BYO...D? The acronym starts out sounding like someone is having a party, but you may or may not think so once you weigh the pros and cons of the Bring Your Own Device movement.

Essentially, BYOD describes a relatively new paradigm where workers (or students, in the case of BYOD campuses) choose their own computer device and supply it rather than the employer supplying the devices and thereby choosing a standard type for everyone.


Here is background information and links to get you better acquanted with this work trend, be you employer or employee, including how this trend applies to office software decisions.

Consumerization

BYOD is part of another buzz-word trend you may have heard of: consumerization. This refers to a changing point of reference for technology--in this case, who chooses the productivity device workers will use in an organization.

In BYOD workplaces, rather than company IT departments determining the office software and apps for the company, it is flipped on its head. Each consumer worker chooses the apps best for themselves, rather than the consumer business choosing for them.

What BYOD Means for IT Departments

Individuality is all well and good, but consider the implications for the IT department. You can easily see how this can evolve into a logistical nightmare. Picture everyone at your office having a different device with a different operating system, on which they are using different apps.

How will the company keep everyone's data secure?

How can management make sure IT personnel are trained across so wide a spectrum of device possibilities?

Companies who have adopted BYOD have tried a variety of ways to reign this in. One example is the creation of Enterprise App Stores and other creative ways of facilitating freedom but in a structured way. No small feat, but if a company can make it work, it is obviously beneficial to the bottom line as well as employee satisfaction.

So Who Pays?

Some employers pay a stipend to employees engaged in their BYOD initiatives. Others flat out require the employee to take on all device, app, and software costs. It may surprise you that many workers have enthusiastically agreed to the latter because of the flexibility to work in their own way, but be advised that most companies have policies surrounding BYOD so the freedom is by no means limitless.

Larger Companies Adopting BYOD

It may seem counter-intuitive, but BYOD has been most prevalent among larger companies. A whole slew of analysis has filled tech news sites about why. Some think maybe it is due to the type of employee working in a certain type of job, which accounts for their willingness to pay for the privilege of choosing their own work tech.

BYOD at Work – The Pros and Cons

BYOD and the Office Software Horizon

The interesting thing for office software considerations in a BYOD workplace is that some devices support desktop versions of office software suite and others only mobile versions of office software suites, such as with tablets. It gets more complex when you consider cloud office software suites, which, while being accessible on nearly every device, may require some administrative permission.

For example, companies often block cloud storage at the firewall rather than coordinating which service everyone will use and then managing it. In an age of cloud computing office software suites, BYOD workers will likely have more options. These kind of considerations add credence to the section of this article shown below, about making a BYOD strategy official through company policy.

As part of that policy, you can see why it is important to articulate features your organization requires. For example, at a minimum, you might dictate that office software suites or apps must:

· Have security features within the office software app itself (and which work with your other IT security mechanisms in general)

· Create document formats consistent with those currently used by your organization and which can shared via SharePoint or other collaboration and file sharing environments

List of Office Software Suites and Apps by Operating System

Whatever you require of office software in a BYOD workplace or school should be apparent to workers or students before they invest in a device that will not have the right kind of office software available, so you can see why a policy would be important.

Writing a BYOD Policy

You are probably beginning to think of more ways this whole BYOD endeavor could get tricky. Beyond the security concerns, how will the company address the many maintenance issues in such a way that the company benefits from the lower costs and increased productivity that are drawing more and more businesses to the trend?

A BYOD Policy is therefore really important to collaborate toward, get in writing, and distribute among your team. If not, it is so easy for confusion to obfuscate the possibilities for your organization.

For more information, refer to detailed resources such as ZDNet's 10 Steps for Writing a Secure BYOD Policy.

As you consider BYOD from a management or employee standpoint, please let me know if you have any questions I might be able to assist you with.