOD policy, the managers should be the ones who enforce punishments for employees that violate the guidelines set by the organisation. In this way, managers and employees are the ones who are held responsible when things go awry, and IT can concentrate on a more narrowed scope of their duties.

BYOD can help employees get more work done while keeping them happier on the job. BYOD may also help business leaders keep costs down. But all those benefits will be forever out of reach if companies are too frightened by BYOD to use it. While bring your own device is still a relatively new concept that requires more time to perfect, businesses need to see how much it can benefit them and not let these fears paralyse them into inaction. With the right preparation and anticipation, companies will be ready to meet and overcome the challenges while reaping all of the benefits.