Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is now a common IT policy where organizations allow employees and team members to utilize their own personal electronic devices (laptops, tablets and smartphones) in order to complete work related tasks and access company data, systems and applications.
These initiatives are usually spearheaded by the IT department in response to user demand and the levels of implementation and data access allowed on personal devices vary from company to company and even between employees. An organization must decide if they wish to grant unlimited access for personal devices, restrict the access to sensitive data from personal devices and/or prevent local storage of data on non-company owned devices.
Regardless of the regulations that a company sets, there are benefits and risks associated with implementing a BYOD policy in your organization. Employees increase their productivity by utilizing a system or a device with which they are familiar. On average, personal devices are newer and are updated more frequently. It enables company employees to work on the device they prefer − from accessing corporate email to viewing text documents or jumping on a video call, it helps them collaborate better.
As users continue to invest and become more attached to personal devices, a BYOD policy assists in raising employee satisfaction. BYOD policies also eliminate the need for employees to carry multiple devices. Finally, a BYOD program may help reduce the costs associated with hardware however, those benefits may be offset by data plan subsidies. It's always best to start with a clearly defined policy to ensure successful BYOD implementation.
There are, however, implications that need to be taken into consideration when determining if a BYOD policy is a good fit for your organization. The main concern that is often raised refers to security. The risk of having sensitive corporate data and information available on devices with limited protection can be a liability if it is not managed appropriately. Different measures can be taken in order to minimize the security concerns often associated with BYOD devices.
With the rise of BYOD adoption, in addition to the increasing number of remote workers and telecommuting, unified communications systems provide organizations with an option that improves the collaboration and communication among different networks, platforms and devices.
The CounterPath MDM (Mobile Device Management) solution enables enterprises to deploy, manage, and − if needed – remotely wipe containers with these applications on employee’s devices to keep Enterprise information secure. Bria Stretto™ for various MDM frameworks is based on CounterPath’s award-winning Bria Stretto™ softphone clients and is provisioned by a module of the Stretto Platform. Bria is a highly secure, standards-based mobile VoIP softphone and is certified to work with a number of the leading MDM frameworks. To learn more about our Mobile Device Management solution, click on the button below:
