Feature – BYOD or Be Square

It’s 2014. And like many other long standing conventions, working in the confinement of an office space for a fixed period of time, is being challenged. When flex-time and work from home are part of the norm, you know it’s time to introduce BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. A recent survey conducted by Moka 5 revealed that 42 percent of companies already used BYOD. Another study from Microsoft’s Security Blog states that 67 percent of people are using personal devices in the workplace today even though only 53 percent said they had an explicit policy supporting this activity. Here are some reasons to consider a BYOD policy:

It’s Convenient.

Employees are constantly on the move. Meetings keep them out of office, and appointments overseas ensure that a lot of their time is spent at airports and in transit. Implementing a good BYOD program will allow employees to access company data and all their emails from any device—be it a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop. Time-sheets can be filled out regularly, and work never has to stop just because employees are on the move.

It’s Efficient.

Employee productivity is sure to rise when they are working from their own devices. If an employee is given a choice between having a separate corporate device—one which may not be as state-of-the-art as their personal one—or having access to company information from their personal device, many would delightedly agree to have a device manager program installed. In the survey conducted by Moka 5, answers show that over 90 percent of people surveyed expected improved productivity as well as increased employee satisfaction.

It’s Secure.

Let’s say a senior executive in your company is in a taxi, checking email and has just downloaded a classified file of employee data to peruse. As luck would have it, the phone is left in the taxi, giving anyone access to confidential data and sensitive company details. The phone can be replaced, however, the wrong person accessing company data is much more dangerous. In this situation, if the employee has a mobility software solution installed, one simple move can save the day. All that employee has to do is call the CIO, who in turn wipes all data on the device—making it secure and impossible to be misused.

Most device manager programs also secure company data against hackers and infiltrators so you can be sure that your company data is safe.

According to a survey conducted by Samsung, 85 percent of companies currently support BYOD policies, and, according to 70 percent of IT executives, companies without BYOD will be at a competitive disadvantage. Moreover, both IT professionals and employees believe that the balance between work and personal time is better balanced with the use of a single device with high percentages of 81 percent and 78 percent, respectively.

It’s safe to conclude that BYOD is the new normal. So, it may be time to jump on the bandwagon and give your employees the freedom to work securely, anytime, anywhere.