BYOD or Bust - Managing Devices for a Mobile Workforce

Via smart phones, mobile sites, business applications and more, the consumerization of IT continues to impact the way employees use technology at work. Many organizations are shifting away from company-issued devices and adopting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, which allow employees to use the mobile technology they’re most familiar with. There's a lot of buzz around the benefits of BYOD in an increasingly mobile workforce, but little discussion around the policies needed to establish rules and guidelines for usage. 

BYOD policies, of course, have benefits and drawbacks. While the freedom to choose the device and platform you’re most proficient in can boost productivity, supporting multiple platforms can be a burden for IT, and security issues are a significant concern. What difference does it make whether it’s a Dell or Mac when an employee’s laptop is stolen and he hasn’t installed any remote data wiping software? And who’s responsible for replacing that laptop if the employee lost it while travelling for work? As enforcing these policies often falls to HR, shouldn't we be doing more to determine priorities and establish best practices?

For the next installment of #NextChat, we'll focus on the more technical side of the mobile workforce. Join us Wednesday, March 7 at 6:00p ET (5:00p CT, 3:00p PT) as our special guest, Kyle Lagunas of Software Advice, tackles the challenges and explores the benefits of BYOD policies. Here are the questions we'll be discussing:

1. Does your organization have an official mobile device management strategy? Why/not?

2. What concerns you most about employees using personal devices for work purposes?

3. Who should cover service or hardware expenses: The employees or the organization?

4. How does your organization foster and enforce best practices?

5. What do you see as the greatest benefit to a BYOD policy?

Note: This chat is running in tandem with Kyle's own research in mobile device management. He's running a survey to get a pulse of priorities, challenges and success in rolling out a BYOD policy. We invite you to give a few minutes of your time, and participate: http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/hr/take-our-bring-your-own-device-byod-survey-1022112/