How BYOD has Changed Businesses for the Better

Technology is ever changing and with it, the way that we accomplish tasks, conduct business, and achieve goals. The business environment is one of those industries that is constantly being reshaped by the latest technology, which at its core, simply represents a new tool or set of tools to tackle a problem.

The most recent addition in the work place is the smart mobile device; from tablets and phones to ultra-thin laptops, these devices are making it easier than ever to conduct business on the go. With information accessible from anywhere, and the computing power needed to actually conduct business on the go, these devices are revolutionizing the industry.

The Benefits of a BYOD Policy

The Bring Your Own Device philosophy is a relatively new one. As recently as a couple of years ago, many businesses were still issuing separate work devices to their employees, such as Blackberry phones.

With the surge in smart phone sales over the last few years, however, many businesses are now adopting a BYOD policy, such is the ubiquitous nature of the devices. Though this in many ways represents a game-changing outlook on how to conduct business, it has enjoyed wide adoption due to the many benefits the BYOD policy affords. These include:

• Flexibility and Improved Production – Perhaps most simply, allowing employees to use their own devices to conduct business provides for a flexible work environment. Why limit employees to conducting business 9-5 when they could be accomplishing tasks on the subway on the way to work? A BYOD policy allows for just this.

• Lower Overhead Costs – By allowing employees to use their own devices, businesses can greatly reduce their expenditures for both hardware and software. Though individual unit costs are typically easy to absorb for any medium or large business, costs can skyrocket if company-owned devices are issued throughout an organization. The BYOD policy avoids these overhead costs.

• Centralized Management – With mobility management software, a business can manage and protect its interests across a network, regardless of the device. This centralized software can help mitigate risks posed by disparate devices by ensuring proper security measures are in place across the network, regardless of device type.

• Reduced Training Time – Giving employees the chance to use their own devices all but eliminates training and acclimation time. Being able to use the device of their choice, set up as they choose, also helps employees work more quickly, thanks in part to greater familiarity. The end result is greater productivity.

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And yet, despite the many clear benefits offered by a BYOD policy, slightly more than half of all businesses have yet to adopt such a business philosophy. So who can the hold-outs learn from? Perhaps not surprisingly, the education industry has enthusiastically adopted the practice, to great results.

BYOD Is the Norm in Education. Why Not Business?

In the education community, where universities and organizations are constantly confronted with the issue of individuals using varied devices across a network, the BYOD policy seems like an intuitive and perhaps inevitable solution to their problems.

Information can be disseminated easily and costs can be greatly reduced by not having to provide students with mobile devices. And through the use of mobility management software, these educational institutions can help safeguard against data loss. To thrive going forward, the business environment must adopt this same approach.

Whereas the education industry has adopted this policy out of necessity, the business community should be embracing it voluntarily. Universities and educational institutions are looking at it as a means of communicating and disseminating information to its students, which as one would expect are using all types of devices; businesses don't have to treat it as a last-ditch solution.

The benefits that a BYOD policy provides should make it a businesses' first choice, not its last. Put simply, if it can work in education, it can work in business.

Embrace the Future Now or Succumb Tomorrow

The risks of a BYOD policy are minimal; data loss and security issues are real concerns but are easily addressed through centralized mobility management software and strict usage policies. The benefits of such a policy, however, far outweigh the risks and have already begun to transform an industry that can sometimes be locked in the past.

With greater flexibility, productivity, and employee satisfaction; lower overhead and training costs; the abundance of mobile devices making adoption easy; and the ability for employees to more quickly stat contributing to a businesses' bottom line, the choice seems clear: businesses should support a Bring Your Own Device policy.

   Jessica

About the Author:

Jessica is a freelance journalist who loves to cover technology news and the ways that technology makes life easier. Check her out on Twitter @TechyJessy.