Skip to content

BYOD: Radical Changes to Managing Technology and the People and Processes Relying on It

Project description:

After years of owning and controlling all of the information technology used by employees, the advent of consumer mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is leading some organizations to allow/encourage/force employees to bring, pay for, and even support their own devices (BYOD). This potentially radical change in approach to IT management will hopefully save money, unleash innovation, and enhance employee productivity and satisfaction. But the longer-term implications of BYOD are far broader: increasingly, companies will shift from managing people, process, and technology to managing people equipped with their devices executing business processes. In this project, we will study the implications of increased employee ownership of technology choices and support.
Research questions include:
  • What is the impact of BYOD policies on firms’ cost, innovation, and risk profiles?
  • How does the interaction among technology, people, and the processes they execute change as a result of mobility and BYOD policies?
  • How do we architect a firm to leverage the opportunities and limit the risks of people deploying their personal devices for business purposes?
  • How do the roles of the CIO and the IT unit change as a result of BYOD?
  • What are the most radical practices related to BYOD and what impacts do these practices have?
Project leader:

Jeanne W. Ross 
Participate in this project:

If your company has had a BYOD policy in place for at least one year, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Anne Quaadgras at aquaad@mit.edu to tell us:

  • What is the policy?
  • What do you hope to accomplish as a result of this policy?
  • How is the implementation going?