Choose Your Own Device

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What Does Choose Your Own Device Mean?

Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) is a business trend and phenomenon designed to give an organization more control of devices that employees use to handle company data. With CYOD, an organization allows employees to select from specified devices for business usage.

Techopedia Explains Choose Your Own Device

CYOD is an alternative to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), where employees use personal devices to handle company data. BYOD has become quite popular as companies have realized the cost savings of allowing employees to use personal devices for work.

In contrast, a CYOD approach requires employees to choose from a limited range of devices. For example, a company may allow employees to use BlackBerrys, iPhones or other Apple devices – but not Androids. A company also may limit device usage to work activities.

A CYOD approach provides other security options for companies with concerns about potential BYOD ramifications. Because of different issues related to multi-use devices, securing BYOD systems can be difficult. This is a key reason why CYOD is receiving so much attention in today’s business world.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.