What’s BYOD?
Rather than limiting employees by forcing them to use company-provided devices for work, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) enables them to use their personal devices for work. This could be a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. In other words, accessing the company information and work-related data can be done from your personal smart device. As the way of work life for many, the BYOD system has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s explore some of them.
Advantages
1. Up-to-Date Technology
Companies may not be sprinting to update their employees’ devices to be the latest and greatest. However, people update their personal device quite often. Using their own devices for work results in a smoother user experience with fewer glitches.
2. No Training Needed
The less tech-savvy employees may require training to familiarize themselves with the basic functions of a system or device. Using what they’re familiar and comfortable with eliminates training costs and wasted time spent training.
3. Happier Work Enviroment
Research conducted by VMware revealed that 61% of participants reported being happier in their jobs where BYOD was implemented. In addition, since employees are comfortable with their personal devices, they find satisfaction at the workplace much easier.
4. Increased Productivity
Employees who are content are 20% more productive than those who are not, according to the Social Market Foundation. When employees bring their own devices, they feel comfortable, happy, and can start being productive right away. With consideration of the bottom line, above all, this has a positive effect since they can provide better customer service.
5. Save Money
For larger organizations especially, providing devices for all employees can be costly. Not everyone may be comfortable using the devices provided by the company for a number of reasons. Not to mention, employees tend to take better care of their own devices.
Disadvantages
1. Possible Distractions
Employees may become distracted with their personal devices as they contain more apps than the designated work software. However, unfortunately, restriction of the apps is out of the employer’s hands.
2. Legal and Privacy Concerns
Have a detailed BYOD policy addressing retaining, sharing, accessing, and deleting corporate data. New hires may not understand the boundaries that come with using their own device, therefore it’s important to go over them. Implications of accessing company data after work hours or misusing the information should be covered as well.
3. Higher Security Risk
The risk of theft and loss is increased as employees carry their devices from home to work and everywhere else. Furthermore, using an unsecured Wi-Fi network may be a contributing factor to this increased risk.
4. Data Retrieval
When an employee leaves your company, it’s necessary to remove any of the business’ confidential data from their device. For instance, in certain emergency situations, it may not be easy for the IT team.
5. Operational and Compatibility Issues
If your organization is using a particular software for collaboration, your employees may face difficulties and technical issues. With the atwork app, you can communicate and collaborate from any device, whether it be desktop or mobile, all from a single platform. You’ll find that atwork’s tools are not only useful for effective teamwork but compatible with most devices and operating systems.
In conclusion, no matter if you are choosing to implement it or not, the BYOD trend continues to be adopted by companies world-wide. Therefore, consider the advantages and disadvantages of BYOD before implementing it in your business. Only upon extensive evaluation can you really decide if the system is right for your company.
As for compatible software, atwork is a collaborative business communication app that provides features relevant and useful to any company looking to level up. atwork works well on most operating systems and devices, either desktop or mobile. It’s an all-in-one digital workspace that ensures a seamless and more productive work experience.
