Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, has become a common practice in businesses. If you’re not familiar with the term, it basically means that employees can bring in their own devices to use during work hours to complete assignments and projects. With an estimated 2 billion mobile devices being used by the end of 2015, BYOD plans continue to increase in popularity. Skeptics of BYOD are worried that with their own devices, employees will become distracted by personal social media profiles, websites and other factors. However, studies have shown that BYOD policies actually improve employee productivity. How is this possible?
For starters, employees have invested their hard-earned money into these devices. That means they did (at least a little) research and went out of their way to make the purchase. Their personal devices are ones they prefer over any other option on the market. They’re comfortable using them, and stay on top of updates to ensure that the device continues to be easy to use and fast. Additionally, as the employer, you won’t have to waste time training employees on different devices, programs or software. The costs are lowered overall as well for your business’s technology, since the employees are fronting the cost of their devices.
So, what do you need for a BYOD plan? You should transition your business’s data to the cloud. There are three types of clouds: private, public and hybrid. The right cloud for you depends on your security levels and amount of access you want your employees and clients to have. Public clouds are great because it’s the least expensive of the three clouds and the data is easy to access. However, as the name suggests, data stored on these clouds is available to the public. Private clouds allow for maximum security over your information and you can pick and choose who has access to what data. Private clouds come with a price tag but the investment is worth it if your business has strict security regulations to comply with. Hybrid clouds are a mix of public and private, and can be customized depending on your business’s needs. Check out our infographic below for more information.
Once you’ve transitioned to the cloud, BYOD will be easier to implement because your employees can use their devices to hook up to the business’s cloud. If you’re not sure where to even begin when it comes to cloud computing and BYOD, that’s where a third party IT provider comes into play. Our team at Stratosphere Networks is stocked full of IT professionals who can set you up with a BYOD plan that matches your business and your budget. We provide round-the-clock system monitoring and will make sure that your employees are staying productive while using their own devices at work.
Call us today at 877-599-3999 for more information!