‘Bring your own device’ (BYOD) is a policy that allows employees to bring and make use of personal electronic devices in the workplace. While it may be cheaper for companies to allow employees to bring and work on their own devices, a big concern is that they will have unmonitored access to sensitive company information.

Are South African companies on board?

More than half (53%) of all employees surveyed in a recent CITO Research Report, feel they are more productive when they use their own devices at work.

Dimension Data conducted their own research in 2017 amongst 73 local companies. Their findings showed that an average of 27% of organisations find embracing multiple-device-ownership models (BYOD) is the most important technology trend..

What’s the benefit?

The advantages of BYOD are convenience and cost saving. It works in a company’s favour for staff to use the most up-to-date technology. Using owned devices saves businesses money as they don’t have to fork out for the latest and greatest laptops and tablets.

Another advantage is that employees are familiar with their own devices and have a better working knowledge of them. They also tend to look after these devices better and will quickly repair any damage.

BYOD also increases productivity. Employees can carry a single device between work and home and work remotely without transferring information from one machine to another. If an employee has free time during their commute, they can work from a personal device.

The down-side of BYOD

The main disadvantage of BYOD is unmonitored access to confidential company information and data. Employees working on personal devices could have access to sensitive information outside the work environment, which increases the risk of data leaks.

Data leaks can also occur when emails are forwarded via attachments, instant messaging or cloud storage apps without the required encryption in place. This could be done completely innocently, with an employee being none the wiser.

Other potential risks arise when an employee is on leave or sick, and access is needed to information stored on the device.

Managing BYOD

The key to embracing BYOD is finding an integrated solutions provider, fully equipped to manage data and devices to prevent data leaks. Nashua offers managed document solutions to complement BYOD, for increased flexibility. Explore Nashua’s MDS solutions here.

Various technology manufacturers offer their own security and BYOD solutions and apps. We’ve rounded up a list of manufacturers who have BYOD-ready solutions and services.

Lenovo

Lenovo offers full disk encryption solutions, embedded security, theft recovery, and has partnered with management software experts to better protect hardware. These solutions include LANDesk Software and the Stoneware network – this aids in accessing multiple devices with a single password, common user interface, and other security features.

Dell

Dell has a range of products to increase productivity, catering to both IT organisations and end-users with portability and usability. Examples of these devices are Dell’s tablets, Ultrabooks and Latitude or XPS Laptops.

Samsung

Samsung KNOX is an innovative solution for office and home environments, suitable for Android-powered Samsung devices. It has various layers of security, encryption, VPN, application security, device management and customisable ‘secure boot’ on selected devices.

Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is fast becoming a hallmark of the modern workspace. But an increase in wireless internet connectivity and diversity of devices brings with it a whole new set of challenges.