Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE)

What Does Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE) Mean?

Corporate owned, personally enabled (COPE) is an IT business strategy through which an organization buys and provides computing resources and devices to be used and managed by employees. COPE allows an organization to source and deliver computing devices and services to employees and is how most organizations provide handheld or portable devices/gadgets to their employees. These devices can include but are not limited to laptops/notebooks, smartphones, tablets PCs and/or software services.

Techopedia Explains Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE)

COPE is the complete opposite to bring your own device (BYOD), a strategy in which employees use their own devices for work, rather than attaining them from their employer. Businesses using a COPE strategy can provide their employees with IT devices and gadgets but the company maintains ownership of such devices, and can often monitor and control their activity to a larger degree. Besides business purposes, employees can use their devices for personal activities such as accessing social sites, email, calls, etc. Plus, COPE can be a less expensive option that BYOD, in which employees are often reimbursed for all or part of the cost of the devices they buy. This is because if the company buys devices, it can generally get them for less than retail price. COPE also gives the company more power in terms of policing and protecting devices, thus reducing some of the risk that comes with BYOD.