Technology & Tools

A New Way to Conquer Productivity with BYOD

Published on: January 8th, 2023

By now you may have heard the term BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) being thrown around your office, but what does it truly mean for the next generation of corporate employees?

Keeping up with technological advancements is a task that IT departments struggle with on a daily basis to ensure security measures are tight and processes are streamlined. As Generation Y and Millennials become the face of the corporate world, we’re seeing a trend in empowering employees to bring their own devices to work. Employees utilize their own iPhone 6 to access emails or use their Samsung Galaxy Tab Active to give presentations during board meetings, but the common goal here is to achieve objectives in a simplistic way. Utilizing BYOD enables companies to increase employee productivity and satisfaction while reducing overall costs associated with keeping up with technology trends. Computer Troubleshooters and our network of I.T. professionals are here to help your business with this 21st-century transition.

BYOD and the Future

According to a recent press release from Technavio, “The global bring your own device (BYOD) market size is expected to grow by USD 69.07 billion from 2021 to 2022.” Bringing your own device has quickly developed into a billion-dollar industry due to the allocation of costs associated with hardware, voice, and data services.

Organizations and their I.T. departments need to fully understand any possible threats that may be associated with BYOD to ensure their office network is fully protected. As I.T. managers fiercely guard precious company data, business owners are pressuring I.T. to support the use of personal mobile devices to drastically reduce costs, while boosting employee productivity. A Cisco study found that “workers are more productive using their own hardware; U.S. workers save an average of 81 minutes per week by using their own devices.” BYOD is becoming a staple in the corporate world simply because personal devices operate everywhere while making collaboration a breeze.

Since most individuals use their devices only for personal use, incorporating them into their job may pose several threats. Most individuals will browse between Instagram, their email, and the local sandwich shop all at the same time. While doing so, they may accidentally click on a virus-prone website or even use the same password to order Chipotle as their company network.

A large majority of smartphones have no antivirus protection, therefore cybercriminals will potentially have access to uncover weak spots in a network, capturing passwords, credit card information, and private company files. According to SecureEdge Networks, “35 percent of workers say they store their work passwords on their smartphones.” To avoid and prevent cyber attacks from personal devices used in a business network, every business needs to implement solutions in three crucial areas: network access control, mobile application management, and mobile device management.

As cybercriminals continue to eat away at our “smart” devices, network access control (NAC) is the next best defense in securing the BYOD realm. Precious company information such as intellectual property must be roped off from general device access and secured in network regions through passwords and thick encryptions.

In the event that a device is lost, stolen, or the employee is terminated, there must be a policy that governs how the company retrieves all of their data from the employee’s personal devices. Even if the device is not company-owned, firms should agree in advance with employees that they must surrender their devices while only company data is extracted.

By organizations understanding the benefits and potential risks associated with BYOD, they’ll be able to develop the most appropriate decisions that will essentially help increase employee productivity and satisfaction, while also reducing the costs and threats associated with adopting technology trends.

Keeping Up with Technology

Computer Troubleshooters is here to assure you that your security and infrastructure are stable enough to manage BYOD at your organization. If you need further assistance on how to successfully implement BYOD, please don’t hesitate to contact your local Computer Trouble Shooters office. One of our technology professionals will be happy to assist you in learning more.

 

References:

Gartner, Inc.: https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/consumerization

CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/id/47498441

Techradar: https://www.techradar.com/news/computing/what-is-byod-and-why-is-it-important-1175088

Stats: https://money.yahoo.com/byod-market-size-grow-usd-231500022.html