The Five Myths About BYOD

Let’s take a moment and dispel some of the misinformation surrounding bring your own device (BYOD). Here are five myths that you can now discount.

1. Every small businesses knows about BYOD

Just because the trend is gaining momentum, doesn’t mean that every single small business knows about BYOD. Some employees may be bringing in their own device without letting managers know. This could be very dangerous, since unsupervised BYOD could lead to data breach. According to a recent CIO article, businesses should have a clear policy pertaining to BYOD:

“Data security always starts with establishing the right policies, and with BYOD, legal, compliance and HR must collaborate to define the appropriate policies. It is then IT’s job to determine the technology solutions needed to enforce them.”

2. All employees know about BYOD

Not every employee knows what BYOD is. There are two ways to look at this. First, employees may not understand the risks of BYOD despite using their own device in the office anyway. This assumes that they’re not taking data security into account and are susceptible to data breach. Second, employees may not know that they’re allowed to bring their own device into work, which may make them more productive. As long as they adhere to company policy, using their own device may make employees more productive. 

3. BYOD is the same as using company computers

IT departments carefully set up company computers so they’re safe for employees to use. They equipped with everything from firewalls to to contact management software that the company employs. Personal laptops don’t have the same level of protection and are therefore risks to data security.

4. BYOD is just a fad

People feel more comfortable using their own devices and are even more productive with them since they know where everything is and how they work. BYOD isn’t a fad since more employees will want to use their own device and businesses may start to support the practice.

5. BYOD is completely reckless

If everyone is using their own device without registering it or letting the IT department know, that company is in trouble. But as long as a company outlines a strict policy and educates employees about it, BYOD should at least be considered as an alternative to company computers. 

BYOD isn’t necessarily bad, but it must be accompanied by strict company policy. As long as it’s safe, employees will be more productive on their own devices and businesses won’t have to invest as much in hardware. 

 

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