Employee-owned laptops may not save employer

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Employee-owned laptops may encourage productivity gains, however, there is no guarantee that it will reduce costs for the firm. This is the advice of global information technology research and advisory company Gartner.

Some SMEs encourage their employees to buy their own laptops in order to reduce company costs. However, Gartner says that the total cost of ownership of employee-supplied notebooks is not that different from company-bought hardware if the notebooks are well managed.

Gartner analyst Brian Gammage acknowledged the basic ethos of employee-owned laptops: “Successful employee-owned notebook programmes have the potential to improve user productivity, create a clearer boundary around IT responsibilities and pass more IT costs to the user.”

Gammage noted that office PCs are associated with high costs due to maintenance and support.

Gartner studied office-based employees who take their work home as well as workers who spend at least 80% of their time out of the office.

Their results showed that the total cost of a locked and well-managed virtual machine on an employee-owned notebook was broadly similar to that of a well-managed notebook.

Gammage explained: “Although total annual costs are typically equal to or better than company-owned notebooks, the savings mainly occur in indirect costs.”

He continued: “In all cases, the direct costs are related to hardware, software and personnel are higher. This is driven by the additional compensation paid to the user in lieu of hardware acquisition and third-party maintenance and support.”

There are also other elements to consider, other than costs.

Employee-owned laptop programmes allow employees to choose their own machine, ultimately allowing the individuals to purchase according to their own needs. This factor also eliminates staff complaining about the laptop that they have been issued with.

Gartner also suggests that IT departments can have a more subtle control over rogue elements, such as influential knowledge workers who are permitted to flout corporate policy.

Many companies remain hesitant of the employee-owned scheme due to software licensing fears. According to Gartner, software vendors are becoming more flexible and that this will not be an issue in the near future.

Read More: Hardware & Equipment