BYOD is the more familiar model that companies use. Bring your own device has been favorable by many because it saves the company money, while allowing employees the freedom to use their own devices at work and at home. Unfortunately, BYOD also has many manageability and security concerns. As of recent, more and more companies are converting to a model that reduces the concerns that come with BYOD.
The “corporate owned personally enabled” model saves employee’s money on costlier smart devices and allows management to keep a better eye on what type of activity is happening on these devices during work hours. Exploring the pros and cons of both methods will help your company decide which one is the right choice for you.
Why BYOD
According to Tech Pro Research, 59% of companies are currently implementing bring your own device and 13% are considering it. In the article “BYOD, IoT and wearables thriving in the enterprise” shows us that employee satisfaction increases with the BYOD method because they are comfortable with their own devices. It also saves the organization costs of purchasing and repairing devices. With COPE employees have less control of their device. Management can wipe or disallow access to certain networks. This can be frustrating to the devices users. BYOD gives employees full control of what they do on their devices, adding to the increased satisfaction of BYOD.
Why COPE
Articles such as “BYOD vs. COPE: Why corporate device ownership could make a comeback” explains why BYOD is not the method that will be sticking around. BYOD is causing distractions at work and IT is able to monitor very little, if any, of the activity that is happening on these devices. BYOD also causes security issues because classified work information is going to and from the work place. In order to prevent issues, such as security, COPE is a model that puts management in control of devices being used by employees. Employees still have the freedom to use the devices for personal use but the work information on these devices can be better managed.
Bring your own device reduces costs of devices for the company, but corporate owned personally enabled reduces the cost of devices for employees in the company. There is more control and security for the company with COPE but more security for the employees with BYOD. There are many different opinions on which method is the right one. It all depends on the individuals, environment, and culture of the company. Now that you’ve evaluated the pros and cons of each system- what method is best for you?
About the Author: Jeff Poirior
Jeff brings 25 years of telecommunications and information technology management experience in voice and data networking, server support, and telephony and security; with a significant emphasis on customer service. Prior to joining Valicom, he was chief of the infrastructure support section for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Jeff was the vice president of operations for CC&N, overseeing telecommunications, help desk, data and desk side support services. Prior to that, he served as the associate director of technical resources for Covance, responsible for managing systems and network operations supporting 1700 users in Wisconsin and Virginia. He has also led data center operations at Magnetek Electric, supporting mainframe systems, client/server applications, telephony systems, and computer-aided design. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University and a master’s degree in business administration from University of Phoenix. In addition, Jeff is a past board member of the Wisconsin Telecommunication Association.