Environmentally Responsible Business Models on the Rise: Bring Your Own Device
Environmentally Responsible Business Models on the Rise: Bring Your Own Device
Today’s business world is changing rapidly due to a variety of factors. Work styles, working requirements, opportunities and conditions are also changing. But it is no longer just about efficiency and profit, the entire business world has to think about the planet we live on. Concepts such as climate crisis, sustainability and carbon footprint are now among the priorities of not only environmentalists but also the business world. Especially in sectors where digitalization is accelerating, the environmental impact of companies in the production-consumption chain is carefully monitored.
Electronic waste is one of the issues that the business world closely monitors. According to the United Nations 2024 report, global e-waste generation reached 59.4 million tons in 2023. This figure is expected to exceed 74.7 million tons by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 2.6%. Companies are increasingly investing in recycling, reuse and circular economy mechanisms when refurbishing hardware. However, as of 2023, only 22% of the total e-waste generated was included in formal recycling systems.
In traditional working models, office environments require an additional device per employee, increasing the volume of electronic waste. While people have personal devices at home, they use separate laptops, desktops or peripherals for the office. This leads to lower device utilization rates and unnecessary growth in the total stock of electronic equipment. According to GreenBiz’s research in 2023, the average utilization efficiency of corporate devices remains below 40%. All this data makes it clear that business needs to develop not only a strategy but also a responsibility to reduce its environmental impact.
Gig Economy: Work Securely with Your Own Device
The gig economy is an economic model based on project-based, flexible and independent work without a fixed employer. In this model, people operate as independent professionals providing services in their own areas of expertise, rather than as employees of an organization in the traditional sense. They usually work with a sole proprietorship registered in their own name and provide their services in their own preferred workspace, using their own equipment.
Within this working model, a professional can serve multiple employers at the same time with their own hardware through the secure digital environments provided by Gig platforms. This working philosophy is called “BYOD – Bring Your Own Device”. According to research, compared to the traditional working model, when companies switch to BYOD model instead of providing corporate devices for each employee, the need for devices can be reduced by up to 30%.
This decline is important for us because computers are being replaced not only because they are reaching the end of their physical lifespan, but also because software requirements are growing rapidly. New versions of operating systems and security patches render devices inadequate within a few years. For example, during the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11, minimum system requirements increased by 40%. Modern antivirus software is known to use 70% more system resources on average compared to 2020. This creates an inevitable device refresh cycle for businesses and individuals, even if they don’t use the device. The average laptop is replaced between 3 and 5 years, even if they are not used. For this reason, purchasing 30% less computers with BYOD provides a very valuable gain in terms of both the resources spent during computer production and the carbon produced, as well as reducing electronic waste. Therefore, we can say that the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ model will become widespread over time and maybe it will be the future itself. In the rest of our article, we examine more detailed information about BYOD!
BYOD Model on the Global Rise
As mentioned above, the BYOD model is increasingly being adopted around the world as part of flexible working patterns and digital transformation. This system provides not only flexibility for employees, but also significant cost advantages. Companies can save around 400-600 USD per employee per year, which is only the cost of computer hardware and maintenance. Employees who use their own laptops work 94 minutes more productively on average per week.
In 2024, according to Webtribunal and KBV research, 42% of large companies in the US, including Microsoft and Amazon, allow employees to use their personal laptops for official business purposes. This is especially true in the technology, education and finance sectors. In Germany, 45% of employees use their own laptops for work. In the UK, the BYOD usage rate is over 50%, especially in the finance and legal sectors. In France, especially in SMEs, BYOD laptop applications have reached 35%. To support this trend, Cisco partnered with a financial services company in Europe to build a BYOD network infrastructure that makes it easier for the company to identify and secure different devices. In short, the world is shaping around environmentally responsible business models, but what about you?
Safe or Not; How to Ensure Security with BYOD?
While employees’ use of their own devices provides flexibility and efficiency, it also brings some security risks. A strong data security policy must first be in place to protect company data. Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions allow remote management of devices, wiping data in case of loss or theft, and controlling application access. In addition, measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), VPN usage and encrypted connections should be taken for network access. It is also critical that employee devices have up-to-date antivirus software and security patches. Most importantly, companies should clearly define BYOD policies and inform employees about them. Thus, a balance between freedom and security can be achieved.
An Example from Turkey: Champs Technology
Champs Technology, one of the leading representatives of gig economy in Turkey, is leading the BYOD transformation. Champs Technology reinterprets the traditional employer-employee relationship in line with the nature of the gig economy. More than 40,000 independent professionals that the company works with provide services as self-employed individuals, from their own homes, with their own computers and office equipment.
In this structure, the entire business is conducted digitally: no offices, no company hardware, no high carbon emissions. This model supports flexibility and enables environmental sustainability. Considering Champs Technology’s 40,000 professional members, it is estimated that Champs’ BYOD model prevents 10-12 thousand laptops from being wasted. This means both the prevention of 3.5 million tons of CO₂ carbon emissions in the production process and the reduction of electronic waste.
Champs also takes strategic steps in security, data management and employee training to ensure the successful implementation of this model. It uses highly secure digital platforms and regularly subjects the security of these platforms to independent audits.
Giderek artan çevresel kaygılar ve sürdürülebilirlik odaklı iş modelleri, BYOD gibi yenilikçi yaklaşımları iş dünyası için daha cazip hale getiriyor. Hem karbon ayak izini azaltmak hem de maliyetleri optimize etmek isteyen kurumlar için BYOD, sadece bir teknoloji tercihi değil, aynı zamanda çevresel sorumluluğun bir göstergesi haline geliyor.
References:
- The Global E-waste Monitor 2024, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
- Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, 2024
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Circularity Gap Report 2024
- GreenBiz, 2022 ve 2023
- Microsoft Minimum System Requirements, 2023
- TechRadar, 2024
- AV-Comparatives Performance Test, 2024
- Statista, 2024
- Webtribunal BYOD Trends, 2024
- KBV Research, 2024
- Jumpcloud, 2023
- Carbon Trust
