The latest trend which has taken the corporate world by storm is the one of Bring Your Own Device or popularly known as BYOD. This basically means to bring your own devices to office for work rather than the companies providing one.
BYOD allows companies to save money on the gadgets as well as it gives employees the freedom to choose their own tools for work. The trend although hugely famous is still not common in every company but in the coming times BYOD could be the most prevalent trend. Here are six reasons to care about BYOD.
Saves Money
They say necessity is the mother of invention. This notion can be somewhat related to BYOD as well. The necessity for saving cost has only led to the invention of this trend. When every company is trying to save every bit of a penny, BYOD comes as a welcome change. This way the companies don’t have to pay for the mobiles and the laptops of the employees. BYOD not only save cost, in order to do the work efficiently employees upgrade their systems according to the need. This way the whole office remains up to date without costing the company a single dime.
Improved Management
With the advent of BYOD the employees have to look after only one device. Now there are no separate phones for office or personal use. The managing of two separate gadgets was a big hassle for the working class and they would frequently missed calls as they would carry only work phones during office hours. The usage of only one device also increases productivity as the employees get used to that one device. Every different phone has a learning curve in it. This curve is eliminated in BYOD environment.
Increased productivity of IT
With fewer gadgets to manage the IT department will be able to concentrate more on core operations rather than troubleshooting laptop troubles. The employees will refer to their device manufacturer rather than the IT crowd to solve their problems, thus reducing the headaches of IT guys.
Longevity of Equipment
When the device belong to the employees, they tend to use it with much more care and cautiously thus making the device last longer. The company no longer needs to worry about replacing damaged laptops or upgrading outdated software. This entire headache rests with the employees.
Security Issues
The major concern that is holding BYOD back is security. Every outside system having access to company network makes the network very vulnerable. The companies dealing with sensitive client data are more apprehensive than the others because of obvious reasons. The one thing that can be done to protect the system is the incorporation of strict firewalls but there aren’t many firewalls which can’t be bypassed.
Not Everyone Is Tech Savvy
Every employee working is not particularly is a gadget freak. Asking them to bring their own device can drive them to go out and buy a device which might not be suitable for their needs. Moreover this trend will bring an inequality among the employees which is not good for work environment.
Conclusion
We saw that despite having good utilities BYOD does bring some issues with it, which need serious consideration before BYOD becomes a regularity. Will BYOD take over the traditional model?
Not all people are tech savvies indeed; not all can also afford one that could fit to their needs as well. BYOD seems a great idea, but if people bring their own devices with low-end specs, the company will also suffer. So, I suggest employees get to choose if they will be relying on BYOD or not. If their own device is better, then there’s no problem at all 🙂