How BYOD is impacting businesses
Gary Greenbaum, Syntonic CEO: Gartner expects that by 2017, half of all employers will require workers to supply their own devices for work. But despite its growth, BYOD is starting to become problematic when employees see their mobile bill. Forrester recently found that 54% of employees pay for the mobile data that they use for work purposes but only 7% are reimbursed for work-related usage.
Kristina: In California the Cochran V. Schwan’s Home Service case reaffirmed that businesses must reimburse employees for work performed on their personal devices. What does this mean for businesses?
Gary: The decision in Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service is a catalyst in the mobile transformation that is taking place in the enterprise. Employers are starting to be held accountable for mobile usage while they simultaneously and increasingly expect employees to have 24/7, on-the-go access to work-related content on their personal devices. However, until now, there’s been no way for employers to accurately separate work from personal use to accurately reimburse work costs, a shortcoming which often results in overcompensation. Roughly 70% of a mobile worker’s data plan is typically personal use. Without the ability to segment personal from work data usage, companies are forced to estimate subsidies to cover work-related data use or they over-index through generous stipends: the average mobile reimbursement pays upwards of $800 annually per employee. Businesses are over-paying by more than 50%.
Kristina: What can businesses do to address this over-payment without shorting their workers?
Gary: The emergence of split-billing tools allows IT departments to directly address the issue of overcompensation. These tools easily separate work from personal data usage to accurately allocate reimbursement amounts. They can also enhance security and provide analytics and business intelligence about how applications are being used within a company, which improve forecasting and budgeting. With insight now at their fingertips employers can better understand mobility, save money–and they avoid the courtroom.
