Over the recent months, a number of companies have joined the buy-your-own-device (BYOD) bandwagon rather than provide their employees with a definite mobile device. According to a Gartner study, this trend will grow significantly over the coming years and by 2017, nearly 50% of all companies will adopt the BYOD policy.
Currently, the highest rate of BYOD adoption is among U.S. companies while European companies tend to shy away from the concept. The very reason may be that European nations are generally more concerned about privacy and security as compared to the more open culture of U.S.-based firms.
BYOD is a convenient policy, because it lets the firms get rid of the expenses incurred when buying handsets for employees. Rather, employees are simply told to bring their own device and are then partially reimbursed. The study reveals that in the coming days, even this partial reimbursement will not be offered.
Eventually, employees will be asked to buy their own handsets and pay for them. The companies would simply provide the carrier charges on monthly basis. This model makes a lot of sense from the corporate point of view. Imagine you reimburse your employ for a rather expensive handset he has purchased under BYOD – if he leaves the company the next month, that would mean that you wasted that money.
According to a Garner analyst, “The enterprise should subsidize only the service plan on a smartphone. What happens if you buy a device for an employee and they leave the job a month later? How are you going to settle up? Better to keep it simple. The employee owns the device, and the company helps to cover usage costs.”
We may also witness many new security measures implemented by companies to ensure the security of devices purchased under BYOD policy.
Source: Gartner
Courtesy: Computer World
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