BYOD Trend At Work: Is It Recommended?, Advantages And Disadvantages

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend is a business practice in which employees use their own devices to access company resources. 

Since the appearance of the Smartphone and due to its massive use in the personal sphere, this way of working has been imposed little by little. Its implementation, by companies, was driven by the pandemic, and currently, most employees of any organization use some of the company’s resources from their mobile, tablet or laptop.

According to the ‘People-Inspired Security’ study, carried out by Samsung, 80% of workers carry out personal tasks during their working day, while 85% attend to work tasks in their free time, using the same devices.

This situation is forcing companies to use advanced security tools that do not endanger the sensitive information that every organization handles.

What Is BYOD And How Does It Apply At Work?

As we have mentioned the BYOD trend or bring your own device, it consists of employees using their smartphone or tablet or laptop to carry out their work tasks and their personal affairs , to a greater or lesser extent.

Currently, who does not have their work email installed on their personal mobile or who does not use their work mobile to communicate with their friends and family by Whatsapp? It is such a common practice that companies have had to take measures to make it safe and reliable.

BYOD has been a trend and will continue to be since, on the one hand, it benefits the company and, on the other hand, it favors the employee experience . Let’s see how.

Advantages Of Applying The BYOD Policy In Companies

The BYOD policy offers companies a series of advantages, but to enjoy them it is necessary to adapt the company’s management systems so that this practice can be established safely and effectively.

The integration of a virtual switchboard with communication and collaborative work applications such as Microsoft Teams is essential in the practice of BYOD . Since with this trend the worker has the possibility of carrying out his daily work from anywhere, it is essential to have this type of tool.

Thanks to the integration of the virtual switchboard with Teams, the worker will be able to communicate with his colleagues from various channels such as chat, video call or voice, but also, the members of the same team will have the possibility of sharing, modifying and working with the same file in real time, from anywhere.

In the same way, applications in the cloud are imposed . According to various studies carried out by IT companies, around 90% of organizations use the cloud in some way, and 50% use cloud services as their preferred solution. 

This technology allows employees to access advanced technology from their own devices and take advantage of all the company’s resources, wherever they are, as long as they have a device connected to the Internet.

Advantages For Companies

Companies that use BYOD get a number of interesting benefits, which is why this trend has caught on quickly and is here to stay. Here are some of those advantages:

• Cost savings : since it is the employee who brings the device to work, the company will not have to invest in this technology, in most cases.
• Access to quality technology – Employees generally have better devices than companies. Currently, the average consumer invests in quality technology more than the companies themselves.
• Increased response rate – Since the employee has access to channels such as email on a constant basis, the response time is less, since it is easier to contact them in an emergency.

Advantages For Companies

Companies that use BYOD get a number of interesting benefits, which is why this trend has caught on quickly and is here to stay. Here are some of those advantages:

• Cost savings : since it is the employee who brings the device to work, the company will not have to invest in this technology, in most cases.
• Access to quality technology – Employees generally have better devices than companies. Currently, the average consumer invests in quality technology more than the companies themselves.
• Increased response rate – Since the employee has access to channels such as email on a constant basis, the response time is less, since it is easier to contact them in an emergency.

Improved Employee Experience

On the other hand, the adoption of the BYOD practice offers the employee flexibility , with the possibility of working from wherever he wants and organizing his own schedules.

In addition, the use of applications in the cloud and integrations such as the virtual switchboard and Teams allow multi-device, so that the worker can use the one that suits him best, in each case.

Finally, according to statistics, 33% of employees say they feel more comfortable working with their own technology because they know it better and it is more effective.

All this translates into an improvement in the employee experience that will result in greater efficiency.

Disadvantages Of The BYOD Trend

However, despite the fact that, as we have seen, the BYOD trend offers many advantages, it also has its drawbacks.

• Disadvantages for the company:
  • BYOD Cyber ​​Security – Security is one of the biggest concerns of employers and IT departments when enforcing the BOYD policy. It is difficult to control that employees keep their devices up to date, in order to avoid security breaches. They may also use insecure wireless networks to connect or install applications that may be unreliable. That is, the company does not have full control over the use of the device, so it may be vulnerable. Therefore, when adopting this trend, it is important to inform and train the employee in cybersecurity.
• Disadvantages for the employee:
  • No disconnection : the worker who adopts the BYOD trend must have good time management. Without it, he is likely to spend much of his free and off hours at work, which will ultimately take its toll on his performance and worsen the employee experience.

Other Enterprise Mobility Trends

In addition to BYOD, there are other practices in a similar vein, which allow the employee to share devices for their work and personal tasks. 

• The CYOD ( Choose Your Own Device) : offers the possibility to choose between several devices, but they are provided by the company. The employee may use it in both areas, but respecting the company’s rules.
• The COPE or ( Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled) : are devices that are used in the personal sphere, but generally for business tasks. In some cases, companies allow personal use, but it is usually very controlled.
• The COSU ( Corporate Owned Single Use) model : they are company devices but they have a very specific use. In this case personal use is very limited.
• The COBO or (Company Owned, Business Only) : there is no possibility for the employee to use his device for the personal sphere. Its implementation is complicated since it requires many controls and restrictions.