Everything You Need to Know About BYOD & Business
You might have heard or read about BYOD, and perhaps you are yet to comprehend what it is all about. Well, BYOD is simply an acronym for Bring Your Own Device. Traditionally, employees have used company devices to run assigned duties at the workplace. However, the rise of the use of mobile devices and the fall in prices of portable computers has paved the way for employers to rethink. Most employers are now allowing employees to use their own devices to carry out company responsibilities. Whether your business is playing is established or starting out, leveraging BYOD is a step in the right direction. Let us shed more light on everything you need to know about BYOD and business.
Benefits of BYOD
We can’t just shower praises to BYOD and expect you to jump onto this bandwagon without telling you about some of the amazing benefits. Now, BYOD is growing as an important business strategy in the current landscape. The following are some of the reasons you should think of deploying BYOD in your business:
Improve Productivity
With BYOD, employees are using devices they are quite familiar with. Since the current workforce matrix is made of tech-savvy talent, they are more than happy to be allowed to work on their devices. Furthermore, the ease of switching between the company’s work and personal work is easier, and thus productivity tends to improve.
Lower Operation Cost
With employees using their own devices, the company is relieved from investing in more of those devices. This means the cost associated with the purchase and maintenance of these devices diminishes. Even if the company reimburses employees, the cost is still low and the company can save for other projects.
Increase Employee Engagement
A good BYOD policy helps to build trust and raze down communication barriers. This naturally increases employee engagement, which again helps the overall OKRs of the team.
Fine-tune Employee Transition
If a good BYOD management framework is put in place, incoming and outgoing employees’ device networks can be handled accordingly without interfering with employees’ devices. The incoming employee is simply connected to the company’s framework while the outgoing employee is eased out. Well, a good BYOD policy should inculcate what is known as Mobile Device Management (MDM). Simply put it is a smart way to manage mobile devices in a centralized paradigm. You can find out what mobile device management is and how you adapt it to implement BYOD the right way in your business. Having the right BYOD tools will not only seal any loopholes that can present cybersecurity risks; it will also enhance productivity and inventory management.
Improve Employee Loyalty
With BYOD, employees tend to feel loved and trusted by the company. They are working via their own devices, which is akin to more control and trust. This will make them happy and loyal, a feat that translates to better retention.
Challenges of BYOD
While BYOD is a good strategy for businesses, it doesn’t go without faults. The good news is that these shortcomings are also addressable. The following are some of the challenges of BYOD you should be wary of.
Controlling data without controlling device
One of the biggest challenges is to control your data security rather than the employee’s device. Again, you can leverage several good applications to secure your data on your employee’s device.
Employee Privacy
Your business should be concerned with critical data, but you are also supposed to guarantee employee’s privacy. This means the infrastructure deployed to secure the company’s data should separate the company’s and employee’s data.
Employee’s Adherences to BYOD Policies
BYOD policies are key to deploying a successful BYOD strategy in every business. They outline the rights, benefits, and obligations that every employee is subject to when using their own devices. You will need to ensure that employees stick to the guidelines to avoid running into issues.
Tips to Successful BYOD Implementation
Dressing up for the success of the BYOD strategy will take a lot of effort from your side and the employees. It involves thorough business analysis and picking a suitable BYOD solution for your business. The following are some of the best tips for successful BYOD strategy implementation.
Analyze your business and determine your requirements
Try to know the kind of applications your employees are using. Identify those applications that can be fused to your business and select suitable software that can be used to securely access the company’s network. Cloud-based solutions are highly deployed because it is easy to separate the company and personal functions for one device. Businesses that use lease accounting software may want to look into solutions like EZLease and benefit from its cloud-based nature.
Choose the Right BYOD Implementation Software
There are several cloud-based solutions in the market, but you need to discuss with the right experts and arrive at the best software for that purpose. Help with ERP Implementation is available, should you find that you need it.
Create a solid BYOD Policy
A good BYOD policy will enable employees to use their own devices while not interfering with the company’s data nor compromising their personal data privacy. It should take into account factors like employee reimbursement, employee mobile practices, BYOD management administrative practices, and technical support for your BYOD software, among others.
Wrap up
That’s it! We hope our quick guide has shed some light on BYOD, the benefits, risks, and solutions. The key is to start small and learn from mistakes as you deploy the approach in your business.
