Lots of agencies are starting to think about creating a “bring your own device” strategy. I generally love the BYOD concept and I think it can save a lot in terms of time/cost & increase employee happiness
However, there are some considerations to think about:
1) Minimum standard – When you purchase equipment for your staff, you have full control over the specs of the purchase. When you move to a BYOD policy, you can lose that – if you are paying $50/month for an employee’s phone, they control what phone they buy and their plan. What happens if your employee buys a flip phone to save money that doesn’t do email. What if you want them to take video at the site with their phone and it’s not equipped? That’s why it’s important to have at least some minimum standard or guideline on your BYOD policy
2) Paying for Repairs – Phones get damaged. Phones break. Someone leaves it in the water or the dryer. So what happens in BYOD world for repairs? If in a work world, you would get the employee a new phone quickly so they can continue back to their job. What happens in a BYOD world where the phone is broken, the employee is not eligible for a cheap phone, and they don’t want to spend $400 on a new phone? I think it’s important to have an expectation in your policy that staff quickly fix any issues like this. Just like if your car is broken, you figure out how to get to work on time. If your phone is having issues, you figure out how to have a working phone as soon as possible
3) Finding Chargers at Work – People always forget their chargers and they are stuck at work borrowing chargers or sitting there without batteries. I’d make sure to buy a bunch of cheap chargers or have charging stations in the kitchen.
Once again, I think there’s a lot to gain with BYOD but make sure to check with companies that have done it before going into it. There’s lots of small details that are worth putting into a policy to make sure you have the best BYOD implementation
When I worked at Adidas every 3 months we were allotted $300 for clothing (we had to wear Adidas to work, and when wearing the merchandise outside of work, we were walking billboards). Maybe agencies could do something like that: They give enough money to employees to buy the a device that meets minimum qualifications, and if the employee wants a better device they can then use their own money to make up for the difference.
Just remembered the name for what I’m talking about: a stipend (that was driving me crazy)
3 questions:
1. Ever hear of COMSEC?
2. Why should the gov provide phones for employees? My supervisor has my cell number if I am needed.
3. Do you think the DoD (as an example agency) would “allow” the average Joe/Jane civil servant bring in their “personal” laptop, smart phone or tablet and “plug” it in to the “network”?