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10 BYOD PROS AND CONS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

From how offices are designed to the way people work, modern workplaces are
undergoing dramatic changes.

As a part of this shift in work culture, some organizations now allow employees to use
their personal device for work. The Bring Your Own Device policy, as it is commonly
known, is fast gaining popularity — especially with startups.

So what are the pros and cons of allowing employees to bring their own devices?

In this article, we’ll discuss 10 BYOD pros and cons in detail. We’ll also talk about the be
ways to implement a BYOD system at your workplace. 
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This Article Contains:

(Click on a link to directly jump to that section)

10 BYOD Pros and Cons

5 Key BYOD Pros
Cost Savings

Up-to-date Technology

No Training Required

A Happier Workforce

Increased Productivity

5 Major BYOD Cons

Lack of Uniformity in Devices

Increased Distraction
Higher Security Risk

Difficult Data Retrieval

Legal Issues
6 Best Practices for Implementing BYOD at your Workplace

Let’s jump right in.

10 BYOD Pros and Cons

Bring Your Own Device (acronym – BYOD) is the practice of letting employees use any

personally owned device like laptop, mobile phone, tablet, etc., for office work.
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related data instead of the company-issued ones.
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The BYOD trend is now becoming a way of life for many employees. Intel first
implemented it in 2009 but became increasingly popular after 2011 as more companies
started implementing it.

Let’s explore five reasons behind this popularity:

A. 5 Key BYOD Pros

Here are five pros of BYOD and why some companies prefer a BYOD system:

1. Cost Savings

Providing devices for all employees can significantly increase your overall costs, especi
if you have a large organization. Additionally, not all employees may be comfortable or
well versed with handling the devices you provide.

But having a BYOD policy can significantly reduce your expenses of:

Purchasing or renting devices for each employee.

Providing training for using new devices.

Hiring hardware and IT support teams.

According to Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, these savings add up to $3,150 pe
employee per year.

Additionally, when employees bring their own devices, they take better care of them an
save you the additional cost of providing alternative devices.


2. Up-to-date Technology
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People may not update company-owned devices regularly. They may even choose to
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ignore any security updates, which may put your confidential data at risk.

However, they are likely to be more vigilant about keeping their personal laptops and
other devices up-to-date and install the latest available updates.

Also, it may not be financially possible for an organization to keep purchasing new dev
for all employees to keep up with the latest computer and mobile technology. But
employees may often change their personal devices whenever newer versions are
available.

When they use these devices for work, you’ll have faster, powerful, and modern device
that can work seamlessly without too many glitches.

3. No Training Required

Not all employees may be tech-savvy enough to quickly grasp a new Operating System
or software.

For example, the older generation of employees may be used to the Windows OS. So if y
provide devices with other OS like Linux, Mac OS, etc., they’ll have a more significant
learning curve.

They’ll also require intensive training to familiarize themselves with even the basic
functions of that system and device.

It’ll increase your training costs and also may cause employee resentment.

However, a BYOD arrangement allows employees to use the devices they’re most famil
and comfortable with, eliminating the need for any additional training.


4. A Happier Workforce
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However, the current multigenerational workforce
Start Free Trial is quite particular regarding the
smartphone and laptops they use.

While you may provide the best-suited gadget for work with cutting-edge technology,
many employees may not be happy even with that.

A study by VMware found that 61% of the participants reported that they were happie
their jobs when they could use their personal device for work.

The BYOD system can enhance employee satisfaction since employees are already
comfortable with their device — they can even customize the device according to their
preferences.

5. Increased Productivity

According to a study by the Social Market Foundation, happy and contented employees
up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees.

Additionally, in the BYOD model, people can bring the device they’re accustomed to and
start being productive right away. It can boost employee morale and increase their
engagement.

Satisfied employees can provide better customer service and enhance the customer
experience, which can ultimately positively affect your bottom line.

Wondering how you can measure employee productivity?

Check out the 10 best team productivity tools that can help you out.


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B. 5 Major BYOD Cons

While BYOD has its benefits, certain disadvantages of BYOD may not make it suitable fo
many companies.

Here are some of the major cons of Bring Your Own Device system:

1. Lack of Uniformity in Devices

A significant drawback of the BYOD model is the diversity of devices used for office wo

For example, some employees may prefer a Windows tablet and laptop, while others
would be comfortable only with an iPad and a MacBook. Additionally, some may keep
upgrading their smart devices every 2-3 years, while others may use the same device fo
many years.

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company’s software. Your organization may be using a particular software for complet
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projects and tasks.

Since the devices are varied, employees may face difficulties while installing or using th
programs. The software may not even work for older devices.

Additionally, the same software may have different shortcuts or versions for different O
It may make it difficult for employees to collaborate on different devices, especially if t
need to send files to each other and edit them.

As a result, you may have to create different directives, SOPs (Standard Operating
Procedures), and information packets for all different types of devices used in your
organization.

2. Increased Distraction

Bringing any personal device to work means that social media apps, games, and other
distractions can interfere with the employees’ productive hours.

As an employer, you may not be able to restrict these apps on the employee device.

However, you can track how much time an employee spends on these apps and websit
using an employee productivity management tool like Time Doctor.

You can use Time Doctor to track how many hours an employee spends on a particular
task or project. You can also monitor whether they access any non-work apps and web
during work hours.

Learn more about Time Doctor’s other beneficial features.

3. Higher Security Risk

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between their home and office. It can significantly increase the risk of theft or
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misplacement.

According to a data breach analysis, 41% of all data breaches during 2005-2015 have
mainly been due to lost devices.

Also, you may not have much control over who uses the employee’s personal devices w
they’re not at work. Children may mistakenly download risky apps or software and
jeopardize the entire device, including your company’s confidential information.

There’s also a risk that the employee may intentionally or unintentionally leak trade
secrets or other classified information to hackers while using unsecured WiFi connecti

But you can take security measures to provide some level of protection to personal
devices. These include:

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM): A set of policies, technologies, and

processes that secure and manage all mobile devices (Android, iPhone, etc.) within
organization.
Mobile Device Management (MDM): A third-party security software that allows I
departments to manage, monitor, and secure any mobile device, like a smartphone
tablet, and laptop.

Mobile Application Management (MAM): Software and services that control acce
to internal and commercial applications used for work purposes.

4. Difficult Data Retrieval

Corporate data retrieval may become difficult in emergency situations when employee
use their personal devices for company work.

How?

In a BYOD program, it becomes
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all devices when the employee leaves your company. However, accessing personal dev
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may be a challenge since some employees may consider it an invasion of privacy.

In cases of absconding employees, this may become an even more strenuous task.

You will need to ensure that your IT team can remotely access all employee devices to
quickly retrieve the company’s data in these emergencies.

5. Legal Issues

There are various legal, privacy, and security concerns that may arise after implementi
a BYOD system.

Employees, especially new hires, may not fully understand the correct practices that th
should follow while using their personal devices for work.

That’s why you should have a detailed BYOD policy in place. Certain issues like retainin
sharing, accessing, and deleting the corporate data need to be addressed clearly in the
policy.

You should also indicate the implications of accessing company data after work hours o
the misuse of this information.

6 Best Practices for Implementing BYOD at your Workplace

Despite the challenges, there’s undoubtedly a growing trend for adopting a BYOD mode

If you’re keen on implementing this system in your organization, there are a few ways
overcome the cons and make it successful.

Let’s look at the
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1. Decide Whether BYOD is Right for your Company

First, analyze the pros and cons of BYOD and consider your company’s nature of work
understand whether it’s okay to allow your employees to use their devices for work
purposes.

For example, if your company is into research or security solutions, you may not want
risk implementing a BYOD system.

2. Create a Comprehensive BYOD Policy

After deciding to allow employees to bring their devices, you need to create a
comprehensive BYOD policy that details all the rules.

Your policy should cover:

Who’s eligible for the policy.

Which devices are permitted access to your company network.

Which apps are allowed and which are blacklisted.

The minimum processing power, memory storage, and other requirements of the
personal device.

Who owns the company information stored on the employee’s device.

The security rules and legal constraints.

And any other points that may apply to your particular industry.


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In order to prevent a security breach, you

Start need
Free Trialto adopt a multi-faceted approach.

All employees must install a specialized app that has two-factor authentication for
accessing the company data.

You should also arrange for annual training programs on cybersecurity to update your
employees regarding any security threat or scam and the proper ways to deal with them

4. Protect Employee’s Personal Data

Another major concern about using personal devices for work purposes is that employ
may feel an invasion of privacy when you monitor their devices.

You should ensure that your device management software doesn’t monitor any employ
personal data. Also, it shouldn’t access any personal app or copy or store the employee
personal information.

5. Plan for Emergencies

In emergency situations like loss or theft of a device, absconding employee, etc., you
should be able to quickly remove any corporate data from the said device.

The only way to do that is remotely wiping off the data. An EMM solution can allow you
do that.

Additionally, in case of misplaced devices, your employees should know whom to repor
the incident to and the entire process of recording the incident.

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replace.
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6. Ensure Continuous Compliance

Finally, it’s important to remember that making a BYOD policy isn’t a one-time thing. It
continuous process, and you should review it regularly.

You need to review the three critical factors:

Policy compliance

Data usage
Security measures

The main aim of these evaluations is to understand whether all employees are adherin
the policy or not.

If there are any discrepancies, regular assessments can allow you to reach out to those
employees and remind them about their responsibilities.

Final Thoughts

BYOD has its pros and cons. You must weigh both sides before deciding whether to
implement it in your company.

If your company has multiple departments with varied work, it may be challenging to k
track of all personal devices and protect your sensitive information.

On the otherWant
hand, if you have a startup or a small business
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department, a BYOD agreement can significantly reduce your costs.
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Use the information we covered here as a guideline to decide whether BYOD is right fo
your business or not.

Lauren Soucy
Lauren Soucy is the VP of Marketing for Time Doctor, the world’s leading time trackin
and productivity software. She has 15+ years of experience in marketing at fast-pace
companies. Her first passion is SEO, she can’t start her day without coffee, and she
enjoys spending time at the beach with her two boys and her husband.

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