Companies often have to manage a wide range of devices, from company-owned devices to employees’ personal smartphones, all combined with a mix of different usages. Focus on different levels of ownership and usage, from the most open to the most restrictive:
BYOD: Bring Your Own Device
BYOD is an abbreviation describing the trend towards the adoption of employee-owned devices within a company. Employees use their own devices for business purposes in a work context. This practice, which is becoming more and more widespread in the workplace, is highly controversial and raises the issue of security and protection of sensitive data, which can be accessed from anywhere using often unprotected devices.
However, BYOD offers many advantages when well managed. By creating a secure work profile on the terminals with an MDM solution, it is possible to avoid the risk against data security (loss, theft, network issues, etc.) and to leverage the benefits of this trend. More flexibility and mobility for employees, lower equipment costs for companies, etc.
More information about BYOD and secure work profile here: Work profile.
COPE: Company Owned / Personally Enabled
COPE is a process in which the company provides mobile devices to its employees and allows them to use their terminal as if it were their own personal one. In this case, companies often set up a secure work profile on the mobile device, dedicated to work assignments, but have no visibility or control over the part for personal use.
CYOD: Choose Your Own Device
CYOD is a practice where the company allows its employees to choose the devices they want to use to work, from a limited selection: for example, an organization may allow Android devices but not Apple or BlackBerry. In this case, it is the company that buys and is in charge of managing the mobile devices, keeping control of app updates and installations.
COBO: Company Owned / Business Only
These are company-owned mobile devices, intended for professional use only and fully managed by the company. The IT team is strongly advised to implement a management solution (MDM) in order to keep full control over the devices: app management, passwords reinforcement, Wi-Fi connections, updates management; internet filtering, location tracking… Only authorized work apps are available, so the terminals guarantee productivity and security.
COSU: Company Owned / Single Use
COSU devices, or dedicated devices, are owned by the company and their access is restricted to single or very specific use. These devices are enrolled in Kiosk mode, which is the most appropriate solution for self-service terminals (points of sales, museums, libraries, etc.) or those that have to respond to a specific task (inventory, scanning, etc.).
More information on Kiosk mode and dedicated devices here: Kiosk mode.
21st of May, 2019