What is BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and Why it Matters

One of the most significant impacts that Covid-19 had on the labor force was the sudden (and seemingly lasting) transition from in-office to remote work.

According to Forbes, about five percent of full-time employees with office jobs worked from home.  Now, that figure is likely to sit around 20-30 percent.

Remote work has created and exaggerated several policy considerations employers are having to deal with, including BYOD.  With so many employees now located offsite and away from the office, having a company-wide policy to deal with device usage is a must.

What is BYOD?

BYOD stands for Bring-Your-Own-Device – and its meaning is exactly what the name implies. Quite simply, it refers to the trend of allowing employees to use personal devices, like smartphones or laptops, for work and accessing work-related systems.

In the past, employers would assign their workforce its own computers, phones, and other technologies for purely work-related use.  But as personal computing and mobile technology grew, and more people owned personal computing and mobile phone devices, employees began using their own devices for work, i.e., accessing email from smartphones or sending documents to and from personal email addresses.

This pushed employers to adopt BYOD policies to address how work and personal devices should be used. Some employers took the hardline position that the two should never mix. Meaning, employees could not use work devices for personal purposes, and vice versa. Other employers took a more balanced approach, crafting policies that allowed employees to use personal devices so long as proper BYOD security protocols were followed.

Today, pro-BYOD is the norm, with nearly 95 percent of businesses allowing BYOD in one form or another. That said, too few companies have bring your own device policies in place – even post-pandemic. Crowd Research found that 50 percent of surveyed employees had not received any instructions or information about a formal BYOD policy at their place of employment.

What are the Pros and Cons of BYOD?

While most companies have adopted some form of BYOD policy, especially in the wake of Covid-19, not all have. And just because many companies are going a pro-BYOD route, does not mean every organization should automatically do the same. There are several things to consider when contemplating and creating a BYOD policy.

The BYOD Pros

• BYOD can help companies save money. According to Cisco, companies save about $350 per year, per employee by allowing employees to bring and use their own devices for work.
• BYOD can help boost productivity. When employees use their own devices, they are familiar with how they work and there is less time lost on training.
• BYOD can help boost morale. Employees like being able to use their own devices and are generally happier when allowed to do so.

• BYOD can increase security risks. Devices used for personal tasks are more susceptible to viruses, malware, and loss/theft.
• BYOD can increase uniformity challenges. Employees will have their own preferences, be it Apple, Android, or Windows devices. Meaning that tech solutions will need to accommodate individual preferences.
• BYOD can increase data retrieval concerns. When an employee leaves, it may be necessary to remove the company’s private information from the employee’s device, which could prove to be difficult when employees are using their own devices remotely.