In today’s business environment, the option to bring your own device into the workplace has shifted from a luxury to a necessity. As employee demands grow relating to the freedom to choose to use their personal devices for work purposes, it falls to the organisation to consider all the factors involved in implementing a BYOD strategy.
Here Are 8 Key Questions You Should Consider
1. Sustainability
A sustainable BYOD strategy is required to meet the needs of both IT and those of your employees. The key to ensuring the needs of both parties are sufficiently met involves understanding the requirements of each group. A great starting point is determining and listing what each group is expecting from BYOD.
2. Choice
Consumer preferences shift and fluctuate constantly, while the mobile device and apps landscape never stops evolving. The ever-changing nature of the mobile device sector means your BYOD strategy will need to set guidelines for potential app and device support. Without these guidelines, you run the risk of being overwhelmed in a wave of technology and devices, whose constant need for support might drain your IT department.
3. Trust
Trust is a major element in a BYOD strategy. After all, your trust model is the foundation for maintaining your enterprise’s security. Have you considered which users are trusted with which data or apps under what circumstances?
4. Liability
Moving device ownership from the company to the employee can have an impact on corporate liability. These liabilities, such as the rights of the organisation to exert control over a compromised device in the event of theft or a security breach, or a user’s responsibility to protect the data they have access to on their personal devices, can have serious ramifications if not properly catered for in terms of legal policy. Have you considered seeking legal advice on how to assess liability differences between BYOD and other IT programs?
5. User Experience vs Security
Improving your employees productivity and user experience are critical success factors for a BYOD strategy. After all, an employee with a positive user experience is bound to be more productive. But security and user experience are often viewed as conflicting interests, as many security measures have the potential to hamper the user experience. Have you considered how to address this conflict?
6. Apps
Employees often expect corporate applications to be supported on all approved BYOD devices, and not only on a subset of devices. Do you have a plan for enabling corporate apps on BYOD devices?
7. Economics
The economic case for a good BYOD strategy centres on increasing productivity, whilst managing security and complexity. Implementing a BYOD strategy could harm your business if you fail to factor in the economic ramifications, both positive and negative. Have you calculated the return on investment for BYOD?
8. Marketing IT
BYOD is a great opportunity for the internal marketing of your company’s mobile strategy, and the IT team responsible for its implementation and support. Have you considered how to capitalise on this opportunity?
