Score One for BYOD: MobileIron Unveils New AT&T Work Platform

The ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) movement is no longer novel. In fact, everyone’s doing it—and some are doing it better than others. One of the main hurdles faced by companies trying to implement BYOD policies that make employees’ lives easier by consolidating devices and giving them the option to use mobile devices of preference, is security. In response, are solutions that provide data plans allowing employees to use their personal devices for work-related functions.

MobileIron, a company focusing on enterprise mobility management (EMM), has made this exact type of solution available for customers in the form of the AT&T Work Platform. The new platform delivers voice, messaging and cellular for employee. The benefits of BYOD include not having to buy business-exclusive smartphones and tablets for all employees—which saves time on reimbursement paperwork and money on company devices—and consolidation of personal and work functions into a single mobile device for employees. In theory, these benefits are that much safer and effective for MobileIron clients on the AT&T Work Platform. 

"We're changing the way businesses buy mobility today by extending access to AT&T data, voice and messaging services," said Sundhar Annamalai, executive director, Advance Mobility Solutions, AT&T. "It's increasingly important to provide rate plans that satisfy both the needs of the enterprise and their employees. The AT&T Work Platform combined with MobileIron makes it easy for businesses of any size to say 'yes' to BYOD."

A separate data plan for employees also helps to skirt the muddled territory of employee reimbursement for personal calls made from mandated enterprise devices. In 2014, the California Court of Appeals ruled that employers that mandate the use of company devices must compensate employees for a “reasonable” percentage of personal calls made on company devices, without actually establishing a metric for what is “reasonable.”

This won’t be a problem for MobileIron customers on the AT&T Work Platform, which creates clear delineation between personal and work-related mobile use. When it comes to BYOD, everyone may be doing it, but doing it right is key to saving money, limiting the amount of boring paperwork and maybe even avoiding a brush with California state law.