BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is attractive for two main reasons. It increases employees’ satisfaction, by allowing them to purchase (and use) whichever device they prefer, and it reduces company’s expenditure on purchasing equipment, and on carrier costs. However, BYOD may incur further costs on the company and leave it exposed to security threats . On the costs front, employees bear the costs of the devices without benefiting from their company’s buyer power (to secure discounts, for example). Furthermore, in BYOD, companies usually pay for data packages for devices that are completely owned by the employees, and since devices are used for personal use, unexpected payments might occur. Thus those data packages may not always completely cover business usage.
On the administration side, BYOD may require MDM (Mobile Device Management) services, which are usually provided by a third party, to ensure compliance with organization policy, handle mobile security, and separate between ‘business’ and ‘personal’ usage of the device. MDM services are also required in COPE. Furthermore, IT helpdesk may be inefficient under BYOD policy ; with a wide range of devices used and no standard device policy, help desks may either be less productive due to inability to support devices, or take longer time to complete services due to inexperience with particular apps and/or devices. BYOD approach bears significant security concerns. The primary risk is that personal devices might infect the company network with malware. Additional risk to confidential data comes from lost devices that might provide access to company’s database, without company ability or authority to remotely wipe them out.
COPE (Corporate Owned Personally Enabled) strategy on the other hand incurs higher upfront costs on the company, but gives it higher control on the devices and their operation. COPE policy also