Developing a guideline for adopting byod in a higher learning institution

Abstract

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a term used for the new trend where employees bring personally-owned mobile devices into their workplace. BYOD is also known as BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology). This new trend is witnessed by the organizations to bring several advantages, including competitive advantage, reduction of cost, higher employee productivity and flexibility. BYOD is therefore looked at as a momentum that should not be stopped but adopted. The concerns or issues should be addressed so that the benefits of this trend can be achieved. Higher learning institutions are seen as organizations that have to adopt this trend as the new generation of students is computer-literate and technical-savvy. The objectives of this study is to identify factors those influence the adoption of BYOD, to identify the factors those contribute to the success of BYOD in a selected higher learning institution and to propose appropriate guidelines for BYOD adoption at the same institution. Existing factors were identified through Literature Review. The factors are Security, Infrastructure, Cost, Policy, Privacy, Education and Application and these have been highly mentioned in Literature Review. Surveys were conducted at the institution to gather data from students and staffs. The collected data was then analysed to identify the factors that are deemed to have relevance and influence in the adoption of BYOD at this private higher learning institution. The results from the analysis show that there is a high percentage of mobile device ownership among staffs and students at the institution, and there are concerns identified relating to all the seven factors mentioned. As the outcome of the analysis, guidelines have been developed based on the factors mentioned to help the Management of the private higher learning institution to adopt BYOD into their environment.