With BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device”) policies becoming an increasingly more common component of today’s digital workplace, it’s important for companies to proactively strategize how to implement them as business communication apps. BYOD allows employees to use personal devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops for work purposes.
In our white paper, “How to Minimize BYOA Risks When Rolling Out Your BYOD Policy,” we detail the benefits of having a BYOD policy in place, and how to solicit workforce feedback on digital workplace communication tools. We also make the case for why implementing a designated business communication app is the way to address BYOA (“Bring Your Own App”) policies with your workforce.
Create a BYOD Policy With Data Security in Mind With the Best Communication Apps
Despite some challenges that could arise around usage, the benefits of BYOD are substantial, particularly when it comes to cost and the best communication apps. If employees use their own devices, employers do not have to pay for one.
As many businesses move to more flexible schedules to accommodate growing remote and highly-mobile workforces, BYOD policies will become important factors in workforce retention as well. No matter what, data security should be a top priority because you don’t want personal data getting into the wrong hands.
Assessing BYOA Risk in the Digital Workplace With Top Communications Apps
In theory, BYOA sounds like a good idea because your workforce can choose what top communication app works best for them. This can be effective in building and sustaining team morale. In practice, however, BYOA opens your company up to a potential data breach.
External messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Snapchat are explicitly designed to be consumer-facing, and as such necessitate third-party involvement. Even if these third parties don’t have malicious intent to misuse company data, it can nonetheless compromise data in your digital workplace because it is unmonitored and unencrypted.
Some risks of BYOA policies include:
- Lack of centralization for monitoring and user management
- Usage of external messaging apps that aren’t secure
- Data privacy issues, including employees having to share personal contact info
Choose a Business Communication App Before Your Workforce Does
When it comes to selecting a business communication app, look for an easy-to-use, collaborative solution that your employees actually want to use. This will go a long way when it comes to the success of implementation and adoption of your chosen solution by your workforce.
Data security is a critical aspect of the business communication app you choose. Beekeeper’s ISO 27001 certification means our platform adheres to international best practices to protect against a data breach.
The following are areas of your digital workplace that could be most affected without a business communication app in place:
- File sharing
- Miscommunication between departments if using multiple apps for data sharing and storage
- Data security should employees leave the company
Beekeeper is a business communication app designed specifically for secure enterprise internal communications as opposed to WhatsApp or Snapchat which were designed for personal use.
