Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Part 2: Benefits of BYOD

As I set out in my last blog post, "Who is Demanding BYOD?", the demand for bringing your own device to work may come from all corners and levels of the company. In this post, I set out the benefits of BYOD. 

Benefits:

1.      EMPLOYEE REQUESTS: The most obvious benefit to embracing BYOD is employee engagement and retention. If you are in an industry full of creatives, Gen-Y or tech savvy employees, it's a no brainer and you probably had BYOD before we all came up with the catchy label.   Giving employees choice and respecting different preferences can demonstrate progressive workplace culture and nurture employee loyalty. 

On the other hand, if you are in a necessarily conservative industry such as the military equipment manufacturing industry, it is likely also a no brainer that security issues may outweigh any potential benefits. For the many companies in between these two extremes, employee engagement and retention may be one of a number of benefits to consider.

2.     CLIENT OPTICS: Certain clients in certain industries may have a preference for one type of device over another. If you are visiting a Blackberry dependent tech client in Waterloo, whipping out your iPhone is both rude and stupid. If your client is in Cupertino, your Canadian loyalty may not be quite so impressive. Allowing BYOD flexibility to support various platforms may be essential to reflecting business reality.

3.     INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY: BYOD may positively impact employee productivity. Letting people connect their tablet to the company email and document system may facilitate convenient and more frequent after hours work. Rather than lugging a cumbersome laptop home, employees can use their tablet to finish up a document or clear out their email after the kids go to bed. Business travellers, trade show attendees and salespeople on the road all may find BYOD a critical piece to maintaining productivity out of the office.

4.     COLLABORATION: Linking up devices may encourage people to connect together more frequently, leading to more collaboration and more effective communications. 

5.     COMPANY COST SAVINGS: An obvious bottom line benefit is that the company is no longer on the hook to pay for the hardware. Employees insisting on their own type of device and want to simply connect what they already have can eliminate a line item in the company's technology budget.

In addition to various other benefits, there are, of course, risks and costs associated with BYOD. Stay tuned for my next blog post to round out this rosy picture. 

My next posts on BYOD:

• Risks & Costs of BYOD
• Developing a BYOD Program

For additional updates, please visit Lisa Stam's blog, Employment and Human Rights Law in Canada

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site.