The increasing use of mobile devices in the workplace has led to the development of two main strategies for device management - Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Corporate-Owned Personally Enabled (COPE). There are benefits and pitfalls to both so it is important to understand the differences between them so that you can chose the right program for your organization.
BYOD allows employees to use their personal devices for work purposes, while COPE involves the company providing the device for business use and may allow for personal use as well. While BYOD may offer benefits such as potential cost savings as well as a greater selection of devices and services than with a COPE program, it also comes with some downsides such as difficulty in segregating corporate and personal data, security concerns, and recovery costs when devices are wiped.
In contrast, COPE offers more control for IT departments and reduces support costs when all employees have similar devices. It also addresses security concerns by allowing the company to implement containerization tools to segregate business and personal data.
Financial and healthcare organizations should consider adopting a COPE program due to the sensitive nature of their data and the need for more control over device management. COPE programs allow for more control and management of devices, ensuring that data is protected and employees can use devices for both personal and work use.
Ultimately, the decision between BYOD and COPE depends on a variety of factors including regulations that impact your organization, the sensitivity of your company data, and costs involved with owning and operating the device, managing and securing it, and the impact on your mobile spend management.