Thursday, May 23, 2013

How to Save on BYOD Implementation

By Joseph B. Kappernick


BYOD (bring your own device) is fast becoming a policy favored by many businesses for its money saving benefits. But these benefits may be outweighed by the cost risks, particularly when organizations don't take a pure-play approach to BYOD. In most cases, employers still provide at least a portion of employees with company-owned devices, in additional to allowing and supporting personal devices. These situations increase the chances of several major cost risks related to carrier contracts.

Decreasing the effects of contract related risks can be accomplished, whether your company is 100 percent BYOD or a mix of both. The key is planning ahead so you can take advantage the savings and benefits, and avoid the unwanted costs. You also need to understand your contracts and how BYOD will affect them. Remember these three things when considering a new BYOD to reduce your risks:

1. You can still get volume discounts

The number of users under your contract doesn't need to decrease if individual responsible users (IRUs) sign up their personal devices on your corporate rate plan. Most will allow you to give employees a corporate referral code to use so that you get credit for all of their devices as well. This option lets you keep your volume discounts and maybe even increase them, depending on how many IRU's sign up.

2. Plan ahead to reduce the negative impact of fees

Most carrier contracts contain termination fees to keep companies from switching carriers. These fees can be highly detrimental to any potential BYOD cost savings when you decide to move large numbers of corporate responsible users (CRUs) to IRUs. Always plan ahead you can choose the best time to make your move and be prepared to counter any financial losses.

3. Be prepared for security costs

Making the move from corporate owned devices to BYOD leaves organizations open to a higher level of security risks because personal devices are much more vulnerable. To make sure company information is safe, detailed security and and governance policies must be put onto place. The costs for these solutions are high, but extremely crucial. Understanding and anticipating how security impacts your bottom line is key to managing them effectively.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment