Over the past decade, more and more mobile technology has made its way into the workplace. Be it smartphones, tablets or laptops, allowing employees to use their personal mobile devices is fast becoming a necessity in business. This gives staff greater flexibility, which in turn results in increased productivity. On the other end of the spectrum, however, these devices present some pretty scary security risks. And it can become quite complex to manage these tools based on everyone’s differing needs.
In 2013, Gartner forecast that over 50% of workplaces would require employees to bring their own devices to the office come 2017. Meaning that many organisations need to have to implement some sort of workplace mobile device policy or strategy.
If you’re trying to find the right mobile deployment strategy to meet your business’ unique usage requirements, you’ve probably come across terms the most popular approaches, like BYOD (bring-your-own-device) and COPE (Corporate owned, personally enabled). If not, here’s a brief breakdown of each policy. But it’s important to note that these aren’t the only mobile deployment policies.
Here are a few more mobile deployment models to consider:
- Corporate sponsored: In this instance, the user will apply for the contract, a portion of which will be sponsored by the company. This approach sees the employee being fully responsible for the account – they own the handset and the number. Should they leave the company, the sponsorship will be removed and the user will continue with the contract.
- Individually liable: When an individual uses his or her own device for business tasks, this is termed “individually liable”. Obviously, the company will determine how the employee will be reimbursed for their business use, be it a deduction from their salary or the employee can claim back for business usage. To curb overspending, businesses can determine what would be a realistic “allowance” and this will be allocated to the user each month.
- Corporate liable: As the name suggests, in this instance the company is fully liable for expenses for the duration of the contract. The business owns the handset and the number and these can be reassigned to another employee should the user leave the company. This approach to management is generally used for business executives and support staff who are on standby. Given the fact that these individuals are likely to have access to sensitive corporate information, this mobile device deployment strategy requires a high level of management control.
At Nebula, we work with our clients to find a mobile deployment strategy that boosts productivity and efficiency, while reducing telecoms costs. But don’t take our word for it, check out this case study, which illustrates exactly what we do. Keen to find out more? Complete the form below and we’ll get back to you.
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