Pros and Cons of BYOD in the Workplace

With the growth of cloud desktops and other cloud based tools, mobile phones have grown in both functionality and popularity.  As employers look to cut costs, they’re starting to look at allowing their employees to bring their own mobile devices to work, often referred to as Bring Your Own Device or BYOD.  This approach offers both benefits and risks related to the workplace, which we’ll discuss in this blog.

Benefits of BYODs

• Shifts costs of mobile devices to the employee including phone and data plans.
• Workers are also typically more satisfied when they’re allowed to use their own mobile device at work.
• BYOD devices are also typically newer, which allows employers to utilize the latest technology without having to directly pay for it.

Concerns with BYODs

• Organizations aren’t able to directly control the mobile devices and how they’re used.
• Company issued devices are governed by strict policies, whereas BYODs can be more difficult to police.
• It can also be tricky to determine who owns the phone data since there is likely a combination of both personal and business data on the device.

Allowing BYODs in the corporate world has both advantages and disadvantages.  It’s important for businesses to weigh the positives and negatives, and determine the level of risk that is appropriate based on their needs.