Member Article

What is BYOD and How can it benefit my business?

BYOD is the acronym for a growing trend dubbed as ’Bring Your Own Device’. It reflects the fast pace of technology growth that has occurred in recent years and the increasing need for employees to be able to access company data via their own devices.

One of the greatest benefits of BYOD is the cost saving element. Employees want to access their company emails and information via devices purchased themselves. With increased technology of course comes increased cost, so not needing to issue smartphones and iPads is surely a benefit to all companies.

However, because BYOD is a somewhat new concept, there could be an important issue to be resolved by IT managers – how do you ensure your company data is secure? With the benefits, there are also risks.

Benefits of BYOD

The key advantages to operating a BYOD strategy include increased employee satisfaction when they can work more flexibly and use the latest technology; cost savings as mentioned above and productivity can also increase as employees are more comfortable using their own technology (and likely to be happier to respond to demand out of hours when it’s so easy to do so).

But it’s important to also be aware of the risks involved when developing your BYOD strategy.

Risks and disadvantages of BYOD

Businesses need to fully consider the risks posed by employees using their own devices. Consider the implications of sensitive company data being accessed anywhere and on any device. Emails being accessed in an unregulated environment. What would happen if an employee’s device was lost or stolen? What security measures would be in place when a device is not company owned?

But as this is a fast growing trend in the business communications, you could argue that the biggest risk is not getting involved.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alastair Yong .