Flexible working is a key competitive differentiator. 59% of workers say that flexibility is more important than salary and other benefits, and enterprise employees want greater autonomy over how they work. So, when it comes to the devices they use, how can implementing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy help?
What is Bring Your Own Device?
A BYOD policy lets your employees use their own preferred devices. However, with greater choice comes greater risk. Personally owned devices are more susceptible to security threats, and it’s difficult to implement governance processes across a wide range of hardware and software – let alone stay on track of what devices your employees are using.
Luckily, BYOD is here to help. It combines mobile device management (MDM), reimbursement processes, and security controls into a single solution. This improves your visibility of the devices that are being used in your organization, and gives you a convenient, centralized platform to automate essential processes.
Why Should You be a BYOD Enterprise?
From productivity to flexibility, there are multiple benefits for being a BYOD enterprise. 60% of employees already use a smartphone for work purposes, and those that don’t say that they desire one.
This is because the devices that we use day-to-day are now routine. If you’re asking an employee to go from their personal device, such as the latest iPhone, to a potentially dated office-based desktop, it can be a significant barrier to productivity. And if competitor businesses are supplying employees with alternative, agile technology, then you could be losing out.
BYOD overcomes these common end-user headaches. It lets employees have the freedom to choose their devices, making it an essential part of a future-thinking business.
3 Reasons Why BYOD is Essential for Enterprises
1. Stay Secure
Your corporate data needs to be secure. If employees are accessing it from any device of their choosing, how do you know that they aren't making your organization vulnerable to security threats? Or, they might misplace or lose their personal device, all while it's logged into a company email account. This could let anyone access sensitive information.
BYOD enables you to take a 'zero-touch' management approach to these security risks. You can integrate your security-enabling mobile device management (MDM) system with your BYOD solution. Then, employee benefits, like reimbursement, will be contingent on MDM enrollment. This incentivizes employees to comply with your MDM system to continue to be reimbursed.
2. Streamline Reimbursement
Reimbursement can be difficult to manage for employees and internal IT teams. A BYOD solution, like Cass's patented Direct2Carrier Payments™, streamlines this process.
It consolidates all of your employee-owned mobile accounts and your employees' associated approved reimbursement amount. By doing this, each individual employee's personal mobile carrier account is simply credited with a reimbursement amount each time they are invoiced. Your employee can pay the net invoice amount, and the reimbursement is automatically deducted.
This saves internal staff and employees alike from time-consuming expense reports as they don't need to receive funds from their employer. In some cases, implementing a BYOD program has saved enterprises approximately $1.6 million annually.
3. Enhance End-user Experience
It's costly to continually update and upgrade your corporate devices. Employees might be using the same laptop for many years before they get the opportunity to upgrade it. In some cases, devices are never upgraded at all.
Bring Your Own Device gives your workforce the option to work on the devices they choose, without the limitation of using just what's provided to them. This level of flexibility is advantageous for large businesses, as teams are no longer solely dependent on their corporate-issued device. Employees can still use it, but they can easily work from a secure, personal device too. For example, when they're on the go, or working remotely.
Give Employees Greater Autonomy with BYOD
BYOD provides your enterprise with greater governance and control over your corporate data. But it also gives employees more freedom and choice over the devices they use, all using a 'zero-touch' approach that doesn't impose on their privacy.
