Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)

Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a developing phenomenon in institutions and corp-orates where executives and employees are allowed to choose and buy/bring and use their personal electronic devices.

Some companies offer their employees a stipend to purchase their own technological devices for work. An example of this is Kraft Food. Some companies expect the employee to bear the entire cost; some others pay a portion, while some pay only for the data charges.

There are Some Specific Variations on the BYOT Term. These are:

BYOL - Bring Your Own Laptop
BYOPC - Bring Your Own PC
BYOC - Bring Your Own Computer

Mostly, this trend is applicable to mobiles, like smartphones, or tablet computers.

The trend, which is not a new one, originated from the fact that most executives had the latest smartphones, laptops, etc. and were unable to use them for work. They demanded to be allowed to use them to access workplace data, applications, and emails. Many companies caved in since the demand kept growing larger and the IT claims that it couldn’t be done fell flat. Thus the trend came and stayed.

In many ways, this trend would lead to an increase in employee productivity and a reduction in reduced IT costs. But its long term effects remain to be seen.

There are Some Challenges That This Trend Poses to IT. These are:

- Potential for malware
- Compliance issues
- Data protections problems

If BYOT is to be successfully implemented, some new policies for human resources and IT will have to be developed.