How to make Bring Your Own Device Work in the Workplace

As many businesses find it difficult to keep up with technology changes and demand, company employees are increasingly being encouraged to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to work.

The driving force behind BYOD is a new IT self-sufficiency among company employees who already own and use personal laptops, tablets and smartphones. Encouraging employees to access company emails and documents on their own phones or tablets has the potential to increase productivity and reduce business costs.

The Global Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Market is projected to exceed 350 billion by 2022 from USD 94.15 billion in 2014. Widespread adoption of devices, like tablets, smartphones, and laptops can positively affect the market over the forecast period (2016 – 2024). BYOD enables employees bring their own devices to work. This not only reduces hardware & device costs but also boosts employee productivity & satisfaction.

When you allow employees to bring their own devices to work, it can create a more open, efficient and relaxed environment that benefits both parties. Some BOYD benefits include:

Mobility

As employees become more and more mobile, businesses need to increase operational efficiencies and keep people securely connected – anytime, anywhere.

BYOD mobility allows your workforce to be more productive. Being able to use personal devices when visiting clients ensures your employees hav access to the information that they need, when and where it matters. This can increase client satisfaction and employee productivity without requiring the increased investment in hardware.

Flexibility

BYOD gives employees a feeling of freedom over how they work. The ability to access company information, files and applications from personal devices allows for greater flexibility.

BYOD is part of workplace flexibility, which employees value as being one of the key factors leading to job satisfaction. Workplace flexibility in general increases loyalty, high morale, and employee engagement.

Personnel who are allowed to decide on the tools they use and choose where they use them have a greater work–life balance and are, as a result, not only more productive but also less likely to take sick days or leave the company.

Save Money

A BYOD program can save businesses money, however, the costs associated with supporting an employee-owned device can be the same as when your company owns the hardware itself.

Savings can be made on acquisition costs as employees pay for the mobile devices themselves. This can provide substantial savings for a business, but are one-off. Further on-going savings can be made around services and other associated expenses, depending on your company’s policy regarding voice and data plan reimbursement.

Security

While providing flexibility to your workforce and reducing costs, implementing BYOD can raise security issues. You need to be able to control who, when, where and how your network is accessed and ensure any sensitive data is protected.

There are certain ways to improve security so that you can safely implement BYOD in your company. Here are some tips:

  1. Secure the mobile devices – A lot of the problems above can be addressed by securing the mobile device itself. Company should invest in a mobile device management (MDM) solution that can enforce security policies and ensure only approved devices can access your network and resources. Invest in heavy encryption as well, to protect your network infrastructure and your data as it passes through the public Internet.
  2. Secure the apps in the devices – Of course, this is easier said than done. After all, you are essentially suggesting regulating the apps within personal devices of users. What you can do is encourage apps from an in-house app store that are secure.
  3. Choose cloud providers – that offer top-notch security and protection – For example, cloud phone system providers like RingCentral have highly redundant and heavily encrypted connections to protect data traffic.
  4. Use mobile anti-virus programs – This will help protect the mobile device’s OS and software, plus most anti-virus tools can detect malicious apps and pages that can be harmful to the device.
  5. Perform continuous risk-assessment – Identify and monitor all possible susceptibilities in your network and devices. This is not a one-time thing. Dangers to your data evolve as fast as technology improves so a continuous audit should be implemented as a best practice.

All of the above will provide efficient, more secure and reliable access to the applications and services that drive productivity in your business. Fast and easy to implement is an ideal solution for companies wanting to embrace BYOD and create an agile workforce.

To find out more about BYOD and the right communication solutions for your business – contact Exchange Communications on 0800 008 7600 or visit www.exchangecommunications.co.uk

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