As technology advances, smart phones and tablets have become more affordable and common for individuals to own. Many people would rather use the same device for both business and personal reasons instead of carrying multiple devices, and BYOD (bring your own device) policies have made this possible. These policies also have the potential to save businesses money in addition to making life easier for their employees. However, there can be some cost risks associated with carrier contracts if a company chooses to allow BYOD, as well as provide devices to some employees.
If you are in the majority, your business probably has both a BYOD policy and provides company-owned devices to certain employees. You can still benefit from BYOD cost savings if you fully understand you contractual agreements and know which aspects may negate any of these savings. Here are three common ways you can plan ahead and decrease your cost 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. The effects of termination fees can be minimized
Carriers don't want you to remove users from your corporate plan or switch carriers. To deter companies from doing so, they include early termination fees in your contract that can be very expensive. The best weapon against these fees is timing. Know how your contract's termination fees will affect your cost savings and plan ahead to choose the best time to move users.
3. BYOD requires additional security
Personal devices are simply more susceptible to a greater number of security threats, so additional measures must be taken to ensure the security of corporate information. In additional to security, governance policies need to be initiated to monitor employee usage, and IT solutions like federated ID and soft token authentication must be implemented. The cost for all of this will be high and can cut into your potential BYOD savings. Managing them effectively is much easier if you are expecting them and have a plan to help diminish their impact.
If you are in the majority, your business probably has both a BYOD policy and provides company-owned devices to certain employees. You can still benefit from BYOD cost savings if you fully understand you contractual agreements and know which aspects may negate any of these savings. Here are three common ways you can plan ahead and decrease your cost 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. The effects of termination fees can be minimized
Carriers don't want you to remove users from your corporate plan or switch carriers. To deter companies from doing so, they include early termination fees in your contract that can be very expensive. The best weapon against these fees is timing. Know how your contract's termination fees will affect your cost savings and plan ahead to choose the best time to move users.
3. BYOD requires additional security
Personal devices are simply more susceptible to a greater number of security threats, so additional measures must be taken to ensure the security of corporate information. In additional to security, governance policies need to be initiated to monitor employee usage, and IT solutions like federated ID and soft token authentication must be implemented. The cost for all of this will be high and can cut into your potential BYOD savings. Managing them effectively is much easier if you are expecting them and have a plan to help diminish their impact.
About the Author:
Joseph B. Kappernick specializes in helping Fortune 500 companies save money. He recommends that you visit NPI Financial to learn more about telecom cost management consulting
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