The Pros and Cons of BYOD vs Company-Paid
Devices for Your Business

One unshakeable reality of 2021 is that phones are a non-negotiable tool for getting work done. They facilitate connections between clients, customers, and colleagues, and enable your staff’s productivity when they’re outside of the office. Now that so many of us are working remotely, they’re more essential than ever.

When it comes to your company’s wireless expense management strategy, there are two popular choices. You can either allow staff to use their own phones (commonly called a bring-your-own-device strategy, or BYOD) or provide devices that are owned and managed by your company.

Each strategy has its own merits, and requires company owners and IT leaders to balance the security, productivity, and financial needs of their business in order to make the best decision.

Let’s examine some of the pros and cons of each approach.

BYOD

Employees often advocate for the BYOD approach because it allows them to keep all of their work and personal communications in one central location. They can use one phone number, and program their phone and notifications to their unique specifications. Typically, employees choose their own device, pay their own bill, and may be reimbursed for some or all of their wireless expenses by management.

While this approach may be best for your staff, it can cause serious issues for your company as a whole. Giving employees access to sensitive corporate software, programs, or data on an insecure phone is a huge security risk. Since the BYOD approach makes employees responsible for the security of their device, it’s difficult to know whether they’ve enabled safety protocols like two-factor authentication or are regularly installing important security and operational updates.

Company-Paid Devices

When your company purchases phones and other mobile devices and provides them to employees, it offers the organization much greater control over how the device is used, and what data can be shared. Devices can be configured securely, and later updates can be pushed to each device regularly. This makes it much easier to enforce IT policies that will keep your company safe from potentially catastrophic security vulnerabilities.

This approach also simplifies the process of device management. If a phone is lost or an employee leaves the company, it’s easy to remotely wipe the device so that there’s no danger of sensitive data being lost or stolen.

In addition to these added layers of security, using company-supplied phones also offers a much greater potential for savings. You can read more about that here

Find the Best Wireless Options for Your Business with Expertel

At Expertel, we’re here to support your wireless expense management strategy, regardless of whether you’ve chosen a BYOD or company-paid approach. Our company was formed by individuals who have spent years working for carriers, and are now dedicated to using their expertise to advocate for small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.

Think you have a great rate already? You can use our Expertel iQ tool to find out, then bring us on board to manage your device expenses, saving you money, time, and resources.

Get in touch today to learn more about our personalized approach to wireless expense management.

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