The last few years have seen an explosion in the popularity of personal mobile devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Businesses have been quick to adapt and many are adopting BYOD policies. BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device. It refers to a policy whereby employees bring their own devices to work with them for use on the job. An example of BYOD might be an employee bringing in his own laptop to the office to work on. BYOD can be as simple as a person using their own cellphone to call clients on behalf of their employer.
BYOD is popular with employers because it saves them from having to invest in getting employees computers and phones. This can save businesses a lot of money. BYOD is popular with employees because it allows them to have more flexibility when it comes to selecting their devices rather than being stuck with whatever their employer selects. Employees also comment that they can be more productive with BYOD because they are often more familiar with their own devices than company issued ones. BYOD can also simplify things for employees by allowing them to use only one device to manage both their personal and professional responsibilities as opposed to using two or more devices.
As a result of these advantages, today, 81% of American workers say they use at least one personal electronic device for work. 57% of tablet owners say that they use their tablet for both work and personal activity. However, BYOD is not without its own drawbacks, the most important one for employers being security. Because employees are using so many varieties of devices it can be hard for businesses to establish protocols for security. Thus, many businesses are left exposed should an employee phone with company information on it get lost and fall into the wrong hands. Another problem concerns the erasure of company data when employees leave a company.
All companies should put in place security policies to mitigate the chance that sensitive company information could be leaked. In addition, it may be a good idea for businesses to invest in mobile device management software for BYOD smartphones. These days, Android is one of the most popular smartphone operating systems. There are many Android device management tools available to help you manage BYOD smartphones running Android in the enterprise. Android management tools work with the Android security model to ensure your company’s data and information remains secure while offering the littlest encumbrance possible to employees. However, Android management tools allow you to do more than just protect your business. Android management tools can give you insight into your employees’ devices, allow you to push updates automatically, and control device restrictions.