Many IT Execs are faced with choices of BYOD, CYOD COPE,  etc etc etc.   Determining the best way to put wireless devices in employee’s hands is a tough call.  Additionally, none of the information is simple and all parties involved can get very judgey about the right course of actions.

We’ll have a 4 part series looking at the key issues of equipping employees.  This Part I reviews some Acronyms and what you really need to know to start.

PART 1:“WHAT DO ALL THESE ACRONYMS MEAN AND WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?”

It is fun to use acronyms to save time except when they don’t.  BYOD (aka Bring Your Own Device) has been know as both the employee can bring their own device and are responsible for the payment.  However, we have also heard organizations use BYOD for employees bring their own device and the Enterprise pays the bill.

Lets agree to forego the acronyms and simply look at 2 things:

1. Who buys the device? (Equipment Ownership)
2. Who pays the monthly bill? (Monthly Cost Ownership)

That’s it.  All decisions will be based on these 2 factors

1. Equipment Ownership

If the employee owns the device, we’ll call this “Employee owned”.  If the Corporation owns the device, we’ll call this “Corporate Owned”.

2. Monthly Cost Ownership

If the employee pays the monthly bill for service, we’ll call this “Individual Liable” for the bill. If the Corporation pays the monthly bill for service, we’ll call this “Corporate Liable” for the monthly bill.

Don’t underestimate the importance of these 2 major decisions.  Give it some time to marinate and then we will address the equipment decision in Part 2 related to Policy, Cost, Liability, Risk and approaches to each.

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights……