How to BYOD

Part 1: How BYOD may help companies and their employees.

Trending in business today is something called ‘Bring Your Own Device’ or BYOD. It is the idea of bringing your personal laptop, tablet or smartphone to work and accessing the corporate database through remote connection or network implementation. Instead of solely using the corporate devices employees want to use something they are more familiar with. Many have found that cutting desktop ties to utilize mobile options is more efficent.  As companies move forward we will see more policies and technology that will bridge the gap between work and home.

Think about it, in today’s world its becoming a bit ridiculous to carry a separate work and personal phone. Employees want to use their smartphone as their only phone. The idea of balancing work and life merges with BYOD. Instead of having a separate office at work, you can take the abilities of your corporation with you wherever you go. User’s take more responsibility with their devices because they feel ownership over it.

Companies see cost benefits because employees pay for their own devices. This idea saves the company money, gives employees more flexibility, and makes both parties more productive. The IT department relinquishes control of the unit and the employee gives up some of their dependence on the IT department (I think we all know the IT departments will appreciate less dumb questions).

There is something to be said for employee satisfaction and productivity. If they feel like they have control over their equipment then they own their job. Being independent of control enables them to think about what they want and how to get it. BYOD may see more personal activities during work hours, but it also institutes more work during personal hours. The time frames don’t change but the process of which we work does.  I, for one, like the idea of checking my work emails making breakfast. Once I get to work, I can go right into what I need to do instead of checking the backlog for the first 30 minutes.

Some relish the idea of having a separate environment for work so as not to impede on their personal lives. Others have already incorporated BYOD practices. It’s all dependent upon what works best for you. The option of having this however, has been proven to save cost, increase flexibility and made employees more productive as a whole. There are, of course, security risks involved but for now this has been an idea to make your job responsibilities run much smoother.