BYOD Organization Expenses -- Calculating The Cost Of BYOD Technology

If people living during the 1970s had adopted the BYOD acronym, pocket-sized digital calculators may have been the weapons of choice. The first one came about in 1967. According to the History of Hand-Held Electronic Calculators from the College of Education at Illinois, a team of engineers working for Texas Instruments developed the first working sample.

Twenty years later the shirt-pocket use of digital calculators established an undefined example of what Bring Your Own Device technology would eventually introduce into American society. However, the 1970s integration of calculators into schools, businesses and government agencies revealed nothing of the organizational costs associated with modern BYOD concepts.

According to the Ai The Art Institutes, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x provided U.S. citizens with the first doable pocket-sized mobile communication device. In 1983, BYOD technology, although not yet conceived, became a realistic possibility. By 2001, cell phones dominated the U.S. mobile communications market place. According to Robert D. Keith with the University of Florida, competition from cell phones forced BellSouth’s withdrawal from the pay phone business.

Modern cell towers support the digital framework of society. Along with basic communication resources, BYOD technology provides students, businesses and governments with a near limitless toolbox for portable data mining and data management. It also expands the opportunities for data thefts, employee time waste and hacker comedians who just enjoy causing havoc in the digital community.

Organizational Expenses: The Cost of BYOD Technology

By the year 2020, the concept of Bring Your Own Device may be a fading memory in the history of technological advancements. Some IT experts maintain and hope that it is a passing fad. Others, such as Megan Fitch, Chief Information Officer at Beloit College, believe that the BYOD phenomenon is a proven resource for higher education. The same principles should work for businesses and other organizations.

However, protection of sensitive information resides in the mind of every IT expert. BYOD technology is a barn-door funnel for theft and disruption. According to Hartford Has It, stolen cell phones cost U.S. victims an average of $300 each. One in three thefts involve mobile devices. Only you can determine what your company would lose if that stolen phone contained an unencrypted copy of your accounts database.

Other BYOD cost factors include the expense of:

• Maintaining control by permitting only company issued device connections
• Supplying sufficient bandwidth to meet the accumulation of personal simultaneous device connections
• Additional support for the every expanding array of mobile connection devices, including device drivers, special printer requirements, and other substantive software and hardware support options.

Recognize employee reluctance to carry multiple mobile devices. Employees will use company-provided devices for personal goals as well as business goals. Yet company-supplied equipment is easier to manage, easier to regulate, and forces limited access methods. Each company must determine the tradeoff value.

Calculating the Cost of BYOD Technology

Every business must establish a level of participation that matches organizational expectations and commitments. Determine the cost of BYOD technology by comparing benefits to liabilities and expenses. In 2013 the IRS spent more than $900,000 on a BYOD pilot program (6). Yet an investigation by the Treasury Inspector General discovered that even the IRS failed to complete and implement a cost-benefit analysis of the program. Such failure misses the core of sound financial planning.

To determine your cost to implement BYOD resources compare the:

Reasons of adopting the technology:

• Mobility
• Productivity
• Familiarity
• AND Possible reduction in costs of supplying electronic equipment;

To the Reasons for not adopting the technology:

• Accumulated threats and vulnerabilities
• Physical security of the devices
• Increased demand for network support and hardware management
• Disparate operating systems and hardware
• Cost of company furnished equipment.

Matt Smith is a Dell employee who writes to help raise awareness on the topic of BYOD Technology Solutions and other network management subjects.