More and more businesses are allowing their employees to use their own devices for work purposes. This has many advantages for business and for workers, but it also raises problems and highlights the need for testing items for safety.
The BYOD Boom
The idea of adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy has really taken off in recent years. Research earlier this year shows that 74 percent of organisations either have adopted or are planning to adopt a BYOD strategy.
It’s easy to understand the attractions, employees get to use a device they’re already familiar with, and businesses save on the cost of providing hardware – even if they choose to subsidise staff to buy their own kit. It also means that those visitors to your company will be able to utilise their devices while they sit on the Reception Chairs that you sourced from companies like https://www.bestbuy-officechairs.co.uk/reception-chairs/ whilst they wait for their meeting to begin.
It’s also indicative of the general shift towards mobile devices and this means that software companies have to produce new mobile apps to allow their systems to be accessed from a wider range of devices. This means much more work in testing systems to ensure that they work on a wide range of devices.
Risk vs Reward
Of course while there are tangible benefits from adopting BYOD there are also risks involved. Businesses need to be aware of these and take appropriate steps to ensure that their valuable corporate data is secure.
The rise of BYOD gives malware writers extra opportunities to access sensitive data, using the employee’s device as the weakest link. Therefore, it’s important for any company allowing staff to use their own devices to have an appropriate security policy and supply security software if required.
There are increasing numbers of mobile device management (MDM) solutions on offer. These solutions streamline the whole process of allowing access on mobile devices. By using a secure app store it’s possible to control which packages employees are allowed to install. MDM solutions can also ensure that work and private data are compartmentalised, and allow sensitive information to be remotely wiped should a device be lost or stolen.
Like any new technology or practice, BYOD has the potential to streamline business operations and make for happier employees with a better work/life balance. However, there are also risks, so it’s important that IT and business managers are aware of these and take appropriate steps to manage them.