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Mr Hurter, can companies save money with BYOD?
The truth is, part of the money you save on hardware investments is spent elsewhere: software is required in order to securely connect privately owned devices to the company network, and management costs just as much as it does for company-owned devices. Users also want support.

So isn't it enough to simply allow iPhones or private laptops in the office?
No. We recommend a step-by-step approach – starting with a small group of users and gathering experience. Only then can the concept be rolled out on a large scale. Thinking it through and acting purposefully is definitely better than a rush job. This would cost not only money, but also face, as the company would later have to do a U-turn.

Why are there sometimes restrictions?
Employees expect to have the same access with their own device as with the company’s PC. However, this is often not advisable and sometimes not technically possible. Furthermore, most companies want to enable the widest possible access to begin with. They later realise that they would actually prefer not to have some business data on private devices, not least for security reasons.

Are there also grounds for scepticism with regard to privacy?
Companies also gain an insight into the private lives of their employees. This needs to be communicated and regulated by guidelines. That said, employees always carry part of the company with them on their personal device. Although special software for separating private and company data on mobile devices already exists, it has not yet been fully developed. However, there will be plenty going on in this area in the next few months.